Who is the judge?
Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams is a former city prosecutor and civil rights litigator. Judge Williams has been an associate judge in Baltimore Circuit Court since 2005. He led the court's criminal division from 2012 until January 2015 and chaired the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council for Baltimore from 2012 until 2014.
What has happened so far?
April 30, 2015: Mosby received the results of a police investigation of Gray's death.
May 1, 2015: Mosby announced the charges against the officers.
May 8, 2015: Officers file motion to dismiss charges for prosecutorial misconduct and ask Mosby to recuse herself
May 21, 2015: A Baltimore grand jury indicted the six police officers charged in the arrest of Freddie Gray. (Case moved from District Court to Circuit Court)
May 27, 2015: Officers file motion for removal out of Baltimore.
June, 26, 2015: Prosecutors filed motion for Goodson, White, Nero and Miller to be tried together.
July 10, 2015: Nero and Miller filed motion opposing prosecution’s intent to try them with Goodson and White.
August 17, 2015: Judge Williams quashed the subpoenas sought by Catherine Flynn to put Mosby, five other prosecutors, two investigators and an assistant medical examiner on the stand at the hearing scheduled for 9/2.
September 2, 2015: Judge Williams decided against the officers’ request to have their charges dismissed and against the officers attempt to remove Mosby as their prosecutor.
What is a pretrial motion?
A pretrial motion is an application to the court made by the prosecutor or defense attorney, requesting that the court make a decision on a certain issue before the trial begins. The motion can affect the trial, courtroom, defendants, evidence, or testimony.
What are the possible outcomes of pretrial hearings?
The judge is not required to make an immediate ruling at a pretrial motions hearing. Judge Williams could: postpone the entire hearing, hear the arguments but not release an immediate decision, hear the arguments but continue the hearing for additional arguments or immediately decide on some or part of the motion. In short, it is possible that Judge Williams will not make a decision on all motions at the hearing date.
What happened on September 2, 2015?
Both sides (prosecution and defense) agreed to spend 15 minutes each on the defense pretrial motion to recuse the Baltimore state's attorney's office from the case and the pretrial defense motion to dismiss the case entirely based on "prosecutorial misconduct." Judge Williams denied the officers' motions.
All of the officers except Goodson requested that they be tried separately from the others. Mosby's office sought to try the officers in two groups, with Goodson, White, Nero and Miller together in one and Porter and Rice in the other. Judge Williams decided the motions and granted each officer a separate trial.
What will happen on September 10, 2015?
The defense filed a pretrial motion to remove the trial from Baltimore. The judge will hear both sides’ arguments on this date.
Were the officers at the September 2, 2015 hearing?
None of the officers appeared at the pretrial motions hearing, in accordance with requests filed by their respective attorneys waiving their right to appear.
What’s Next?
It is unclear what will happen next since all six officers will have separate trials. The officers’ trial were initially scheduled to begin October 13, 2015.
For more information, please contact BALT at info@baltimoreactionlegal.org. This document is intended to provide general information and not legal advice.