The trial of Officer Edward M. Nero, the second Baltimore police officer indicted in the death of Freddie Gray is set to begin Wednesday. According to an article in today’s New York Times, Baltimore residents who were eager to see police held accountable for Gray’s fatal spinal injury are less hopeful this time around. That may be fitting.
Dayvon Love, of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, told the New York Times that while residents are very interested in the verdict, “I don’t get the sense that a lot of folks here in Baltimore are focused a lot on the trial.”
If that lack of attention stems from doubt over what we stand to learn from the trial proceedings, then it may be well-founded, according to University of Baltimore law professor David Jaros.
Jaros told the Times that he expects the Nero trial to hinge on esoteric legalisms rather than on the details of of Gray’s fatal injuries. “I think we are going to continue to have questions about what happened, and I don’t think the trial is going to clear it all up,” Jaros said.
