Professor Stephen Rushin recently told The Baltimore Sun the judge overseeing the Freddie Gray trials investigated and prosecuted police misconduct cases for the federal government, giving him “a perspective that many people aren’t going to have.”
Barry G. Williams, who has been a judge since 2005, was assigned in June to preside over the trials of six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Gray, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury in the back of a police van.
“Chances are he spent time putting together files on alleged police misconduct,” Rushin said. “He knows what to look for, what might be signs of particular bad behavior by officers.”
That experience “cuts both ways,” Rushin added, also giving Williams insight as to what does not qualify as an illegal action by police.
For more, read “Freddie Gray Judge Prosecuted Police Misconduct for Justice Department.”