BALTIMORE — Attorneys for the six police officers charged in an arrested man’s death contend that prosecutors steered investigators away from allegations about Freddie Gray’s behavior in past interactions with law enforcement.
The attorneys said detectives were told Gray had a history of participating in “crash-for-cash” schemes in which people hurt themselves to collect settlements — a piece of information attorneys said would be useful for their case.
Gray died April 19, a week after suffering a critical spinal injury in the back of a police van. Gray’s death spurred days of largely peaceful protests followed by rioting and looting on April 27.
Six officers were charged with such crimes as misdemeanor assault and “depraved-heart” murder.
In a motion filed Thursday in Baltimore Circuit Court, defense attorneys allege that investigators for the Baltimore Police Department had information that Gray had a history of intentionally injuring himself to collect insurance money.
The attorneys allege in the filing that police investigators knew that Gray once injured himself so severely while in a Baltimore jail that he required medical attention. The attorneys said in documents that when police investigators tried to follow up on the evidence, prosecutors in the state’s attorney’s office told them “not to do the defense attorneys’ jobs for them.”