Officer Asks To See Knife In Freddie Gray Case

A defense attorney for one of the six police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray is challenging prosecutors’ claim that Gray was falsely arrested. He filed a motion Tuesday demanding to inspect the knife Gray carried.

Marc L. Zayon, the attorney for Baltimore officer Edward Nero, asked a judge to make the Baltimore state’s attorney’s office and Baltimore police turn over the blue knife Gray carried to determine whether it’s legal in the city of Baltimore. The knife was found clipped to the inside of Gray’s pants pockets after officers took him down, writes The Baltimore Sun.

There has been some questions on whether Freddie Gray had a “switchblade” or a pocket knife. The request to see the knife is significant because a folding pocket knife is not illegal. However, a spring-loaded switchblade knife is.

Last month, Baltimore City police wrote in court documents that Freddie Gray was arrested “without force or incident” for having a “switchblade knife.”

According to the Associated Press, the State’s Attorney of Baltimore Marilyn Mosby states that the knife was not a switchblade and was legal.

The knife was found “clipped to Gray’s pants pocket,” states the Associated Press.

NBC called the knife a “folding knife” that was folded in. In other words, it was a pocket knife.

The motion by the lawyer was the first legal move in defense of an officer involved in the April 12 arrest of Gray, who died a week later from spinal injuries suffered while in police custody.

(Updated article)

Did Freddie Gray Have A Switchblade Or A Pocket Knife?

CNN

CNN talks to Felicia Pearson, who portrayed “Snoop” on the television series “The Wire” about the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore.  Pearson refers to Gray having a “pocket knife,” which is not illegal.  However, a spring-loaded “switchblade” knife is.

Last month, Baltimore City police wrote in court documents that Freddie Gray was arrested “without force or incident” for having a “switchblade knife.”

According to the Associated Press, the State’s Attorney of Baltimore Marilyn Mosby states that the knife was not a switchblade and was legal.

The knife was found “clipped to Gray’s pants pocket,” states the Associated Press.

NBC called the knife a “folding knife” that was folded in.  In other words, it was a pocket knife.

NBC:  “Mosby says the knife was not a switchblade, but was ‘folded in,’ which is legal under Maryland law.”

The police account of the knife is provided in charging documents filed in District Court, where officer Garrett Miller wrote that Gray was stopped because he “fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence.”

(Updated article)

Knife Attack Near Jewish Center In Nice, France

euronews

Sources claim that two French soldiers were slightly injured in a knife attack by a man in the southern resort of Nice on Tuesday, close to a Jewish community center.

No motive has been given for the attack, which the justice ministry is treating as a terrorist act.

It appears the man had just left a tram on which he had been fined for not buying a ticket. “He was carrying identification documents with him that didn’t give his identity, but bore the name Moussa Coulibaly,” said the Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi.

Amedy Coulibaly was the gunman who killed four people at a kosher market in Paris on Jan. 9.

“A few moments later we arrested a second man who seems to be his accomplice,” said the mayor.