When an individual dies of unnatural causes in police custody then the police must be held responsible yet we must also be willing to separate facts from emotions. Here are just a few facts to consider.
(1) RACIAL CASE- As can be seen (above) 3 of the officers accused of bringing upon the death of Mr. Gray are African American and I would be surprised to find that all 3 hated the color of their skin.
(2) REASON FOR ARREST- If Mr. Gray ran away from the police when they stopped him they could have a cause in that action for arrest adding that he was under probation would have given them an additional reason. (see link http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Evading-Arrest-on-Foot.htm)
(3) Second-degree murder is ordinarily defined as: 1) an intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable “heat of passion”; or 2) a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender’s obvious lack of concern for human life. Second-degree murder may best be viewed as the middle ground.
My initial thoughts are that Mr. Gray had caused trouble in the community for a quite a bit of time by selling deadly drugs like Heroin and escaped the criminal justice arm. The police felt that they should serve some justice to him while in their custody and while not intending to kill him did want to hurt him enough to think twice. If my findings are correct they should be prosecuted for these crimes only. The court system also must not allow repeat offenders who sell deadly drugs to continually escape justice.