Nero’s defense attorney Marc Zayon said his client had a limited role. Rice was out of Nero’s view when he called out over the radio that he was involved in a pursuit, and Officer Garrett Miller was the one who caught and handcuffed Gray, Zayon said. Miller was in control, at one point asking Nero to retrieve his bike from a few blocks away.

(Via The Baltimore Sun)  Attorneys for Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero sought to minimize his role in the arrest of Freddie Gray on the first day of his trial, saying he pursued the 25-year-old based on a supervisor’s calls for help and only touched him to try to find his inhaler.
Nero’s bench trial began Thursday in a downtown courtroom with prosecutors saying the officers who detained Gray on April 12, 2015 lacked legal justification, making his arrest an assault. Legal observers have said it is an unusual theory, and the case is expected to involve complex arguments about the authority of officers to stop citizens.
The trial, which could last five days, also involves allegations that Nero failed to care for Gray when he did not secure him with a seat belt in the back of the arrest van, where he ultimately suffered a fatal spine injury.
Nero, 30, has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of second-degree assault and misconduct related to Gray’s arrest, and reckless endangerment and a second count of misconduct stemming from how Gray was loaded into the van.
Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow told Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams that officers pursued Gray through Gilmor Homes in West Baltimore after responding to a chase called out by a supervisor, Lt. Brian Rice. All they knew, Schatzow said, was that Gray was being sought — but not why — when they handcuffed and searched him. Those were not grounds for an arrest, he said.  (read more)