[Conscience of a Conservative]

I really wish there was more info on this, which understandably will not come until much much later. I’m really not sure how to feel about this. The kid was clearly a drug dealer with well over a dozen arrests. I would assume that was all the probable cause the officers needed. Just seems strange to me that a kid can die of a broken back while riding in a police van. I just hope this is a fair investigation and not some means of calming the locals. This kid may not have deserved to die but he certainly wasn’t a good person. Good, honest, innocent people are hurt every single day, who don’t get any media attention at all. Why do these thugs warrant any of this attention. I just wish these people could open their eyes and see reason.

No. No. No. That's not how it works. The police do NOT have probable cause to arrest someone just because the person has been arrested before (even well over a dozen times). Nor can the police arrest someone for being a drug dealer. The police can only arrest someone if they have probable cause to believe that the person is committing, or has committed, a crime (e.g., that he was dealing drugs, or some other crime). They did not have that here.

[jasbd1985]

You’re absolutely right, I worded that badly. What I was trying to get across was that it seems very possible that the police did have probable cause as this kid had a very long history of dealing drugs. I would assume they caught the kid doing it again. But we all know what happens when you assume... I am interested in seeing more details on this case. If the police are guilty then they’re guilty. This is a very sketchy situation. A young kid just doesn’t die of a broken back, even when riding in a van while not buckled in.

[Cubs Fan]

the Supreme Court found that flight’s relation to probable cause must “be assessed in context with all of the circumstances surrounding it.”

It looks like your "conscience" needs a better conscience to correct you.

From below "the Supreme Court found that flight’s relation to probable cause must 'be assessed in context with all of the circumstances surrounding it.'"

http://www.fedagent.com/case-law-updates/621-caselawupdate0927

According to the following the police may have recognized gray as a chronic offender. A look out called out that police were coming. And then Gray ran.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-gray-ticker-20150425-story.html#page=1

[2harddrive]

The convict was LEGALLY arrested, for cause. He was carrying a knife BANNED BY BALTIMORE CITY CODE. Maryland does NOT have a state-level knife law preemption law.

[conservativejoy]

It has been reported that the officers observed Gray and another man in what looked like a drug transaction. In a case like that they do have the right to arrest someone who is attempting to flee. The other man also ran but got away.