A digest of Baltimore news from local sources.
From the Baltimore Sun: Prosecutors to test novel legal theory in trial of officer charged in Freddie Gray case
"Prosecutors are expected to test a novel legal theory this week in the trial of a police officer charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray — that the officer didn't have the authority to detain him and therefore committed an assault by putting him in handcuffs.
"The allegation could have widespread implications for policing in Baltimore and Maryland. Hundreds of detainees in the city are released every year after being arrested without being charged.
"Officer Edward M. Nero's defense team argues that police shouldn't be second-guessed — and face criminal charges — when they carry out their duties in good faith, while prosecutors say officers should face consequences when their actions turn out to be wrong, and the consequences are so catastrophic.
"By taking a chance with this kind of case, legal experts said, Baltimore's State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby must believe she is correctly interpreting the law and has the political will.
"'Is it a gutsy theory? Yes. Do I think most prosecutors would have brought charges on this theory? Probably not,' said Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor who is now a Georgetown University law professor. 'But these are extraordinary times, and Baltimore is a city where a lot of the usual political dynamics don't apply.'
"Nero, 30, is the first officer to go to trial after months of delays and appeals over procedural matters that reached the state's highest court. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree assault, two counts of misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment.
"All of the charges are misdemeanors.
"The second trial will turn the focus away from Gray's fatal spinal injuries, which the medical examiner found were sustained in the back of a police transport van, to whether officers committed a crime when they pursued and arrested him on April 12, 2015.
"It's also expected to lead to the first verdict. Nero is likely to request a bench trial, according to legal observers, so that Judge Barry Williams would render the verdict, not a jury.
"Nero's defense attorneys sought to have the charges dismissed, saying the officers had legal justification to pursue Gray as he ran unprovoked through the area around Gilmor Homes, and had probable cause to arrest him after finding a knife clipped to his belt. In filing charges, prosecutors said the knife was legal."
From the Baltimore Sun: Sonja Santelises,the next Baltimore schools CEO, says: ‘It can be done’
"The morning after being named the next CEO of Baltimore City public schools, Sonja Brookins Santelises spoke authoritatively about building the 'systems and supports' needed to turn around the beleaguered system.
"Then, asked about what's needed to help the 'underprivileged' students in Baltimore, her face drops and voice cracks. The word is off-putting to her.
"'For all the ground they need to make up,' she said of low-income students in the city, 'they deserve the same respect my babies get every day when they walk into school.'
"As Santelises takes the helm of the state's fourth-largest school system — with one of the largest minority populations — she brings with her a deeply held conviction that poor, black children are too often treated as if they are intellectually inferior.
"It's a conviction forged by a father who overcame a childhood in Jim Crow Mississippi to become a chemist, and by her own Ivy League education that began at Brown University, where she was perceived as an 'affirmative action baby.'
"Santelises, 48, will be the fifth superintendent to lead the district in a decade. During that time, a raft of reforms have aimed at raising student academic performance in the district, which ranks at the bottom of large urban school districts in the nation. Some educators and observers say they hope the hiring of Santelises, who previously served as the school system's chief academic officer, signals a renewed commitment to improving student achievement.
"Santelises, who will step into her new role July 1, takes over at a tumultuous time. Standardized test scores have plunged, enrollment is declining, the budget is strapped and charter schools are waging a legal battle against the district over funding.
"It's a big job for someone who doesn't have experience running a school system. She will have to expand her skills as a classroom innovator to manage a $1.2 billion budget, more than 8,000 people and the nitty-gritty details of making the buses run on time, fixing leaking roofs and ensuring that a teacher shows up in every classroom."
From the Baltimore Sun: Harbor posts failing grades in water quality report again, pushing ‘swimmable’ goal further out of reach
"The Inner Harbor and tidal Patapsco River posted failing grades in a water quality report card for a third consecutive year in 2015, casting doubt on a goal to make the waterways safe for swimming and fishing by the end of the decade.
"'The harbor is alive, but it is not doing well,' said Adam Lindquist, manager of the Healthy Harbor Initiative for the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, which publishes the report card. 'Any reasonable person would have questions about whether or not we're going to be able to swim in the Baltimore harbor in 2020.'
"The primary concerns continue to be fecal bacteria from the city's aged and leaking sewage system and pollutants that flow into the harbor when it rains.
"There were signs of slight improvement in some pollutants, but not enough to change grades for the harbor and Jones Falls from an F.
"City leaders and business and environmental groups in 2010 set a goal of having a 'swimmable, fishable harbor' within a decade. Now, more than halfway to 2020, with so much work left to be done to keep sewage and contaminated stormwater out of the harbor, the say the goal may be out of reach."