Baltimore Pays Family of Freddie Gray $6.4 Million After Fatal Spinal Injury in Police Van
After trial: The Board of Estimates unanimously approved the settlement on September 9, 2015, with payment in two installments from the city's legal settlement reserve. The city did not admit liability.
Won by Murphy Falcon & Murphy.
Freddie Gray, 25, suffered a fatal spinal injury while being transported in a Baltimore police van after his arrest on April 12, 2015, and died a week later. In September 2015 the city agreed to pay his family $6.4 million, and the Board of Estimates approved the payment unanimously on September 9. The city admitted no liability, and the money was paid in two installments from the city's settlement reserve.
What happened
Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old Baltimore man, was arrested by city police on April 12, 2015. He was placed in the back of a police transport van handcuffed and without a seatbelt. During the ride he suffered a severe spinal injury, and he died at a hospital on April 19, a week later. His death led to protests and unrest across Baltimore, and six police officers were criminally charged.
The family was represented by William H. 'Billy' Murphy Jr. of Murphy, Falcon & Murphy. Rather than wait for a civil lawsuit and the years of litigation that would follow, the city opened settlement talks with the family's lawyer. City Solicitor George Nilson said the discussions ran for about three and a half months and were finished by August 2015. Officials looked at comparable cases while setting the figure, including New York's settlement over the death of Eric Garner.
The agreement was announced on September 8, 2015, and sent to the Board of Estimates the next morning. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said it was proposed solely because it was in the best interest of the city and would avoid costly and protracted litigation. She added that it was not a judgment on the guilt or innocence of the officers facing trial. Deputy City Solicitor David Ralph said the settlement was not an admission of liability by the city, the police department or any officer.
City Council President Bernard Young pointed to the exposure the city faced if the claims went to federal court, where judgments are not capped. The police union objected, with its president calling any settlement before the criminal cases were decided obscene.
On September 9 the Board of Estimates voted unanimously to approve the payment of $6.4 million to Gray's heirs. It was set to be paid in two parts: $2.8 million in fiscal year 2016 and $3.6 million in fiscal year 2017, drawn from the pool of money the city keeps to settle legal claims, so it did not affect the city's operating budget. Murphy had said earlier that the mayor reached out to the family in a spirit of compassion to seek healing and closure.
The civil resolution was kept separate from the prosecutions. The criminal cases against the six officers went on in the Baltimore courts after the settlement was approved.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.The Globe and Mail, 'Baltimore reaches $6.4-million wrongful death settlement with Freddie Gray's family', Sept. 8, 2015·Archived copy
- 2.Baltimore Brew, 'A $6.4 million measure of closure for Freddie Gray's family and friends', Sept. 9, 2015·Archived copy
- 3.NBC News, 'Baltimore Board Approves $6.4 Million Settlement in Freddie Gray Death', Sept. 9, 2015·Archived copy
- 4.NBC News, 'Baltimore ChangeMakers: A Lawyer's Fight For Freddie Gray Family and Others Like Him'·Archived copy
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