Baltimore’s top prosecutor acted swiftly, charging six officers in the death of Freddie Gray, who suffered a grave spinal injury as he was arrested and put into a police transport van, handcuffed and without a seat belt.

But getting a jury to convict police officers of murder and manslaughter will be far harder than obtaining arrest warrants.

Legal experts say the case is fraught with challenges. The widely shown video that captured the nation’s attention shows Gray, 25, being loaded into a police transport van, but not what happened once he was inside. Other than the accused officers, the only known witness is a convicted criminal later placed in the van’s other holding cell, unable to see what was happening with Gray.

State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby announced the charges Friday amid the backdrop of a city in turmoil — four days after public anger over Gray’s death triggered riots, with heavily armed troops enforcing a nightly curfew, and the day before scheduled protest marches expected to draw thousands.

By bringing charges less than two weeks after Gray’s death, Mosby, 35, said her decision showed “no one is above the law.”

“To the people of Baltimore and the demonstrators across America: I heard your call for ‘No justice, no peace,'” the prosecutor said. “Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man.”

Source: www.newsmax.com