I am writing as someone who has practiced clinical neurology for over 30 years, and as an emeritus Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology at Columbia P&S.
Freddie Gray’s neck was broken by the arresting officers who took him down. The video taken by Kevin Moore, and the audible comments of Moore and another witness about his obvious leg disuse as he was dragged to the van, provide clear-cut evidence of the rapidly evolving paralysis of his legs. His complaint of being unable to breathe, before he was stuffed in the van, reflect the diaphragmatic paralysis resulting from his C4 level of spinal cord injury. His screams of pain were consistent with having his neck broken, not just an objection to being caught. Look at his face. If he is feigning injury because of “jailitis”, he is surely the only person ever to have died from that act.
Much has been made of his attempt to bear weight on his left leg, as he is at the van. The immediate phase of cord injury may not be completely reflective of the damage that has been done. Some information remains programmed in the cord — such as a stepping/placing reflex. That is why, for example, chickens can run with their heads cut off, for a few steps. Swelling of the cord, blocking transmission of impulses, takes a period to evolve. Their is nothing inconsistent with spinal cord injury about what is seen of his leg activity at that time. However, the arresting officers have not been appropriately charged. While the van ride may have done further damage — the first rule of managing a spine injury is immobilization, and not just with a seat belt — the injury was done at the takedown. To my certain knowledge, Mosby has received letters confirming this from spine surgeons and neurologists: it is obvious to any normally well-trained person in the field.
Why were the arresting officers not charged?
Mosby took her initial view of the timing of the injury from the medical examiner, who was obviously untrained in neurological injury at a clinical level, and who cannot have bothered to review the video with a knowledgable, disinterested expert. She naively accepted the idea that, had his neck been broken at the point of arrest, he would have been totally paralyzed, and speculated that it must have happened in the van.. It is not possible to have determined the timing of the injury from the pathological examination and physical evidence, to which the ME’s report should be appropriately limited. Mosby cited the ME report when she announced her charges. Having done so, she is incapable of retracting. It may be that she is reluctant to charge the only white men involved in the arrest, lest she be accused of inverse racism. For whatever reason, the appropriate charges have not been placed. Many persons in the black community know that the arresting officers broke his neck, and their voices should be raised. I hope they will do so. The silence of the Baltimore neurosurgical community is disgraceful: they have a moral, intellectual and professional obligation to speak out. But it is a small community, and the medical profession is notorious for refusing to offer just critiques spontaneously. The refusal of the media to print or investigate this point of view is also a disgrace. Thanks, KOS.