'They did nothing wrong': Baltimore lawyer insists officers charged over Freddie Gray's death are innocent

Celebrations filled Baltimore after the city's top prosecutor charged six police officers with felonies from assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray, but a police union lawyer insisted they had done nothing wrong.

State Attorney Marilyn Mosby said Gray's arrest was illegal and unjustified, and that his neck was broken because he was handcuffed, shackled and placed head-first into a police van, where his pleas for medical attention were repeatedly ignored as he bounced around inside the small metal box.

The swiftness of her announcement, less than a day after receiving the police department's criminal investigation and official autopsy results, took the city by surprise. So too did her detailed description, based in part on her office's independent investigation, of the evidence supporting probable cause to charge all six officers.

Gray's death came amid a national debate about the deaths of black men at the hands of police.

Mosby's announcement triggered celebrations across the same West Baltimore streets that were smouldering just four days earlier, when Gray's funeral led to riots and looting.

"We are satisfied with today's charges," Gray's stepfather, Richard Shipley, told a news conference. "These charges are an important step in getting justice for Freddie."

But a lawyer hired by the police union insisted the officers did nothing wrong. Attorney Michael Davey said that Mosby had committed "an egregious rush to judgment".