Goodson is the third officer to go to trial, following Officers William G. Porter and Edward M. Nero.
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Gray was 25 years old when he suffered a devastating spinal injury and died last April about a week after he was arrested and placed in a prisoner van driven by Goodson.
Goodson is the Baltimore police officer facing the most serious charges in the death of Freddie Gray.
“Depraved indifference may well be leaving someone unseat-belted, cuffed and shackled inches away from a metal wall in the back of a police van”, Colbert said.
Schatzow then suggested Taylor falsified notes to make it appear that the medical examiner initially considered Gray’s death to be accidental a finding he said Dr. Carol Allen was pressured by police to declare before ruling it a homicide. When the van arrived at the station Gray was already critically injured and unresponsive. Prosecutors allege that Gray was fatally injured after the wide turn. “Do you acknowledge that for it to be a rough ride there has to be a level of intent?”
Williams asked whether a rough ride requires intent, and what evidence there was to show that intent. “The state said to the world, ‘It’s a rough ride, ‘” he said.
During their final arguments, prosecutors said that Goodson, as the van driver, had the ultimate care and custody of Gray but failed to ensure his safety.
Schatzow repeated that the lack of a seatbelt proves Goodson “intended for there to be consequences”.
“Yes”, Schatzow said, adding, “it might not be a prosecutable case, but the duty is the same”.
Fraling said Goodson was responsible for Gray’s safety at certain points, but that the decision not to restrain him in a seat belt was repeatedly made collectively with other officers and with various factors in mind – including that Gray had been combative at previous stops.
Schatzow said “there was a outcome greater than anticipated, and he needed to figure out what to do about it”. The judge said the van could have stopped at the sign beyond the view of the camera and noted that the van wasn’t traveling very fast.
Mr. Brown took umbrage with the prosecution’s assertion that Officer Goodson’s behavior and motivation could be proven by “logical inference”.
The judge countered that the stop could be seen as concern for Gray’s well-being.
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The difference between “ordinary negligence” – enough to win in a civil case – and criminal negligence is showing that the defendant not only put someone in danger, but is “subjectively aware of the risk”, Jaros said.
