Well, within a few hours I expect we’ll have some end-of-day reports from the journalists in the courtroom of the murder trial of Officer Caesar Goodson.
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Judge Barry Williams made the ruling to move forward with the case Thursday, a day after prosecutors rested their case and defense attorneys filed to dismiss the charges. Schatzow also suggested that Taylor and other top police officials had pushed Allen to rule Gray’s death an accident rather than a homicide.
Taylor said she remembered, then sharply and sternly told Schatzow, “You don’t have the authority to do that”.
Schatzow accused Taylor of failing to keep the prosecution informed about the medical examiner’s comments, and Taylor said she had problems with the integrity of prosecutor Janice Bledsoe.
That last tweet by Kevin Rector references his story printed earlier this afternoon at the Baltimore Sun, “Freddie Gray case: Baltimore police investigators, prosecutors clash in court”. She took the stand Thursday for Caesar Goodson, the Baltimore police officer who is accused of causing Gray’s injury while driving the 25-year-old to the police station. Prosecutors also say Goodson was negligent when he failed to call for medical help.
But prosecutors cited Goodson’s failure to get Gray medical attention and to seatbelt him in the van, despite multiple opportunities at several stops. Officer Edward Nero was found not guilty on all charges after his bench trial ended in May. The defense has argued that Gray was violent and that is the reason Goodson did not put him in a seat belt. Williams let Taylor testify about Allen’s alleged statements, which would normally be considered hearsay, as part of a “remedy” for the state having violated discovery rules in the case by failing to provide certain evidence to the defense. He testified that Gray was not cooperative during his arrest on April 12, 2015.
Bauer said while she wrote the lesson plan, she could not recall teaching the course on September 8, 2013, when prosecutors say Officer Goodson took the class.
Later, Donta Allen, a prisoner who had been inside the police van with Gray, also was called to testify, wearing handcuffs and leg chains. Bauer said she did not know.
She described beginning medical interventions and feeling the back of his neck.
“It wasn’t in line, and it felt crumbly, like a bag of rocks”, Herbert said.
“It’s at least five times, your honour”, Schatzow said. Herbert said one officer told her it could have been Gray “banging his head up against the side of the van”.
Herbert also noted she saw blood on Gray’s upper lip.
Gray died a week after his arrest from a severe spinal cord injury. The black prisoner’s death sparked days of civil unrest in Baltimore.
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Goodson is charged with second degree depraved heart murder, criminal negligent vehicular manslaughter, gross negligent vehicular manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.
