A Baltimore judge acquitted Officer Caesar Goodson on all counts Thursday in the death of Freddie Gray, who death in police custody past year sparked days of riots throughout the city.
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With precision, confidence and the no-nonsense style for which he is well known, Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams today destroyed the state’s case against Officer depraved heart murder.
Gray was arrested on the morning of April 12, 2015 after a foot chase with police in West Baltimore. The Justice Department is formally investigating allegations of widespread police abuse.
Officer Edward Nero was found not guilty on all charges after his bench trial ended in May.
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They said Goodson drove so radically that he blew through a stop sign and veered into another lane of traffic because of the speed he was traveling, which prosecutors said would have tossed Gray around in the van.
Goodson was the only one of the six officers charged in Gray’s death to be accused of murder.
Goodson drove the van that transported Gray after his arrest.
But Judge Barry Williams disagreed, saying the state “failed to meet its burden to show that the actions of the defendant rose above mere civil negligence”.
Goodson’s defense attorneys said officers who checked on Gray didn’t know he was seriously injured, and that Goodson deferred to decisions of other officers not to put a seat belt on Gray.
“If they withdrew the charges, the community would be outraged”, he said.
Goodson also was charged with assault, carrying a 10-year sentence; three counts of manslaughter, punishable by up to 10 years; reckless endangerment, punishable by 5 years; and misconduct in office, the penalty for which is left up to the judge.
Baltimore’s prosecutors always faced an uphill battle obtaining criminal convictions against police officers in the death of Freddie Gray.
“I think that this is a reminder that there is a shadow justice system for police officers”, said social justice activist and former Baltimore mayoral candidate DeRay Mckesson.
That bit about Goodson stopping the van to check on Gray, perhaps concerned that his alleged “rough ride” had caused more injury to Gray than Goodson intended?
A new development has surfaced in the death of Freddie Gray. The trial of Officer William Porter, who also is black, ended with a hung jury and will be retried. In fact, with the Goodson verdict, those cases are in jeopardy and they may never come to trial.
Lt Brian Rice is the next officer to stand trial.
Caesar Goodson was charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.
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When State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby confidently announced the charges past year, she seemed to reflect the anger of many people in Baltimore who saw the case as open-and-shut.
