Trial of Freddie Gray van driver delayed by appeals court

A Maryland appeals court on Monday delayed the murder trial of a Baltimore police officer in the death of black detainee Freddie Gray until it can decide on whether a key witness should testify.

Baltimore Police Officer William Porter arrives at the courthouse for pretrial hearings in the case of Caeser Goodson in Baltimore, Maryland, January 6, 2016. A jury deadlocked during Officer Porter’s original trial in December.

Goodson is one of five officers facing charges related to Gray’s death, and the second to go to court. The lawyers asked the appellate court to overturn an order compelling Porter to testify at Goodson’s trial.

Ahlers said the Court of Special Appeals could rule within 10 days, but either side could seek an opinion from the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, further delaying Goodson’s trial.

Goodson, a 17-year veteran of the force, was the driver of the van that transported Gray from the site of his arrest April 12, 2015, to the Western District police station. Goodson, unlike the other five officers, did not give a statement.

Freddie Gray’s death, resulting from a violent trip in a police van, sparked massive protests in Baltimore and drew support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Goodson faces the most serious charge, second-degree depraved heart murder, and jury selection had been scheduled to start on Monday.

” Williams said he found himself in “uncharted territory” as he granted a type of immunity that allows Porter’s charges to stand but which precludes his testimony from being used against him”.

Since Porter’s case ended in a mistrial, the stakes for Goodson’s trial have grown in a city still on edge from the rioting and unrest in April. Porter was not offered transaction immunity which would have given him full and complete immunity – thereby dropping the charges against him.

All of the officers involved in Gray’s arrest and transport, the prosecutors say, are responsible for Gray’s fatal injuries because they failed to respond to his medical needs and did not buckle him into a seat belt during what was considered a “rough ride”. He attributed Gray’s death to the fact that he did not secure his seatbelt.

New dates for a Goodson trial are dependent upon the resolution of Porter’s appeal. By attempting to try both Porter and Goodson in this manner, prosecutors risk creating the impression that they are cutting constitutional corners.

“I don’t think the state can come close to meeting its burden without Porter’s testimony”.