Baltimore officer acquitted in Freddie Gray death case

However, for many in Baltimore and other observers already angered by the absence of prosecution in similar cases of black men’s deaths at the hands of police, like that of Eric Garner on Staten Island, N.Y., and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Thursday’s decision has refreshed questions about justice and reform of police departments that many black communities don’t trust.

A judge acquitted the police van driver of all charges on Thursday (Jun 23) in the death of 25-year-old arrestee Gray, whose broken neck on the way to the station set off Baltimore’s worst riots in decades.

Goodson’s seven charges included second degree depraved-heart murder, manslaughter by vehicle, second degree assault and reckless endangerment.

During opening statements, prosecutors for the first time accused Goodson of giving Gray a “rough ride”, intentionally leaving him unbuckled “to bounce him around in the back of the van”.

I’ve said many times before that Freddie Gray was injured in the field by those officers who initially handled him.

Gray’s death came at a time of fierce national debate over the use of lethal force by police – especially against unarmed black men amid questionable deaths in New York, Cleveland and Ferguson, Missouri.

Last month, the same judge acquitted Officer Edward Nero of misdemeanor charges, and in December, he declared a mistrial after a jury failed to agree on manslaughter and other charges against Officer William Porter. A “rough ride”, also known as a “nickel ride” in Philadelphia and a “joyride” in Chicago, is a vehicular form of police brutality.

“There’s just too much evidence in this case not to have a guilty verdict”, she said. He was shackled and loaded into a van driven by Goodson, but was not secured in a seat belt.

While the criminal proceedings have not yielded a conviction, Murphy represented the Gray family in a wrongful death case that resulted in a $6.4 million civil settlement from Baltimore City a year ago.

“We certainly don’t want to speak poorly about the deceased, but Mr. Gray created the high-degree of risk”, defense attorney Matthew Fraling said during the bench trial. Prosecutors could seek to have Williams removed from the cases, but such a move is rarely successful.

“During closing arguments, Judge Williams really took the state to task for its failure to prove that there were obvious signs [of medical distress] exhibited by Freddie Gray during that transport”, Alperstein says. Dorchy, who told Patch he had been on both sides of the law, wore a shirt that said, “I Am Freddie Gray”.

But Williams dismissed the “rough ride” theory as “inflammatory” and said the state failed to produce evidence of erratic driving or even excessive speed by Goodson. And that if anything occurred in the back of that van, it was more or less an exacerbation of some preexisting condition that began with those officers in the field.

Democratic Del. Curt Anderson spoke Thursday outside the courthouse where a judge found Officer Caesar Goodson not guilty of all charges.

Gray was arrested by bicycle officers on April 12, 2015, after he caught their eye and ran.

It’s unclear how the verdict in Goodson’s trial will impact the other the four officers awaiting trial.

“It is extraordinarily rare to hear a prosecutor accuse a reputable, prominent lead detective of sabotaging the state’s case”, said Warren Alperstein, a prominent attorney in the city.

They said he was criminally negligent because he didn’t restrain the prisoner with a seat belt to keep him safe inside the metal compartment, and didn’t get medical help after Gray repeatedly indicated he needed it. To charge police officers with murder is extremely unusual.

Gray died after suffering a severe neck and spinal cord injury. I think the State failed to present sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt of Officer Goodson’s guilt…

“This is the case that everyone has been watching”, Ellison said.

“They should have never filed charges in the first place, I don’t think the evidence was there”.