Police driver acquitted in Freddie Gray case

Outside the courthouse, a small group of protesters chanted before the verdict: “We can’t stop”. They also accused him of breaching his duty to protect a prisoner by failing to seek medical help when Gray indicated that he needed it. The protests revealed a long-simmering fury on the part of black Baltimoreans toward a police force known for its brutality and harshness in communities of color.

His acquittal, which comes after Williams considered the charges for three days, throws the rest of the cases into jeopardy.

The family of Freddie Gray and their many supporters have been left reeling after a judge found that a police officer charged over the young black man’s death was not guilty.

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

Prosecutors said Goodson was criminally negligent because he didn’t buckle Gray into a seat belt to keep him from slamming into the walls of the van’s metal compartment after officers bound his hands and feet. Gray apparently sustained the fatal injury during that van ride, during which he was handcuffed, shackled and not wearing a seat belt.

In his ruling, Judge Barry G. Williams rejected the prosecution’s claim that the officer, Caesar R. Goodson Jr., had given Mr. Officer Goodson, as the driver of the van in which Gray was injured, was most responsible for his safety. They said his failure to call a medic amounts to murder.

The verdict in the Goodson case has been viewed as crucial for Mosby, the state’s attorney. Prosecutors had to work backwards to figure out how and why Gray died, which is a hard task, says he said.

Goodson went on to state that, “Based on the evidence presented, the Court finds that Mr”.

“Absolutely, justice was served today by the verdict, on many levels”, said Douglas Gansler, a former two-term Maryland attorney general. When Goodson saw that Gray was limp and unresponsive, he called paramedics, the judge said.

“Lt. Brian Rice’s trial is set to begin in July, followed later in the month by Officer Garrett Miller, Porter’s retrial in September and Sgt. Alicia White’s trial in October”, according to Fox News.

“How would the average officer without medical training know the severity or the acute distress Mr. Running a stop sign and rounding a corner like that is not a rough ride”, Wood said.

Still, many feel the changes didn’t go far enough.

Williams also noted that multiple witnesses for the prosecution couldn’t define specifically what a rough ride was. The murder charge carried a penalty of up to 30 years in jail.

Freddie Gray’s death from a broken neck in police custody prompted Maryland lawmakers to enact some police reforms.

Baltimore police officer Caesar Goodson arrives for the final day of his trial in his involvement in the Freddie Gray arrest and death, in Baltimore on Thursday.

Williams seemed doubtful of the state’s case throughout Goodson’s seven-day trial.

Goodson’s lawyers, however, said that Gray’s death was an accident and that he had been injured when he stood up in the van. The other officers charged face similar, but lesser accusations.

Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow accused Detective Dawnyell Taylor of “sabotaging” the investigation and doctoring notes, while Taylor questioned the integrity of the Bledsoe, Schatzow’s partner on the case, Deputy State’s Attorney Janice Bledsoe.