Officer Accused of Recklessly Driving Police Van to Intentionally Injure Freddie Gray
A Baltimore police officer accused in the killing of Freddie Gray has been found not guilty on all charges. This is the third case against police in the killing of Gray. The first resulted in a hung jury, another resulted in acquittal.
Circuit Judge Barry Williams ruled that Officer Caesar Goodson, Jr. is not guilty in charges including “second-degree depraved heart murder.” Officer Goodson “was also acquitted of three counts of manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office,” the Baltimore Sun reports.
Goodson had been tried on the most severe charges against any of the other police officers charged in the case.
The judge told the prosecution they failed to prove intent in the case. Prosecutors claimed the officers placed Gray, handcuffed, in the van, then drove it around on a “rough ride,” stopping and starting fast and hard while Gray was not secured via a seat belt or other means.Â
Gray died of injuries the prosecution says were sustained in the van ride, including a broken neck.
The Sun reports Judge Williams “called ‘rough ride’ an ‘inflammatory term’ that is ‘not to be taken lightly,’ and said prosecutors didn’t prove it at all.”
Prosecutors alleged Goodson had five chances to render aid to Gray after his neck was broken in the back of the van, which they said demonstrated a “depraved heart.”
They also said Goodson was the direct cause of the injuries, driving the van in a reckless manner that threw him in the back of the van’s steel cage, shackled but unrestrained by a seat belt. As a certified field training officer, prosecutors said Goodson knew Police Department rules and broke them.
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