BALTIMORE (WJZ) Officer Caesar Goodson, who was driving the police van inside which Freddie Gray incurred his fatal neck injury last April, has been found not guilty of second-degree depraved heart murder by Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams.
Goodson, 46, has also been found not guilty on charges of manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.
Goodson waived his right to a trial by jury. His bench trial began June 9 and final arguments were heard Monday.
Gray, a 25-year-old black man from the Sandtown area of Baltimore, died of his injury on April 19, 2015. A week earlier, Baltimore City police officers put him in the back of Goodsons van, handcuffed and shackled, but unrestrained by a seat belt.
His death set off more than a week of protests followed by looting, rioting and arson that prompted a citywide curfew.
After the verdict was read, protesters began chanting Murderer! over and over again outside the courthouse.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE COURTROOM?
Inside court, with high security present, People were quiet There were a few people shaking their heads, some people who were emotionless, WJZs Mike Hellgren reports.
The judge said that the evidence simply was not there, that there was no way that Officer Goodson would have known that Freddie Gray was injured until that final stop at the Western district, and thats when a medic was called. He chided the state for using the term rough ride, he said that its a highly-charged term, they failed to define it.
RELATED: READ THE JUDGES FULL VERDICT
Hellgren says the prosecutions theory of the case did not fit the facts that they had presented to the judge and he was clearly troubled by this.
I find it hard to believe that he would convict any of the officers in any of the four remaining trials to come, Hellgren says.
Poster Comment:
What a colossal blunder by the DA office.
#1: Pinguinite To: redleghunter (#0)
I don't know if it was a fair verdict or not, but it seems to me that when the state prosecutes one of their own -- a police officer -- it's a bit of a conflict of interest. The motive for the prosecuting team to do the best job they can is somewhat compromised.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-06-23 13:42:32 Reply Private Reply
#2: Hank Rearden To: redleghunter (#0)
Typical for a 'Rat-run town; they deserve what they get for their voting patterns.
Hot time in old Baltimore tonight!
Hank Rearden posted on 2016-06-23 13:53:08 Reply Private Reply
#3: redleghunter To: Pinguinite (#1)
Perhaps outside of Baltimore.
However, the DA and mayor got on the boob tube minutes hours after the death and at the beginning of the violent riots to tell everyone justice would be done. They immediately took sides with the protestors and demonized the police officers in effect trying them on camera before leveling charges.
If you heard what was coming out of the mouth of the chief prosecutor you would get a sense she had her job not due to her track record. They tried to throw every charge they could at the 6 officers, then held press conferences on the charges.
From the mayor to the DA office this was a blunder from the beginning. Now there will most likely be more riots because the Baltimore leaders are incompetent.
redleghunter posted on 2016-06-23 14:01:31 Reply Private Reply
#4: BobCeleste To: redleghunter (#0)
this case will be used as an example of incompetence, by law schools, for the next century.
BobCeleste posted on 2016-06-23 14:07:13 Reply Private Reply
#5: TrappedInMd To: redleghunter (#0)
The phony charges were politically motivated and Mosby pretty much said so on TV at the time.
She was elected by the idiot Baltimore voters.
Shows that democracy is not all they claim it is.
TrappedInMd posted on 2016-06-23 14:10:16 Reply Private Reply
#6: TrappedInMd To: redleghunter (#3)
That's OK with me, I don't live near Baltimore.
I got a kick out of watching them riot on TV.
Baltimore city voters deserve it.
TrappedInMd posted on 2016-06-23 14:12:43 Reply Private Reply
#7: BorisY To: BobCeleste (#4)
Martin2
... whackos
how
do
these
people
show
their
faces
in
public
the
dnc
duh
... droids
make
America
sane
great
again
love
boris
BorisY posted on 2016-06-23 14:18:54 Reply Private Reply
#8: Pinguinite To: redleghunter (#3)
Explainable by being only a PR move to quell the masses.
Go public with outrage, but then do half hearted effort at actual prosecution. Then after the not guilty verdict, continue the PR spin by saying they did their best.
Can't judge things by the PR spin.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-06-23 15:35:26 Reply Private Reply
#9: redleghunter To: BobCeleste (#4)
Or used for the classed named "How to ensure the fed.gov takes over your DA office."
redleghunter posted on 2016-06-23 17:42:10 Reply Private Reply
#10: redleghunter To: BorisY (#7)
redleghunter posted on 2016-06-23 17:43:41 Reply Private Reply
#11: redleghunter To: Pinguinite (#8)
It is only half hearted if they actually KNEW what they were doing. I seriously doubt they did know what to do.
redleghunter posted on 2016-06-23 17:46:57 Reply Private Reply
#12: GrandIsland To: BobCeleste (#4)
"Eric Casebolt, McKinney Officer Who Threw Girl on Ground at Pool Party, Won't Face Charges"
GrandIsland posted on 2016-06-23 18:28:49 Reply Private Reply
#13: BobCeleste To: redleghunter (#9)
The fbi only does three things;
Investigate and they don't do that very well,
Arrest, as long as your poor white and not guilty that they do that pretty good.
And assassinate, their specialty is assassinating honest US Christian and/or Patriots like Lavoy Finicum .
Every once in a while they eliminate one of the presidents enemies or threats, Crooked Hil-Liary is a threat, she could spill her guts and even the Boston Globe would have to turn on the Kenyan, so the fbi at the orders of herr obamait, may be opening a path for Bernie, or Biden, or Kerry, or Gore, or maybe even a Paul Ryan/Mittens Romney candidacy.
BobCeleste posted on 2016-06-23 19:41:21 Reply Private Reply
#14: BorisY To: redleghunter (#10)
aaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaahhh
Make
America
fun
great
again
love
boris
BorisY posted on 2016-06-24 03:51:53 Reply Private Reply