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Baltimore Officer in Freddie Gray Case Is Cleared of All Charges Baltimore Officer in Freddie Gray Case Is Cleared of All Charges
(about 5 hours later)
BALTIMORE — The Baltimore police officer who drove the van in which Freddie Gray sustained a fatal spinal injury was acquitted on Thursday of second-degree murder and six lesser charges, leaving prosecutors still without a conviction after three high-profile trials in a case that has shaken this city. BALTIMORE — The acquittal on Thursday of a Baltimore police officer charged with murder and six other crimes in the death of Freddie Gray has dealt a devastating blow to the prosecution, legal experts say, and raises questions about whether the state should press ahead with the trials of four other officers.
In his ruling, Judge Barry G. Williams rejected the prosecution’s claim that the officer, Caesar R. Goodson Jr., had given Mr. Gray a “rough ride” in the van, intentionally putting him at risk for an injury by taking a wide turn while Mr. Gray was not secured with a seatbelt. Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., who drove the police transport van in which Mr. Gray suffered the spinal cord injury that killed him, faced the most serious charges of any of the six officers indicted in the fatal arrest. His acquittal on seven counts leaves the state without any convictions after three trials, in one of the nation’s most closely watched police misconduct cases — and continues to leave open the question of what, exactly, happened to Mr. Gray inside the van.
“The court finds there is insufficient evidence that the defendant gave or intended to give Mr. Gray a rough ride,” Judge Williams, said, adding that there had not been “evidence presented at this trial that the defendant intended for any crime to happen.” Judge Barry G. Williams, who presided over the Goodson trial, issued the verdicts to a hushed, packed courtroom. He drew no conclusions about exactly when during the van ride Mr. Gray got hurt, saying there were several “equally plausible scenarios.” And he rejected the state’s contention that the officer had given Mr. Gray an intentional “rough ride” and knowingly endangered him by failing to buckle him into the van or provide medical help.
Mr. Gray, a 25-year-old black man, was arrested in April of last year after fleeing, apparently unprompted, from officers in the downtrodden Sandtown neighborhood of West Baltimore, and loaded onto the floor of the van. His legs were shackled and his hands cuffed behind his back, and he was not wearing a seatbelt. The police wagon made six stops before it arrived at the Western District police station, where Mr. Gray was found unresponsive and not breathing with a spinal cord injury. He died about a week later. Mr. Gray was detained after fleeing, apparently unprompted, from officers in the downtrodden Sandtown neighborhood of West Baltimore, and loaded into a police wagon that made six stops in West Baltimore before it arrived at the Western District police station, where Mr. Gray was found unresponsive and not breathing, with a devastating spinal cord injury.
On Thursday, the courtroom was packed, and hushed, as the judge read the verdicts; sheriff’s deputies had issued a warning: “No moans, no groans.” Afterward, Officer Goodson hugged members of his family and two other officers charged in the death — Officers Garrett E. Miller and Edward M. Nero — who had been seated in the front row. The death of Mr. Gray, a 25-year-old black man, set off a wave of violent unrest here last year and thrust this majority black city into the center of a wrenching national debate over race and policing. The state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, sought to quell the violence by telling protesters she heard their “call for ‘no justice, no peace,’” promising to deliver “justice on behalf of this young man.”
The state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, heaved a sigh and walked out, her head down, escorted by her security guard. The two prosecutors who tried the case, Jan Bledsoe and Michael Schatzow, followed, purse-lipped and looking glum. But the first trial, of Officer William Porter, ended with a hung jury in December; he is scheduled to be retried. A second officer, Edward M. Nero, was acquitted last month of four charges. Wednesday’s verdicts instantly reignited debate here over whether Ms. Mosby had overcharged the officers and prompted speculation about what she will do next.
For Ms. Mosby, the not guilty verdicts raise an obvious and painful question: Can she go forward with the rest of the prosecutions? Four more trials — including a retrial of Officer William G. Porter, whose first trial ended with a hung jury in December — remain. (Officer Nero was acquitted of four charges last month.) Several lawyers who attended the trial said Ms. Mosby must now rethink her strategy. “This was the state’s Waterloo,” declared Warren Brown, a defense lawyer who has been watching the trials, and has been sharply critical of the prosecution.
“If she abandons the prosecution of the four remaining trials, the only interpretation of that is that she has been defeated — certainly that does not bode well politically for her,” said Warren Alperstein, a lawyer who represents police officers, though not those charged in the Gray cases. “On the other hand, how do far do you take this when you are 0 for three?” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued a bland statement after the verdict that said, in part, “I know the citizens of Baltimore will continue to respect the judicial process and the ruling of the court.” The Baltimore police union called immediately for all remaining charges to be dropped and accused Ms. Mosby of “playing politics with our agency.”
Warren Brown, a defense lawyer in Baltimore, said that “this was the state’s Waterloo.” Ms. Mosby had no comment; like all parties in the case, she is bound by a judge’s order barring her from talking about it. But most legal experts agreed that Ms. Mosby must now rethink her strategy.
Mr. Gray’s death spurred days of violent protests that prompted the governor to call in the National Guard and put the city at the center of a wrenching national debate over race and policing. Ms. Mosby, stood on the steps of the city’s War Memorial and told residents that she would “deliver justice” on their behalf. Ms. Mosby then took the unusual step of charging six officers in Mr. Gray’s fatal arrest and death, reserving the steepest charge — second-degree “depraved heart” murder — for Officer Goodson, who is also black. Still, the road ahead is a complicated one for her. Several officers charged in the cases have filed defamation suits against her; a decision to drop criminal charges against them could become fodder for their lawsuits — and hurt her if she seeks re-election.
Demonstrators and activists from the Black Lives Matter movement hailed the charges, but they were criticized by others as politically motivated or too ambitious. “If she abandons the prosecution of the four remaining trials, the only interpretation of that is that she has been defeated — certainly that does not bode well politically for her,” said Warren Alperstein, a lawyer who represents police officers, though not those charged in the Gray cases. “On the other hand, how far do you take this when you are oh for three?”
In his ruling, the judge methodically turned aside the state’s main contentions. The state, he said, had failed to prove that Officer Goodson knew or should have known that Mr. Gray needed medical attention during most of the van ride. One calculation, if she does go forward, is whether to seek the removal of Judge Williams from future trials. The judge, a former federal prosecutor who tried police misconduct cases for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, has presided over all three trials so far. The first trial was a jury trial; the other two were tried by the judge, at the request of the officers. In the process, though, he has tipped his hand as to his thinking about some of the other defendants.
Prosecutors, he said, had also “failed to prove behind a reasonable doubt that the defendant drove in a criminally negligent manner.” For instance, he said on Thursday that it “strains credibility” to think that Officer Porter, who testified that he did not believe that Mr. Gray was in medical distress, had told Officer Goodson that Mr. Gray was in danger. And during the trial of Officer Nero, one of the two arresting officers, the judge raised the idea that the other officer — Garrett E. Miller — had been more deeply involved in the arrest. Officer Miller faces trial starting on July 27.
Prosecutors had also claimed that Officer Goodson had a duty to place a seatbelt on Mr. Gray, and failed to do so. Judge Williams said there was a point, during the van’s fourth stop, when Officer Goodson should have reassessed whether it was possible to put a seatbelt on Mr. Gray. The courtroom was tense and quiet as the judge read the verdicts on Thursday; sheriff’s deputies had issued a warning: “no moans, no groans.” Afterward, Officer Goodson hugged members of his family and Officers Nero and Miller, both of whom were seated in the front row.
“Here, the failure to seatbelt may have been a mistake, or may have been bad judgment,” Judge Williams said, but the state had not shown it was a crime. Ms. Mosby heaved a sigh and walked out, her head down, escorted by her security guard. Jan Bledsoe and Michael Schatzow, who prosecuted the case, followed, purse-lipped and looking glum.
Mr. Alperstein said the verdict also raises another obvious question, about the multimillion-dollar settlement the city paid to the Gray family last year. “There are certainly going to be people who will now question why the city of Baltimore paid out $6.4 million, based on these results,” he said. Outside the courthouse, a small band of protesters gathered, maybe a few dozen in all. Many had expected the verdict; some sounded more resigned, others angry.
Outside the courthouse, immediately after the verdict, a few dozen demonstrators gathered and chanted, “Freddie Gray should be with us today.” “It’s business as usual — you’re not going to convict nobody for killing a black man in America, whether it be New York or Chicago, Philadelphia or Baltimore,” said Duane “Shorty” Davis, a chef and activist here. “Black lives don’t matter to white America.”
“It’s another dark day in Baltimore,” said Janea Rogers, 38, a homemaker from Northeast Baltimore and the mother of two teenagers. Mr. Davis said he believed Ms. Mosby never had any “intention of winning this case,” and that the only reason she brought charges “is because they had an uprising.”
“I can’t tell them, trust the cops,” she said. “I don’t know what to tell them.” Others said they saw the $6.4 million settlement that Baltimore paid to Mr. Gray’s family, including his mother, to settle an expected civil suit last year as a kind of payback, or trade, for the acquittals. Among them were George Grady and his girlfriend, Carleen White, near Pennsylvania and North Avenues, not far from the site of last year’s unrest.
Tawanda Jones, 38, has worked for police accountability since her brother, Tyrone West, died after a struggle with the Baltimore police in 2013. “When she took the money, why would you find the police guilty now?” Mr. Grady said. As to whether Ms. Mosby should drop the remaining cases, he said was of two minds. At first, he said she should not. But then, he switched gears: “The family got paid. Let it go, let this rest.”
“I’m disgusted,” said Ms. Jones, standing outside the courthouse. “I’m sick of being disgusted. I’m starting to feel emotionless.” Despite the sense here that little has changed since then, some civil rights leaders, like Tessa Hill-Aston, the president of Baltimore’s branch of the N.A.A.C.P., said the very act of trying the officers has brought scrutiny to police practices that had long endured in the shadows. And some police practices appear to be changing.
“They sent a deadly message,” she added, “sent to communities all over the world, that black lives don’t matter.” “We’re here, and the police are being looked at, and they have to change their behavior,” Ms. Hill-Aston said, adding that she hoped the prosecutions would continue for that reason. “As a person out in the street, I think we should keep them coming.”
While prosecutors have not secured a conviction, some in Baltimore say the very act of putting the officers on trial has brought scrutiny to police practices that they said had long endured. Late last month, the Baltimore police announced they were putting new cameras in transport vans. Ms. Hill-Aston, as well as a lawyer, A. Dwight Petit, who represents police brutality plaintiffs in Baltimore, say anecdotal complaints of rough rides have dropped since Mr. Gray’s case took over the headlines.
“We’re here, and the police are being looked at, and they have to change their behavior,” said Tessa Hill-Aston, the president of Baltimore’s branch of the N.A.A.C.P., who added that she hoped the prosecutions would continue for that reason. “As a person out in the street, I think we should keep them coming.” That has trickled down to anecdotes on the street. Standing at the intersection of Pennsylvania and North Avenues, Darrius Colbert, 26, who said that he had served about seven years in prison, said he had been arrested and loaded into a police wagon on three occasions — twice before Mr. Gray’s death, and once after.
Late last month, the Baltimore Police Department announced that it was putting new cameras in transport vans. Ms. Hill-Aston, as well as a lawyer, A. Dwight Petit, who represents police brutality plaintiffs in Baltimore, say anecdotal complaints of rough rides have dropped since Mr. Gray’s case. On the former occasions, Mr. Colbert said, he was not secured with a seatbelt, and felt “weak and powerless,” though he was not hurt. “The van takes off,” he said, “you just slide around, thinking, ‘I have no control over my life whatsoever.’”
Standing at the intersection of Penn and North Avenue, where a C.V. S drugstore was engulfed in flames after Mr. Gray’s death but which was quiet on Thursday afternoon, Darrius Colbert, 26, said he too had noticed a difference in his own treatment by police officers in Baltimore. But during his most recent arrest, he said that he was buckled in.
Mr. Colbert, who said he has served about seven years in prison, said he has been arrested and loaded into a police wagon on three different occasions — twice before Mr. Gray’s death, and once after. On the former occasions, Mr. Colbert said, he was not secured with a seatbelt.
But when he was arrested after Mr. Gray’s death, he said, the officers used a seatbelt, and he said he felt safer.
“I wasn’t sliding,” Mr. Colbert said.