Freddie Gray Death: Officer Acquitted, Renewed Calls to End Trials (Update)

Updated at 2:45 p.m.

Baltimore, MD — A judge on Thursday found Officer Caesar Goodson, the Baltimore police officer charged with murder in the case of Freddie Gray, not guilty of all charges.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis called on the community to respond in a constructive way.

"...I am pleased by the peaceful manner our residents have chosen to express their diverse opinions," Davis said. "I have no doubt we will continue to exhibit behaviors that represent the very best of Baltimore."

Gray died in police custody a year ago, touching off riots in the city.

Goodson drove the police van that transported Gray after his arrest.

The city's mayor and NAACP president asked residents disappointed by the verdict to remain calm.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said that Goodson still faces an administrative review by the police department.

"We once again ask the citizens to be patient and to allow the entire process to come to a conclusion," Rawlings-Blake said in a statement. "I am proud that we as a community have come together to move our city forward over the past year. I know that citizens of Baltimore will continue to respect the judicial process and the ruling of the court.”

Prosecutors alleged Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury after he was arrested and placed in the van on April 12, 2015.

Of six officers indicted in the Gray case, Goodson faced the most serious charge: second-degree depraved-heart murder. He was also charged with manslaughter, second-degree assault, vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent manslaughter, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.

Goodson was the only officer who did not provide a statement to police during the investigation into Gray's death, and he did not take the stand during his trial.

Judge Barry Williams said there was insufficient evidence for a conviction on any of the charges.

"Seemingly, the state wants this court to simply assume that because Mr. Gray was injured...the defendant intentionally gave Mr. Gray a rough ride," Williams said. However, the judge went through each charge and what was required to prove it, explaining why there was not enough evidence for a conviction.

"As the trier of fact, the court cannot simply let things speak for themselves," Williams said of Gray's injury.

(Read the transcript from the hearing where Williams read the verdict, posted at the end of this article.)

Earlier this month, Goodson opted for a judge to hear the case rather than a jury—known as a "bench trial"—which historically puts the odds in his favor.

Not a single bench trial yielded a conviction for a police officer charged with murder or manslaughter between 2005 and 2011, according to data compiled by Philip Stinson, associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University.

"All of the convictions [of police officers] ... have resulted from a guilty plea or a jury trial," Stinson, a former police officer, told Patch. "So, in Goodson’s case, it would be an unusual event if he were convicted of a homicide offense."

Added Stinson: "The numbers would suggest that the overwhelming likelihood is that he will be acquitted (or perhaps found guilty on one of the lesser charges)."

Some have said that State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby should reconsider moving forward with the four other open cases, since the previous two officer trials have ended in an acquittal and mistrial.

"While we agree with the verdict in the case against Officer Goodson, we also suggest that Mrs. Mosby reconsider her malicious prosecution against the remaining four officers," Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police President Lt. Gene Ryan said in a statement Thursday afternoon. "To continue this travesty is an insult to the taxpaying citizens of Baltimore who, at the end of the day, bear the full burden of the enormous cost of these trials that have no merit and continue to divide our city."

Community Reaction

A man named Kamal who told Patch he witnessed Gray's arrest said that the 25-year-old was injured before he was put in the police van. Another bystander, Angel Selah, said she sought justice and believed the verdict in the case was pre-determined.

Warren Brown, a prominent Baltimore defense attorney who watched the trial, told reporters after the verdict that the state felt it had to hold someone responsible for Gray’s death, but prosecutors have been unable to point the finger at whose actions caused the fatal injury.

“This was a tragic event, and I think the uncertainty about what really happened is what’s given rise to all these officers being charged,” he said.

The state would do well to reassess whether to prosecute the remaining officers, Brown said.

“He’s dead because six officers did something wrong, bottom line,” said Tessa Hill-Aston, president of the Baltimore City chapter of the NAACP.

Hill-Aston said that she was disappointed by the verdict and knows other Baltimore residents are as well. While they can protest the judge’s ruling, they cannot riot, she told bystanders.

Background on Gray's Encounter With Police

Officer Edward Nero — one of three bicycle officers who arrested Gray off Presbury Street after he reportedly made eye contact with a lieutenant and ran on April 12, 2015 — was found not guilty of assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct on May 23 in a bench trial with Williams presiding.

Officer William Porter's case ended in a mistrial in December with a hung jury. He was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office, and has a new trial date of Sept. 6.

SEE ALSO:

• Protests in Baltimore Expected as Verdict Arrives in Goodson Trial
• Judge to Deliver Verdict in Officer Goodson Trial: Freddie Gray Case
• Officer Edward Nero Found Not Guilty in Gray Case

During the Goodson trial, which began June 8, prosecutors alleged that the policeman drove the van in a way that injured Gray and was at fault for neither securing Gray with a seat belt nor providing him with medical attention. Goodson's attorneys said that Gray injured himself.

When Williams issued a verdict at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 23, he said: "The court finds insufficient evidence that the defendant intended to give a 'rough ride' in the police van. This court finds no evidence...of any animosity."

In the coming months, four officers charged in the Gray case also have trials scheduled: Lt. Brian Rice on July 5, Officer Garrett Miller on July 27, Officer William Porter on Sept. 6 and Sgt. Alicia White on Oct. 13.

»Photo of Officer Caesar Goodson courtesy of Baltimore Police; photos from Baltimore courthouse and video by Patch Editor Elizabeth Janney.