The Baltimore police officer who drove the van that transported Freddie Gray has been found not guilty on all counts. Officer Caesar Goodson was charged with second-degree depraved heart murder, second-degree assault, manslaughter, misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment. Freddie Gray, who had a criminal record, died while in police custody after he sustained transport-related injuries that put him in a coma.
Officially, Gray’s death was ascribed to injuries to his spinal cord. His hospitalization and death resulted in protests involving more injuries and more arrests. The civil disorder turned worse after Gray’s funeral on April 27, 2015 when riots by violent mobs resulted in looting and severe property destruction. The violent riots prompted Governor Larry Hogan to declare a state of emergency. The deployment of the Maryland National Guard to Baltimore soon followed as did the establishment of a curfew which was lifted several days late on May 3, 2015.
After reading the not-guilty verdict, Judge Barry Williams ruled that the failure to seatbelt Gray was not criminal. Protestors have already formed on the streets of Baltimore protesting Goodson’s acquittal and have not showed any signs of slowing down.
More details to follow as the fallout continues from the Freddie Gray verdicts .