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An attorney for Freddie Gray's family says they are frustrated by Thursday's verdict and remain supportive of the state's attorney who brought charges against the offices. (June 23) AP
Protesters gather outside a courthouse after Officer Caesar Goodson, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, was acquitted of all charges in his trial in Baltimore, Thursday, June 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)(Photo: Patrick Semansky, AP)
For many,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the acquittal of the key defendant in Baltimore's Freddie Gray case is Exhibit A<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of injustice in America. For others, it shows that justice prevails, despite racial and political pressure.
The Rev. Al Sharpton of National Action Network said he was "disappointed" in Thursday's verdict, saying the group<span style="color: Red;">*</span>will continue efforts<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"to push for the delivery of justice and closure for Gray’s family."
Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color Of Change, a New York-based civil rights group, called the verdict “heartbreaking,” saying it “sends a clear message to Black communities that the police and larger justice system are not designed to protect us.”
But to Baltimore-area attorneys who have followed the case, the judge’s not-guilty verdict was just the opposite: proof that the judicial system will do what is right, regardless of politics.
In a closely watched bench trial, Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams on Thursday found Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. not guilty of all charges in Gray’s death after Gray suffered injuries in a police van in April 2015.
Goodson, 46, had faced second-degree depraved-heart murder, the most serious count of any of the six officers in the case.
“Absolutely, justice was served today by the verdict, on many levels,” said Douglas Gansler, a former two-term<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Maryland attorney general. He said Judge Williams did “a commendable job” focusing on the facts of the case and filtering out what must have been enormous pressure to find Goodson guilty. “That’s the system that we celebrate and fight to protect in America.”
Gansler, who also ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2014, said, "The minute politics seeps into our criminal justice system is the minute we have problems with our criminal justice system.”
Indictments for the six officers, announced in dramatic fashion on May 1, 2015, by Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby, followed several days of protests and rioting following Gray’s funeral. After Mosby outlined the charges, President Obama said, "Justice needs to be served. ... What I think the people of Baltimore want more than anything else is the truth."
But from the day the charges were announced,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Baltimore attorney Steven D. Silverman said,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“the vast majority of jurist practitioners — and those in academia that understand the criminal defense world — knew that the charges were bogus and unprovable against any of the officers.”
Prosecutors, he said, had “an impossible burden” in Goodson’s case, based on the facts and the law.
Silverman added, “99 out of 100 professionals in this line of work were scratching their heads at these charges, knowing that this day would come.”
Bicycle officers arrested Gray, 25, on April 12, 2015, after he caught their eye and ran. He was shackled and loaded into a van driven by Goodson, but was not secured in a seat belt. Gray suffered a severe spinal injury en route to the police station and died a week later. His<span style="color: Red;">*</span>death set off a series of demonstrations across the nation and sometimes violent protests in the majority-black city of more than 600,000 people.
Goodson, who, like Gray, is black, had waived his right to a jury, instead casting his lot with Judge Williams, who is also black. Goodson is the second officer to be acquitted of all charges by the 53-year-old Williams, a 10-year veteran of the circuit court.
Prosecutors claimed Goodson intentionally gave Gray a "rough ride" in the van and failed to get Gray medical attention despite his repeated requests.
Goodson did not testify, but his lawyers said Gray was kicking and too volatile to buckle in — and that there was no evidence of a rough ride.
Steven H. Levin, a former federal prosecutor who is now a Baltimore defense attorney, suggested that Mosby rushed to trial with the case out of political motivations.
“Mosby raised the expectations of the community by suggesting that these officers had committed a crime,” Levin said. “We now know that there was no crime — while Mr. Gray’s death was a tragedy, there was no crime.”
Mosby's office did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the verdict.
Levin added, “Rather than following the evidence, Mosby followed her constituents. Those are not the actions of a responsible prosecuting attorney.”
Gerard P. Martin, another former federal prosecutor, agreed.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“This is a civil case,” he said. “It’s not a criminal case.”
Martin said he couldn’t judge why Mosby crafted the cases the way she did, but<span style="color: Red;">*</span>noted, “The political judgment was, ‘I have to bring these charges in order to calm everybody down.’ I wonder if she would make the same charges today.”
As for the judge, Martin said, “He may have felt some pressure” to hand down a guilty verdict. “There certainly was pressure in the community. But he followed his oath.”
Contributing: John Bacon, USA TODAY; follow Greg Toppo on Twitter: @gtoppo
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