Baltimore Police Officer’s Murder Trial For The Death Of Freddie Gray Began Thursday

Baltimore Police Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., the only officer to be charged with murder in the death of Freddie Gray, went on trial Thursday. Gray died while in police custody on April 12, 2015, after he was arrested for what police said was an illegal switchblade and because he ran from officers. Prosecutors allege that the knife Gray had was not illegal, meaning there was no legal reason to detain him.

During his arrest, which was caught on a cellphone camera, Gray can be heard yelling that he couldn’t breathe but no one appears to give him medical assistance. At some point between the time he was detained and the time he arrived at the hospital, Gray sustained injuries so severe that he had three fractured vertebrae, injuries to his voice box, and his spine was 80 percent severed at the neck.

Prosecutors have a rough road ahead of them in this case, given that one of the officers who has already gone on trial had his case result in a mistrial, and the other officer was found not guilty. These results, which understandably disappointed the prosecution and Freddie Gray’s family, could explain why the prosecution team is changing strategy in this trial.

This time, they are arguing that Gray died as a result of injuries sustained by a “rough ride.” A rough ride describes the practice of deliberately driving the vehicle that is transporting the detained suspect in an aggressive and rough matter to throw them around a bit and cause injury.

Prosecutor pins Freddie Gray’s death on Baltimore officer’s ‘rough ride’ for first time https://t.co/DUelan0SA3 pic.twitter.com/VKkB9DzppC

— HuffPost BlackVoices (@blackvoices) June 10, 2016

Goodson faces the most serious charges of the six officers that had been charged since he was the one operating the van that transported Gray. Despite the fact that police policy stated handcuffed passengers were to be belted into the transport vehicle, the officers put Gray on his stomach in the back of the van. During opening arguments, the prosecutor stated that Goodson ran through a stop sign and took a sharp right turn and that he was driving so fast he could not stay in his own lane. This is when they allege the fatal injury took place.

Before they even started, though, the prosecution team was off to a rough start. Judge Barry Williams, the judge overseeing the case and who will ultimately decide the verdict, found that the prosecution had withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense and became extremely angry at the prosecutor. Despite this finding, he did not agree to the defense’s motion to dismiss the case. The prosecution is accused of not revealing to the defense that they met with one of the witnesses — the individual who was in the vehicle with Gray.

However, the prosecutor claimed that they did not reveal this because there was no new information that came from the meeting and that their people hadn’t even taken notes. The judge gave the prosecution until Monday to hand over any additional information to the defense.

Baltimore judge refuses to dismiss case against PO Caesar Goodson, van driver in Freddie Gray case – CBS Baltimore https://t.co/3OltzN34gg

— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) June 9, 2016

Gray’s death is one of a number of cases that have received media attention recently for the death of black men during an arrest or while in police custody. These deaths have resulted in protests and riots, with the community rising up to demand justice. A very small number of these cases actually result in charges against the officers involved, and when they do, it is notoriously difficult to obtain a conviction.

With the first two trials in the Gray case not going as planned, the pressure is on the prosecutor to secure a conviction against Goodson. Two of the other officers charged alongside Goodson have filed a lawsuit against State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby for defamation and invasion of privacy. The lawsuit stems from comments that Mosby made during a May 2015 press conference, which the two officers claim were not part of the prosecution of the crime but rather an effort to stop the riots that were taking place at the time.

[Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]