http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-goodson-tuesday-20171107-story.html
Baltimore Police Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. was found not guilty Tuesday of all 21 administrative charges against him in the 2015 arrest and death of Freddie Gray.
The verdict absolves Goodson once and for all in the high-profile case, and allows him to continue his career in the city police force.
Goodson, 48, the driver of the police van in which Gray was found with severe and ultimately fatal spinal cord injuries in April 2015, had faced possible termination if any of the charges against him was sustained. He was charged with neglecting his duty by failing to ensure Gray’s safety, including by not securing a handcuffed and shackled Gray in a seat belt and not calling a medic for Gray after he requested one. He was also charged with making false statements to investigators.
The decision clearing him of all charges was unanimous among the three law enforcement officials who presided over the six-day administrative trial, and follows his acquittal on all criminal charges, including second-degree depraved-heart murder, at a separate trial last year.
“This is a vindication of this officer,” said Sean Malone, one of Goodson’s attorneys, shortly after the verdict was read during a brief reconvening of the panel at the University of Baltimore about 1 p.m. Tuesday. “This is a tragic accident that happened, and we’re sorry for the loss of Mr. Gray, but we’re glad that our client is not going to be the face of this incident.”
The panel’s decision is final and cannot be challenged by the city or the Police Department.
Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, in a statement, said the department “will stay the course” with the upcoming trial boards for two other officers charged administratively in the case.
“Freddie Gray died in police custody. My thoughts and prayers remain with the Gray family,” Davis said. “We will continue to make improvements within our organization to meet the expectations of constitutional policing demanded by our community.”
William H. “Billy” Murphy, the Gray family’s attorney, could not immediately be reached for comment. The city previously reached a $6.4 million civil settlement with Gray’s family.
Malone said Goodson did not want to comment himself, but intends to “take care of his family” by continuing his 18-year career with the department until retirement.
“Officer Goodson is just ready to get on. This is three years. He had a murder charge over his head, he’s had this over his head. He’s a quiet man, he’s a hard-working man, he’s just happy to resume his life,” Malone said. “This has been hard on him and his family, and it’s nice to get his life back.”
In delivering the verdict, Prince George’s County Police Maj. Rosa Guixens, the chair of the panel, read out “not guilty” 21 times in a row before abruptly closing the proceedings.
Goodson was stoic until the last “not guilty” was read out, when he broke into a smile. He then hugged his attorneys, who congratulated each other and slapped one another on the back.
Outside the hearing room, Goodson’s father, Caesar Goodson Sr., who had sat through the entire trial, said “the family is glad it’s over.”
“My son is a good son and a good officer,” he said. “We hope no other officer has to go through that.”
Goodson has always maintained his innocence, saying in a statement to investigators aired for the first time at his administrative trial that he did not believe it was safe for him to climb into the van to secure Gray in a seat belt, and that he did not believe that Gray was injured or needed medical care when he requested it.
Gray, 25, was found unconscious and suffering from severe spinal cord injuries in the back of the van after a ride that included several stops, and died a week later. This death precipitated widespread protests against police brutality, and his funeral was followed by rioting, looting and arson that captured national attention and sent the city into a weeklong nightly curfew as the National Guard was called in to maintain order.
Six officers were charged criminally in the Gray case; none was convicted. Goodson, Lt. Brian Rice and Officer Edward Nero were acquitted at bench trials, and Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby then dropped all remaining charges against the other three officers.
The U.S. Justice Department also investigated Gray’s death but declined to bring any federal charges against the officers.
Five of those officers were subsequently charged administratively in the case after detectives from Montgomery and Howard counties conducted an outside investigation into Gray’s death on behalf of the city and the Police Department.
Goodson is the first officer to face a trial board in the case.
In addition to failures related to Gray’s safety, Goodson also faced charges that he made false statements to the county detectives, and that he failed to properly document his actions on the day of Gray’s arrest.
After the verdict, Malone said Goodson had been “wrongfully charged” from the start, echoing his arguments at trial that Goodson had acted in good faith as any reasonable officer would have under the circumstances.
Malone argued at the trial that the police department had failed to properly train or equip Goodson — and all of its officers — to handle non-compliant detainees, and that Goodson had deferred to his supervisors and other officers who had been more directly involved in loading Gray into the van and deciding not to secure him in a seat belt.
Neil Duke, the attorney for the city, had argued Goodson had failed in his duty to keep Gray safe, and was simply trying to pass blame on to the department and the other officers around him that day.
Duke, who could not be reached for comment after the verdict, said during the trial that Goodson was a veteran officer who had “become perhaps a little hardened or callous or indifferent to the plight of an average citizen.”
After the verdict, the local police union applauded the panel’s decision to clear Goodson.
Lt. Gene Ryan, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, said in a statement that while Gray’s death was “an extremely unfortunate incident,” no officers were responsible.
“Officer Goodson can now turn the page on from this chapter in his life and continue his career with the Baltimore Police Department,” Ryan said.
Tuesday’s verdict did not sit well with advocates of police reform.
Monique Dixon, deputy director of policy at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said in a statement Tuesday that the decision was “appalling, yet predictable” given the fact that the panel presiding over the trial was comprised entirely of law enforcement officers.
“As long as the city lets law enforcement police themselves in lieu of meaningful civilian oversight, these proceedings will not result in accountability and will fail to strengthen community trust,” Dixon said. “These hearings are hollow unless they are fundamentally altered to incorporate resident input, transparency, and accountability.”
Lawrence Grandpre, of the local grass-roots think tank Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, watched the proceedings and said the verdict did not come as a surprise to him, either.
“It’s nothing unexpected. We’ve been trying to reform these trial boards for three or four years,” he said, noting his organization’s efforts to add citizens to the panels.
Grandpre said he is concerned officers serving on the panels are partial to the officers who they have been tasked with passing judgment on, because “they are thinking, ‘That could be me.’ ”
Both Dixon and Grandpre said their organizations will continue working to change laws in Maryland and in Baltimore to improve civilian oversight of the police and police misconduct trials.
