(Reuters) – Defense lawyers rested their case on Friday in the trial of a Baltimore police officer charged with murder in the death of black detainee Freddie Gray last year, a court spokeswoman said.
Closing arguments in the high-profile trial of Officer Caesar Goodson Jr are set for Monday in Baltimore City Circuit Court, she said. Judge Barry Williams, who is hearing the case in a bench trial, then will decide Goodson’s fate.
Goodson, 46, was the driver of a police transport van in which Gray broke his neck in April 2015. His trial is considered the marquee case for Maryland prosecutors who failed to secure a conviction in two earlier trials of officers.
Gray’s death triggered rioting and protests and stoked a debate on police treatment of minorities. Goodson, who is black, is the third among six officers charged in Gray’s death to go on trial.
Goodson’s trial saw tensions flare between a police investigator and prosecutor Michael Schatzow on Thursday when Detective Dawnyell Taylor testified that a medical examiner had called Gray’s death an accident before ruling it a homicide.
Schatzow accused Taylor of failing to keep the prosecution informed about the medical examiner’s comments, and Taylor said she had problems with the integrity of prosecutor Janice Bledsoe. Schatzow retorted that Bledsoe had made her own allegations about Taylor’s integrity.
Prosecutors argue that Goodson caused Gray’s death by giving him a “rough ride,” failing to secure him with a seat belt and failing to call for medical aid. Goodson’s lawyers say Gray caused his own injuries.
https://twitter.com/Reporterroblang/status/744949571806175232
https://twitter.com/Reporterroblang/status/744949666073161728
https://twitter.com/Reporterroblang/status/744948296502763520
White supremacy Defense wants us to believe #FreddieGray gravely injured himself to stay out of jail? For what crime? GTFOOH
Their so called defense is bullsh!t from start to finish. They are defending the indefensible.
No morals, no conscience, nothing but bald face lies. Demons unleashed from the pit of hell.
https://twitter.com/saliqaWBAL/status/744934406037606400
https://twitter.com/legalspeaks/status/744939135157305344
https://twitter.com/saliqaWBAL/status/744936974910267393
HOW ABOUT IT WOULD BE THE RIGHT & JUST THING TO HOLD OFFICERS ACCOUNTABLE, FIRST?
https://twitter.com/saliqaWBAL/status/744935993090838528
https://twitter.com/justin_fenton/status/744935088442449920
https://twitter.com/MikeWJZ/status/744934900457865216
https://twitter.com/MikeWJZ/status/744934569674104832
Well, either he knows the defense is full of sh!t or this is the prelude to an acquittal.
I’ll take acquittal for $1000, ALEX!
That is my fear.
https://twitter.com/MikeWJZ/status/744933405565943813
When your hands and feet are shackled, how rough does the ride have to be for you to be injured?
https://twitter.com/saliqaWBAL/status/744933388822413312
I wish that were the worst thing they did to him. They broke his neck and crushed his larynx as though he were a defenseless animal and they were a gang of bullies who do this all the time for fun and laughs.
There is NOTHING about these trials so far that lead me to believe there will be any GUILTY verdicts issued. Am I being a pessimist?
As a unit the six officers changed a healthy young man into a dead one. They should have been charged as a unit.
I agree. One cohesive story, told one time.
Not at all. I do not expect a conviction here, certainly not on the most serious charge of murder. I’m guessing full acquittal unless the judge wants to throw a bone to the prosecutors and convict on some lesser charge. If that is true, this is the guy who will get a conviction, but there will most likely be a full acquittal for the others.
https://twitter.com/saliqaWBAL/status/744933208962260997
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https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744928031500869632
https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744927858905223169
Only if you believe that “probable cause” is significant when arresting a person and assaulting their body.
https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744927656995610624
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https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744921397542019074
https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744921098542669824
Just look at this ISH
https://twitter.com/wspickerman/status/744920518625792001
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/744921895124930560
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https://twitter.com/justin_fenton/status/744916709463711744
https://twitter.com/MikeWJZ/status/744917871256539136
https://twitter.com/saliqaWBAL/status/744917198746042368
https://twitter.com/Reporterroblang/status/744917334012338176
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https://twitter.com/Reporterroblang/status/744916390885396480
https://twitter.com/Reporterroblang/status/744916208219262976
Lying liars and the lies they tell. They’re shameless.
https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744915831419637760
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I loathe these people. Wickedness has no bounds.
https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744913373813420032
https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744913250404438016
No he wasn’t. But #FreddieGray was able to run before police had contact with him.
https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744911665209053186
Injuries were internal.
https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744911153654988800
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https://twitter.com/rousseau_ist/status/744910644395261953
https://twitter.com/jlepolastewart/status/744891077761568769
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I’m sure the Judge saw the video of #FreddieGray screaming in pain. How in the hell was he being combative?
https://twitter.com/HellgrenWJZ/status/744907841958469632
Here comes the acquittal. I don’t trust this judge any further than I could throw him.
https://twitter.com/OmarJimenezWBAL/status/744848125412712448
https://twitter.com/Knightfromabc2/status/744814718007672833
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