On Thursday, Baltimore police officer Caesar Goodson Jr. heaved a sigh of relief as he was acquitted of criminal involvement in the death of Freddie Gray, an Afro-American man who had sustained mortal injuries and succumbed as a result, while in judicial custody.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams found Goodson, who too belongs to same origins as of Gray, innocent of all the charges pressed against him, that included inappropriate conduct in office and second-degree murder, the most serious and offensive allegations against any of the six officials who had been booked in connection to Gray’s death. Prosecutor from the Frays had failed to obtain sentences in two earlier trials of the officers.
Goodson, 46, had been the driver of a police transport van which had been transporting the then accused Gray, who ‘broke his neck’, back in April 2015. “This court is satisfied the state has failed to show evidence of the crimes”, Justice Williams concluded in his judgement.
Source: The Hindu.
Picture(s): Various Agencies.
