Posted on 06/11/2016 1:30:02 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
There’s been a bit of a bombshell dropped in the trial of Ceasar Goodson, the police officer who drove the van in which Freddie Gray sustained his eventually fatal injuries. We previously discussed the decision by Goodson’s team to opt for a bench trial and allow Judge Barrie Williams to decide his fate rather than facing a jury, along with how that might impact his fate. Now, the early signs are that it might have been a wise choice. Williams is reported to have appeared “visibly angry” on the second day of the trial when it was revealed that prosecutors had intentionally withheld evidence which could seriously tip the case in Goodson’s favor. (ABC News)
The judge overseeing the trial of a police officer charged with murdering Freddie Gray has determined that prosecutors withheld information that would have been beneficial to the defense.
Judge Barry Williams was visibly angry in the Baltimore court but he did not dismiss the charges against police officer Caesar Goodson, as his attorneys had requested. Williams is giving prosecutors until Monday to disclose any other relevant evidence they have withheld. Goodson was the driver of the van during the arrest of Gray, 25, last year.
Goodson’s attorneys have argued that prosecutors withheld statements made last year by Donta Allen, a key witness. Allen was picked up by the Baltimore police van after Gray.
The testimony of Donta Allen could essentially invalidate the entire premise of the prosecution and the timeline of events which they are presenting for the day in question. Allen was picked up on the final leg of the van’s trip, well after Gray’s injuries were alleged to have been suffered. He was in the back of the van on the other side of the barrier from Freddie Gray and, according to the Baltimore Sun, told police during two interviews that he heard Gray moving around and “banging” against the partition while he was in the van. He also testified that the trip was a “smooth ride” while he was in the van, contradicting claims that Gray has been intentionally given a “rough ride” to injure him.
Attached to the documents released Wednesdaywas a transcript of Allen’s taped statement to police the day of the incident. In it, Allen told police that it sounded like Gray “was banging his head against the metal, like he was trying to knock himself out or something.”
Allen said he thought there was “a dope fiend” on the other side of the divider purposefully banging his head, four or five times. “It was like – he wasn’t doing it hard and [expletive], but he was definitely banging himself in the head. I know he was.”
This isn’t a slam dunk for the defense because Allen’s credibility as a witness may be called into question. He was in the back of the van for a reason and the state may try to discredit his testimony. But what benefit would it be to Allen to lie about his ride in the van during two extensive interviews? If he was a criminal offering testimony which might bring a cop down you could understand a healthy dose of skepticism on the part of the judge, but this appears to be the opposite case.
Up until now, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has been under fire for mishandling this case from essentially the beginning, but it’s mostly been seen as an inept and potentially biased attempt to punish the cops and send a message to the community. The evidence seemed shaky and the list of charges appeared to be an overreach. But all of these factors could be written off as incompetence or the result of some sort of vendetta. This news, however, could change the entire flavor of the trial for the judge. If Williams concludes that the state has been intentionally hiding evidence in an effort to railroad the cops, the credibility of all the charges could simply collapse, along with what remains of Mosby’s career in law enforcement and politics most likely.
David French summed it up pretty well yesterday at National Review.
Goodson is on trial for “depraved-heart murder” – the most serious of the charges brought in the Gray case – and news of the prosecution’s failure to disclose exculpatory evidence is particularly troubling. The judge stopped short of accusing the prosecutors of intentional misconduct, but senior prosecutors know better. They have no excuse.
The first two Freddie Gray prosecutions were shameful. The current case is off to an inauspicious start. A rush to judgment rarely yields justice.
There are at least three more trials to go in this matter, along with the retrial of Officer Porter. But of all of them, Goodson was seen as the best bet for a conviction and the person most “responsible” for the events as they relate to Freddie Gray’s injuries. If this one falls apart, the wheels have truly come off the wagon and the remaining trials may prove to be a waste of time and taxpayer money.
Grubered, Nifonged, Mosbied, Borked...
All kinds of new verbs brought to us by the progressives.
Shhhhh! Don’t you know the rules? Conservatives, particularly Trump supporters, are not allowed to talk about prosecutors and the justice system. If they do, Paul Ryan will accuse them of a textbook case of racism.
No, Mosby was playing her own toon to gain credibility and notoriety and recognition to the progressive machine. The looters had no tune other than the opportunity to loot.
Yes, most of those officers other than the bicycle patrol should have been charged. I've no doubt about that. This wasn't the first nor the second time in 4 years that BPD injured or killed a passenger in the paddy wagon. It was the 3rd one in 4 years. All involving mishandling shackled prisoners.
Where left wing haters are involved in race or sex witch hunt prosecution, you will always find corruption. Justice is neither the intent nor the goal.
progressive machine
What happened in any other instance is irrelevant to this one.
Just because the city paid out damages doesn’t mean there was any actual wrongdoing.
Try following this story at legalinsurrection.com
Mosby will get ZERO convictions because ZERO of these officers should have been charged in the first place.
>>The Mayor of Baltimore and the Prosecutor should be indicted.<<
Maybe Trump’s AG can bring a civil rights case against them, or RICO.
That AG will be busy with all the corrupt rats that need prosecuting.
Allen is about the least credible witness imaginable. He subsequently denied making the quoted statement, and said he’d never talked to the police. During the interview the Prosecution failed to disclose, he said both statements were correct and claimed there was no conflict between them. He was in the van following arrest on a drug charge, and is currently doing time for a parole violation.
But the big issue is that the coroner made the decision regarding the location of death at the time when his claim that he’d never said Gray was alive and banging around after that point was the current version. For the remaining officers, their whole case relies on the theory that Gray was injured before the third stop and the officers refused to get him medical care.
On Thursday, Williams told the prosecution that they apparently didn’t know the definition of the word exculpatory. I submit they are very aware of that definition, and it was the driving factor behind their failure to disclose the meeting to the defense.
Can someone refresh my memory as to why Officer Porter is being re-tried?
Thanks,
Leni
Your opinion. Mine is just as good.
This was an intentional act on the part of at least one officer with the cooperation of others. Shackle the prisoner up, toss him in the back and don’t buckle him in. Then take the ‘short cut’ for a little police dispensed pain. There intent may not have been to kill him, nonetheless that was the result of them abusing him.
There was a procedure introduced some weeks earlier that all prisoners had to be seat belted during travel. This was a result of 2 other lawsuits stemming from BPD joyriding prisoners. Whoever drove that car and shackled him up without seat should go to prison.
It was. He disavowed it within hours of making it. During the meeting in question he reportedly said both his first and second statements were correct, and he saw no contradiction between them.
Hung jury. 11-1 for not guilty on the most serious charge.
The only evidence presented of a "rough ride" was rolling through a stop sign and crossing the center line at slow speed.
There was a procedure introduced some weeks earlier that all prisoners had to be seat belted during travel.
If you had followed Porters Trial, you would have seen that destroyed by the defense six ways from Sunday.
No. Mosby botched these cases. 1 or 2 convictions were guaranteed until she started mouthing off.
This is a prima facie case of police misconduct. The facts are not in dispute. It’s intent.
His trial ended in mistrial for a hung jury.
And the facts have resulted in a hung jury and an acquittal.
So, yes, the facts are in dispute.
“Mosby has been personally sued by the acquitted two officers for $millions. They will absolutely win.”
I hope you are right, but I doubt it.
Prosecutors have been granted an immunity from lawsuit and prosecution that is hard to believe.
The Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors can lie. They can recuit false witnesses for grand juries, even when they have clear conflicts of interests in the case. They can drop prosecutions just before trial, and then bring charges over and over, to financially break someone they consider an enemy.
And they cannot be sued or criminally prosecuted for any of it.
I hope you are right, but I doubt it.
Yes, it was.
Don’t know why the prosecution thought they could get away with covering it up.
Leni
Not 1983 civil rights. Remember Selma?
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