BALTIMORE – A 25-year-old black man got a “rough ride” in the back of a Baltimore police van, critically injuring his spine and causing his death a week later, a prosecutor said Thursday.
The van driver, Officer Caesar Goodson, is on trial facing second-degree murder, manslaughter and other charges stemming from Freddie Gray’s death.
Prosecutors had hinted that Gray received a rough ride when he was arrested April 12, 2015, but Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow’s accusation during opening statements of the van driver’s trial was the first time they had explicitly said so.
Prosecutors say Goodson is the most culpable in Gray’s death and he faces the most serious charges of the six officers who were charged.
Goodson’s attorney Andrew Graham said his client did nothing wrong when he transported Gray without first buckling him into a seat belt, saying that officers “virtually never” belt prisoners.