A Baltimore judge issued a stinging rebuke Thursday to prosecutors in the third trial against police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, finding that they failed to disclose evidence that could have been crucial to the defense.
On the first day of the trial against officer Caesar Goodson, who faces a charge of murder, judge Barry Williams said prosecutors should have disclosed a meeting they held with witness Donta Allen in which he confirmed statements made to the police on the date of Gray’s arrest.
Although Williams did not issue severe sanctions for what he deemed a lapse by prosecutors, the interaction was a rough start to what many believe will be the prosecution’s best chance at a conviction, after failing to win the first two cases against officers involved in Gray’s death.
Allen, who was arrested after Gray and placed in the same van that Goodson was driving, told police that he heard Gray “banging his head against the metal, like he was trying to knock himself out or something”. At the time he was under the influence of heroin and Xanax.
When Gray was removed from the van he was unresponsive and later died as result of a severe spinal injury suffered in the back of the van.
A few weeks later, Allen told television reporters that he heard “a little banging for about four seconds. I just heard little banging, just little banging”.
Because of Allen’s inconsistent statements, Goodson’s lawyer argued that Allen’s third statement with his lawyer present could have been crucial to confirming his original version of events.
Deputy chief state’s attorney Michael Schatzow likened the lapse to interviewing the same witness multiple times for trial preparation and said that he wouldn’t be required to advise the defense that the witness said the same thing each time.
But the judge was having none of it, questioning whether Schatzow knew what “exculpatory” means.
“If your office doesn’t get that, I don’t know where we are at this point,” Williams said, adding that the different circumstances of the statements outweigh and add to the similarity of the accounts.
“Just because the words are the same, you still have to consider the environment, the circumstances,” Williams said. “Where the circumstances have changed … you clearly have to turn that over. There is no room for error.”
Though Williams ruled that the prosecution had erred, he did not think it warranted throwing out the indictment, allowing Allen’s original statement into evidence, or asking that Jan Bledsoe, who has a romantic relationship with the TV reporter who interviewed Allen, to step aside”, all of which the defense proposed as potential remedies.
Judge Williams did give Schatzow until Monday to bring before the court any other evidence it may have deemed unimportant and therefore not disclosed.
In opening remarks, Schatzow argued that Goodson had the “ultimate responsibility for Mr Gray when Mr Gray was in that van”.
“He was injured because he got a ‘rough ride,” Schatzow said, using a phrase that refers to the practice of driving in such a way as to intentionally injure a suspect who is cuffed and shackled in the back of a van. He argued that the evidence would show that Goodson ran a stop sign and made a sharp right turn “with sufficient speed that he crosses the double yellow line” in the road and called only minutes later to get someone to come and check on Gray.
The defense countered that Goodson did not give a Gray a rough ride. “It simply was not a rough ride. It did not happen and there is no evidence to show it did,” said Andrew Graham, Goodson’s attorney.
He argued, instead, that Gray died of a “freakish accident” and that if he had remained on the floor of the van he would not have been injured. He argued that the medical examiner changed her ruling from accident to homicide under pressure from the state’s attorney’s office.
Goodson waived his right to a jury trial, so judge Williams will decide whether to convict Goodson.
