Caesar Goodson, the police van driver in the Freddie Gray case, opted for a bench trial on Monday in the high stakes and racially charged case which shone a spotlight on the tension between law enforcement and the minority communities they serve.
The stakes are high in the upcoming trial for Goodson who prosecutors say bears the most responsibility for the death of Gray, a young black man whose spine was snapped in the back of a police transport wagon. The trial is slated to start on Thursday.
Officer Goodson, faces second-degree murder and other charges. He will also face buck-passing from fellow officers who have already testified in two previous trials that if anyone was responsible for ensuring Gray's safety, it was him.
Goodson's choice of a bench trial echoes that of fellow Officer Edward Nero who was cleared of charges of assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment in a bench trial last month. Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams heard arguments in Nero's case and will also hear arguments in Goodson's trial.
Judge WIlliams also granted a motion to eliminate statements that Officer William Porter allegedly made to Detective Syreeta Teel during a telephone conversation in which he said that Gray claimed he could not breathe. Porter denied making those comments during his own trial last year.
Porter's trial resulted in a hung jury.
Related: Officer Charged in Freddie Gray Case, Edward Nero, Not Guilty on All Counts
The officer faces 30 years in prison if he's convicted of the murder charge. If prosecutors fail to secure a guilty verdict, it will be the third straight trial in which they haven't gotten a favorable decision: The first trial ended in a hung jury and the second finished with an acquitted last month.
Prosecutors say Goodson was grossly negligent when he failed to buckle Gray into a seat belt and call for medical aid during Gray's 45-minute ride in the back of Goodson's transport van April 12, 2015. But with no eye witnesses and very little physical evidence, experts say the government could be facing an uphill battle.
"It would be devastating for the state to lose Goodson's trial because there's no question that the ultimate responsibility lies with the van driver," said Warren Alperstein, a Baltimore attorney who has been closely following the case.
Gray died a week after he was injured in the van. His death prompted protests and civil unrest in the streets of Baltimore, and his name became a national rallying cry for people angry over officers' mistreatment of African Americans.
Gray was arrested in West Baltimore after making eye contact with a bicycle officer and running away. Once he was handcuffed and placed inside the van, witnesses have testified that Gray began to scream and kick so violently he shook the wagon. Two blocks from the arrest site, the wagon stopped again, and three officers took Gray out of the van to put him in leg shackles. They then placed him on the floor of the van, head-first and on his belly. He was never buckled into a seat belt, as required by department policy.
Related: A Look at the Baltimore Police Officers Charged in Freddie Gray's Death
The van made six stops in total during the trip from the site of his arrest to the Western District station house. Goodson is the only officer present at each of the stops. At one point, Goodson stopped the van to check on Gray without any other officers there.
Goodson, 46, faces second-degree "depraved-heart" murder, manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment charges. Prosecutors say that Goodson was so negligent in his failure to buckle Gray into a seat belt that he disregarded the apparent risk to Gray's life and wellbeing.
Porter, whose trial ended in a hung jury in December, testified during his trial that he told Goodson at one of the stops to take Gray to the hospital, but Goodson didn't. Instead, Goodson made another stop to pick up a second prisoner.
Goodson recently filed a motion seeking to block prosecutors from entering into evidence statements Porter made to an investigator. Goodson is the only officer who chose not to make a statement to investigators.
"This is unlike the other trials, where at least the state had a preview as to what the defense might be or what the defendant might say on the witness stand," said Steve Levin, a Baltimore attorney who is familiar but unaffiliated with the case.
"All the stops, it could work in Goodson's favor because it demonstrates that he was concerned about his prisoner," Levin said. "At the same time, it could work in the state's favor because prosecutors could argue that Officer Goodson saw Mr. Gray several times and he saw that he was injured and needed medical aid, and that he was so concerned that he kept checking on Gray."