Taking the same option as Officer Edward Nero, Officer Caesar Goodson has chosen to undergo a bench trial.Goodson is the third officer to face trial. After Officer William Porter’s trial ended with a hung jury, Nero opted for a bench trial and was acquitted on all charges.
Now Goodson is hoping to replicate Nero’s results by relying solely on the opinion of the judge. The officer, who drove the transport van in which Gray’s spine was severed, is the only one facing a murder charge in the case.
But Goodson’s trial is also a high-stakes one for the state. If prosecutors fail to indict the officer they say is the most responsible for Gray’s death, it will be even harder to achieve convictions with the other four.
