Prosecutor: Police driver gave Freddie Gray a 'rough ride'

BALTIMORE -- The officer at the wheel when Freddie Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury in the back of a police van caused the young black man's death by deliberately giving him a "rough ride," prosecutors said for the first time Thursday as the driver went on trial on murder and manslaughter charges.

A "rough ride" is police lingo for teaching someone a lesson by putting him in a police wagon without a seat belt and driving so erratically that he is thrown around.

Over the past year, prosecutors had hinted Gray was subjected to such treatment.

But the accusation during opening statements at officer Caesar Goodson's trial was the first time they said the driver meant to hurt Gray, whose death in April 2015 touched off the worst riots in Baltimore in decades.

Prosecutors say Goodson was grossly negligent when he failed to buckle Gray in or call for medical aid during the 45-minute ride.

"There was no good reason for the defendant not to belt him in, except to bounce him around," chief deputy state's attorney Michael Schatzow said.

During the drive, Goodson ran a stop sign and made a sharp right turn at such high speed, he crossed a double yellow line, Schatzow said, citing video surveillance footage. Gray -- his hands cuffed and his legs shackled -- was thrown against the rear compartment, the prosecutor said.

Goodson attorney Andrew Graham flatly disputed the notion Gray was bounced around deliberately, saying: "There was no rough ride. It simply didn't happen."

He also said officers "virtually never" belt prisoners in, and Goodson is such a "slow and cautious" driver, he sometimes lulls his prisoners to sleep.

Graham said Goodson didn't belt Gray in because of his "violent and erratic behavior" that included screaming and kicking with such force the wagon shook.

Goodson, 46, who is black, faces the most serious charges of the six officers arrested in the case.

He could get 30 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.