The hearing for Baltimore Police Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., the driver of the police transport wagon at the center of the Freddie Gray case, has begun with the judge denying the officer's request to move the trial to another jurisdiction, the Baltimore Sun reports. Goodson is charged with second-degree depraved-heart murder, the most serious charge among those brought against the six officers, as well as manslaughter, second-degree assault, two counts of vehicular manslaughter and misconduct in office.
According to the Sun, Judge Barry G. Williams, in denying Goodson's request Wednesday morning to move the trial, said that he still has "faith in the system." Williams also ruled that jurors will be anonymous but not sequestered and that they will be allowed to see the van Goodson was driving during Gray's April 12, 2015, arrest, during which he suffered a severe spinal cord injury.
What has yet to be decided is whether the judge will allow Officer William G. Porter's motion not to testify against the other officers in the case.
According to the Sun, prosecutors planned to use Porter's testimony against Goodson and Sgt. Alicia White, but Porter filed a motion on Monday noting that if called to testify against Goodson and White, he planned to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The judge is scheduled to decide whether or not Goodson will be compelled to testify against Goodson at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Read more at the Baltimore Sun.