Spotlight: Second Baltimore policeman acquitted of all charges in Freddie Gray death

The second policeman in connection with black youth Freddie Gray's death spurring big protests and riots in Baltimore last year, was on Thursday acquitted of all charges including second-degree depraved heart murder.

The latest verdict came after police officer Edward Nero was cleared of all charges on May 23 in connections with Gray's death, leaving four other policemen still face charges for their parts in Gray's death. All of them have pleaded not guilty.

Gray died in April 2015, a week after suffering a spinal injury in the back of a police van while he was handcuffed and shackled without being belted in.

Caesar Goodson, a 46-year-old African American who was driving the police van where Gray was found suffering fatal injuries, faced the most serious charges against six officers indicted in Gray's arrest and death. He was also accused of three counts of manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.

Prosecutors alleged Goodson had chances to aid the 25-year-old Gray and was the direct cause of Gray's injuries, because he was driving the van recklessly while Gray was handcuffed and shackled without being belted in the back of the van. Gray died one week later, touching off protests against police brutality, and rioting, looting and arson around the city.

During a three-day trial prior to the verdict, Goodson's defense lawyers said policemen who checked on Gray didn't know he was seriously injured, and that Goodson deferred to decisions of other officers not to put a seat belt on the black youth.

Baltimore circuit Judge Barry Williams said on Thursday in his verdict that the timeline of Gray's injuries remains unclear, and the state "failed to meet its burden" to present enough evidence to back its assertions.

"As the trier of fact, the court can't simply let things speak for themselves," Williams said.

Tessa Hill-Aston, President of the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the oldest and largest U.S. grassroots-based civil rights organization, called the verdict very disappointing and said it shows flaws in the U.S. justice system.

"We have to go back to the drawing board here in Baltimore and Maryland with rules and regulations and laws that affect the police behavior...because it's clear that they can do action that we feel is not correct, but in the courtroom ... is not a criminal act," she was quoted by a Baltimore Sun report as saying.

Soon after the verdict, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake urged citizens to "be patient and to allow the entire process to come to a conclusion," claiming Goodson will remain suspended and now face an administrative review by the Police Department.

However, the results of such case are not revealed to the public in Maryland, said the Baltimore Sun report.

Baltimore has already paid out a 6.4 million-U.S.-dollar civil settlement to Gray's family. Enditem