01 Jul 2016 Project 21’s Cooper Criticizes the Trial of Baltimore Police Officer Caesar Goodson

On June 28, Project 21 Co-Chair Horace Cooper appeared on 1240 WJIM-AM’s “The Steve Gruber Show” to discuss the trial and acquittal of Baltimore police officer Caesar R. Goodson, Jr. related to the death of Freddie Gray.

“The problem here is that the leadership in Baltimore was more interested in using a trial to scapegoat, rather than to carry out the awesome and serious responsibilities that come when you say, ‘I declare a felony has happened and this individual is responsible,’” said Cooper, who is also an attorney, constitutional law commentator and former member of the faculty at the George Mason University School of Law.

“A criminal trial is not a fact-finding opportunity,” continued Cooper. “You don’t have a trial just to find out ‘the truth.’ You have a trial because you have a reason to believe that a crime has actually occurred… You don’t have a trial because the crowd is agitated.  You don’t have a trial because it’s election time and you have ambitions to become mayor or some other higher office.  Those are abuses of office.”

Horace’s appearance can be heard below, starting about 3 minutes into the clip.