Some people may not be familiar with certain legal terminology, perhaps leading them to wonder what exactly a hung jury is.
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To the contrary, the trial of Mr. Porter was fair, spirited and in earnest. Mr. Porter said he had never seen anyone seat-belted in a police van after an arrest, and he told jurors he deemed it risky to buckle Mr. Gray because Mr. Gray could have grabbed the officer’s gun.
Prosecutors said Porter ignored Gray’s pleas for medical help and abused his power as a police officer. Williams then instructed the panel to return to deliberations in the case of the 26-year-old cop, who was also on trial for second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office.
The charges against Porter carried maximum prison terms totaling 25 years. It is unclear at this point how the mistrial will affect the trials of the other five officers scheduled to go on trial for Gray’s death.
“We are going to fight for justice until it becomes a reality in our lives”. “If some choose to demonstrate to express their opinion, that is their right, and we respect that right, and we will fight to protect it. But all of us today agree that the unrest from last spring is not acceptable”.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake appeared with Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, saying that lawful protests would be allowed. All will be tried separately.
NPR’s Jennifer Ludden reported Sunday that the trial hinged on when the injury occurred: before or after Porter checked on Gray, who allegedly made it clear that he couldn’t breathe and asked for medical attention.
Officers caught up to him and found a knife in his trousers.
Porter was at five of six stops, authorities say.
Porter was one of six officers charged in connection with Gray’s death.
A post-mortem examination concluded Mr Gray was probably slammed against the interior of a police van as it turned a corner or stopped. “The family wants everyone to remain calm, they want everyone to understand what just happened and to make sure that their tempers don’t get the best of them and that their emotions remain in check”.
An attorney for Gray’s family, Billy Murphy, said he and Gray’s mother and stepfather would speak about the case at 5 p.m. Wednesday on the courthouse steps. He said he told the driver and a supervisor Gray wanted to go to a hospital. Prosecutors had planned to use Porter’s testimony against two of his fellow officers.
“I’m not expecting our community to repeat April, but it is a bit of a kick in the chest”, she said.
Over the past two days, the jury of four black women, three black men, three white women and two white men gave signals that they were locked in tense discussions. “That’s all it would have taken”.
Prosecutors say that the police were deliberately trying to injure Gray. They also asked for transcripts of police radio calls and taped interviews with Porter. We are hopeful that Mrs. Mosby will retrial Officer Porter as soon as possible, and that his next trial jury will reach a verdict.
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The officer’s attorneys had argued that Porter may have been unaware of department policy mandating that detainees be seat-belted, which was put into place shortly before Gray’s arrest.
