Officer William Porter is charged with manslaughter, accused of failing to give medical help to Gray despite complaints and warning signs.
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Porter’s attorneys, Joe Murtha and Gary Proctor, along with the attorneys for the other officers have asked the judge repeatedly to move the trial out of Baltimore City, but the judge has rejected that request.
Mr. Gray died from a spinal injury, which he received while in the back of a police transport van following his arrest for possessing what the officers alleged was a switchblade. Days of peaceful protests turned violent on the day of Gray’s funeral in April, with many residents angry over police treatment of young black men. Porter said in an interview with The Washington Post that Gray was known to officers as a “frequent flyer” with several arrests dating back to his teens.
Police Commissioner Kevin Davis says “everything is at stake”. Looters burned down businesses, and the unrest cost the city millions of dollars in property damage. Porter’s attorneys pointed out Gray was a recognizable face in the neighborhood and there was “always a big scene whenever you attempted to arrest Freddie Gray”.
Juror selection is underway as the first of six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray prepares to stand trial. Once the jury is seated, the judge has ruled the jurors will remain anonymous, however they WOn’t be sequestered throughout their jury service. “I don’t know anybody better suited for this trial”. The trial of one of those officers, William G. Porter, begins today. The city of Baltimore, however, made a decision to skip a wrongful death suit and settled with the family.
Prosecutors have not detailed exactly how Gray was injured or the events leading up to it, but medical examiners wrote in an autopsy report obtained by the Baltimore Sun that Gray may have climbed to his feet and then fallen as the van was making a turn, accelerating or decelerating. They’ll shut things down”, he said. “If we have more riots, who will feel safe?
Porter indicated he was told of a previous arrest in which he was told Gray tried to kick out windows of a police vehicle. They will be tried separately beginning in January; their trials are expected to last until the spring.
William Porter’s trial marks the first of the criminal proceedings in the Freddi Gray case. Williams, jurors, prosecutors and defense lawyers met in the judge’s chambers for individual questions.
Prosecutors have said they want Porter to testify first so they can use him as a potential witness against Goodson and Sergeant Alicia White.
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On Monday, jury selection began in the trial of Officer William Porter, 26.
