Baltimore’s police chief says “the future of the city is at stake” as the first trial in the death of Freddie Gray gets underway.
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Jury selection began in Baltimore on Monday for the trial of a police officer facing multiple charges in the April death of Freddie Gray, which set off massive protests and led to a state of emergency being declared in the city.
He is being tried first in part because prosecutors want to use him as a witness in the trials of several other officers. However, the jurors’ identity will remain anonymous, with their identities known only to the judge, prosecution and defense attorneys, the defendant and courthouse staff. As a result, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts was unceremoniously ousted in July. Three of the police officers involved in Mr. Gray’s murder are black while the other three are white. Williams denied the request, but said he may reconsider if it proves impossible to find an unbiased jury for Porter’s trial.
The people summoned to court Monday morning generally reflected Baltimore’s demographics: about 40 members of the jury pool appeared to be black, a little more than half of them women. Williams, jurors, prosecutors and defense lawyers met in the judge’s chambers for individual questions. Nearly 40 potential jurors said they or a family member had been either a victim of a crime or been investigated, arrested, charged or convicted of a crime.
“This doesn’t mean your play cousins from North Carolina you haven’t talked to in years”, he said, drawing some muffled laughter in the courtroom.
Williams told the group of 75 potential jurors that they should plan on returning Wednesday. Officers had at least five instances in which they could have assured Gray’s safety in the vehicle, Mosby said during a May press conference.
Democratic presidential contender Martin O’Malley, who served two terms as governor of Maryland, and previously as the mayor of Baltimore, expressed hope that the upcoming trials would help the city heal, calling Gray’s death and the unrest that followed a “big setback” for the city.
Porter did not witness Gray’s arrest; he was called in as backup after Gray was in custody.
Gray sustained a severe spinal cord injury while riding in a police van and died a week later.
Porter, 26, wore a navy suit with a blue dress shirt and gold tie, and sat alongside a small pile of cough drops while he took notes with attorneys. The city has agreed to pay the family $6.4 million under a civil settlement in the case.
Williams said the only way to see if citizens could provide a fair assessment based on evidence was to ask them, and he ruled the trials would stay in Baltimore contingent upon the ability to seat an impartial jury.
Thus, activists, attorneys, and public officials will be keeping close tabs on events inside the courthouse believed to be the first in a major US city named for a black person.
Polo Sandoval is in Baltimore with the story. A lot of them involve possession or sales of heroin and marijuana.
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Mitchell left behind a legacy of work that some of his descendants took up themselves. Experts say his trial will have ramifications on the others.
