Jury selection is underway in the trial of William Porter, one of six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray.
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“[Porter] was called in as backup after Gray’s arrest, and was present at several stops of the policy paddy wagon in which the 25-year-old man was transported, handcuffed and in leg irons”. But perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of the power vacuum created in the aftermath of the Freddie Gray case are Marilyn Mosby, the young state’s attorney who assumed office in January and charged the officers in May, and her husband, councilman Nick Mosby, who declared his mayoral bid after Rawlings-Blake bowed out.
Jury selection for the first police officer to go to trial in Freddie Gray’ s death began Monday with a judge questioning potential jurors about their knowledge of the explosive case, which led to widespread protests and rioting and added fuel to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Porter, who is black, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and assault on Gray, who had been picked up after fleeing at the sight of police.
Williams told the group of 75 potential jurors that they should plan on returning Wednesday. The rest of them include one Latino, one East Indian, and whites. Porter’s attorneys will also likely rebut the medical examiner’s report that classified Gray’s death as a homicide, saying coroners relied too much on information from prosecutors to reach their conclusions.
Following preliminary questions, potential jurors were individually questioned in a conference room out of view of reporters. At least 12 of them said they were somehow employed by law enforcement.
The case has again galvanized protesters, who showed up outside the courthouse and could be heard yelling even from inside the courtroom. “The future of the city is at stake”, Police Commissioner Kevin Davis has stated. He was taken into custody near his home in a public housing project called Gilmor Homes, in the heart of a West Baltimore neighborhood called Sandtown-Winchester.
But that was the only questionable description of Gray in the article.
This much is certain: Gray was animated and angry before his arrest. He was unconscious when he arrived at the substation. He died in a hospital a week later after undergoing spinal surgery. While the city experienced a number of incidents of looting, destruction of property and disorderly conduct, a majority of the protestors were peaceful, contrary to many reports at the time.
Baltimore Police Officer William Porter approaches the court House in Baltimore November 30, 2015.
In addition, Porter is being tried first, in part, because prosecutors want to use him as a witness against several of the other officers, according to ABC News. Mr. Porter pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him. The sixth suspect, the van driver, refused to talk with investigators.
His death in police custody set off a series of protest – some of them turned violent and destructive.
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Williams read aloud more than 200 names of possible witnesses that included more than 100 Baltimore police officers, lawyers and prosecutors.
