“There is no information about the backgrounds of the parents of the six officers who are charged with killing Freddie Gray”.
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The Huffington Post also conducted an interview with the group about the current state of Baltimore and what changes they’d like to see in the future.
Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams brought in a second set of 75 prospective jurors on Tuesday after questioning a group of similar size Monday.
Twenty-three potential jurors Tuesday said they had “strong feelings” about manslaughter or other misconduct by police.
The trial of Officer William G. Porter is the first of six consecutive trials of officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray in April.
Charles said she did not know how many potential jurors would be called back to the court on Wednesday or how many had been dismissed as of Tuesday.
85 of the 150 said they had been personally touched by crime either as victims or after being caught up in the justice system as suspects, defendants, or as family members of someone who is incarcerated. The 25-year-old died after suffering a severe neck injury while being transported in a police van after an arrest for possessing a knife.
Williams concluded the proceedings Tuesday by telling some of the potential jurors to follow instructions provided to them during their private interviews, as he’d told Monday’s jurors.
It remains unclear how long jury selection will take or whether progress was being made in selecting an impartial panel, although Williams said early Monday he hoped to begin the trial in earnest in a “day or two”.
Following protests online, CNN removed a description of Baltimore’s Freddie Gray as “the son of an illiterate heroin addict” in a story posted about the first police officer about to go on trial for Gray’s death last spring while in police custody. Court spokeswoman Terri Charles says some members from both groups will be brought back Wednesday.
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Officer William Porter is charged with manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. Prosecutors say Gray told Porter and another officer that he needed a medic twice, but neither officer sought help.
