Defense lawyers for Officer William Porter will present their evidence and witnesses in the case.
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After prosecutors rested their case, defense attorney Gary Proctor asked the judge to dismiss the charges. Sanders said that while the United States is one of the richest countries on the globe, it is stunning that there are such levels of poverty in areas of Baltimore, local media reported. He says there was no testimony that what Porter did was any sort of deviation from what a reasonable police officer would do. Allan and a neurosurgeon the prosecution brought in as a witness both dismissed the defense’s suggestion that Gray could have injured himself, saying the force of the impact was too strong.
“The responsibility falls across all of the officers to ensure the person is properly secured, to ensure their safety”, said Dr. Michael Lyman, a professor at Columbia College in Missouri who testified as an expert witness. If the person complains of injuries, officers should immediately determine where the nearest hospital is and take the arrestee there, he said.
Prosecutor Michael Schatzow argued Porter showed a “callous indifference for life” when he didn’t make sure Gray got immediate medical attention, failing to meet police department policies. That was after Gray, shackled hand and foot on the floor of the van, asked Porter for help at the vehicle’s fourth stop. Porter has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, second degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.
Murtha’s aggressive style drew a warning Monday from the judge, who threatened to hold him in contempt if he didn’t stop “testifying”, by posing questions about information not in evidence, during his cross-examination of the assistant medical examiner.
Later, Allan said the fact Gray wasn’t buckled in was “not a primary concern” in considering the injuries, perhaps an important admission considering the state’s position that Porter’s failure to secure Gray in a belt amounts to criminal negligence.
A Baltimore Police Department DNA expert testified Tuesday that Gray’s blood was found inside the van, on a bench, a wall and a seatbelt.
Gray was arrested after fleeing an officer and for possessing a knife.
He’s the first of six officers charged in connection with Gray’s death to face trial. Goodson is set to get on trial at a later date.
Porter has pleaded not guilty.
On Monday, proceedings were dominated by medical testimony about Gray’s injuries from his arrest.
“He certainly did not put him in a seatbelt, and he certainly did not call a medic”, Schatzow said.
The Democratic candidate toured the neighborhood where Freddie Gray was arrested before he died of a broken neck in police custody, triggering riots.
Thomas Wisner, a crime lab technician, serologist Virginia Cates and DNA analyst Thomas Herbert rounded out the witness list for the state Tuesday. After its last witness, the defense will follow with an unknown number of its own witnesses.
Defense attorneys argue Porter thought Gray wasn’t really hurt, but told the driver Caesar Goodson to take him to the hospital anyway.
Also Monday, a medical emergency prevented one of the 12 jurors from reporting.
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“You understand that William Porter is a patrol officer in Baltimore City”, Murtha said, adding Lyman has no personal experience in making the split-second decisions a patrol officer makes daily.
