His lawyers have suggested that responsibility for seeking medical aid lay with the van’s driver, Officer Caesar Goodson, and Sergeant Alicia White. Porter is the first of six officers, three of them black, to face trial.
Advertisement
But Porter explained Wednesday that the investigator was mistaken, and he only heard Gray say that when he was arrested, not when he was in the van.
Gary Proctor, Porter’s other attorney, sick with a cold and speaking in a hoarse voice, took Porter through each of the six stops of the van that day.
– What kind of distinction does Porter make between driving a prisoner to a hospital in a police van versus calling an ambulance?
Porter said that on entering the van he found Gray face down. Porter says at this point he tried to stabilize Gray’s airway.
“It was a very traumatizing thing for me, also”.
“I offered it to him and he said, yes, he needed it”.
Porter testified that he got to know police officers as a boy through his involvement with a police athletic league, where officers helped the young men with homework and attended field trips with them.
Porter was deliberate with his answers throughout the questioning by his attorneys.
William Porter faces charges of second-degree assault, involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. His death set off protests and a riot in the city, and became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Prosecutors are cross-examining the officer charged with manslaughter in the death of Freddie Gray. Prosecutors have argued that Porter should be held partially responsible for Grays death because he didnt call for a medic and didnt buckle the man into a seat belt, which is department policy. Porter said he advised Ross to speak with Lt. Brian Rice over concerns about Gray’s arrest.
Officer William Porter has participated in more than 150 arrests in his time as a Baltimore police officer.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said at an event billed as a “unity” news conference Wednesday that people have the right to express their opinions. “She got that wrong”, he said.
Anti-violence advocate Carlmichael “Stokey” Cannady says he believes justice will prevail and members of the community there agreed that change is coming. The defense started presenting their case Wednesday. He did not see Gray again until the final stop.
– According to Porter, did Gray ask for medical attention or did Porter suggest it?
Prosecutors contend Gray was gravely injured by the fourth of six stops the van made en route to the police station, when Porter opened the doors and lifted him from the floor onto a bench. He testified, “absolutely not”.
“Interview position”: The position Porter says he was in while speaking with an agitated bystander who was upset with the way Gray had been treated by other officers.
Porter, who joined the police department in 2010, testified that he used seat belts when transporting people in his cruiser, but never in the tight quarters of the wagon in which Gray sustained the fatal injuries. He was the second witness called by the defense.
Gray injured his spine in the back of the police wagon and died a week later. DiMaio has also testified on behalf of George Zimmerman, Phil Spector and Drew Peterson.
The defense followed up immediately with re-direct of Porter, asking why Porter said it was untrue that he didn’t protect Freddie Gray’s life.
Advertisement
He testified that he told both the van driver, officer Ceasar Goodson, and both of the arresting officers that Gray needed to be taken to the hospital – if only to save time when Central Booking would refuse him because of an injury. “You can’t breathe, you cannot move a finger, you cannot wiggle a toe”, Di Maio said, describing the effects of Gray’s injury. Gray was handcuffed and shackled at the time.
