Gray’s death sparked days of unrest and rioting in the city.
Advertisement
Here’s what you need to know as the trial of William G. Porter, one of six police officers charged in the case of Freddie Gray, starts in Baltimore.
Jones said she has been watching the Porter trial, and she feels Porter will be acquitted.
“Any loss of life, I’m sorry to see that”, Porter said.
Porter was present at five of the six stops the van made, including one in which he lifted Gray onto the van’s bench.
At the fourth stop, Porter testified that when Gray asked him for help, he assisted him onto a bench and asked him if he needed a medic.
In a case that revolves around what Porter did or did not do during a few key encounters with Gray, Porter addressed those questions directly in his testimony.
Gray suffered a spinal cord injury while riding, handcuffed and shackled, in the back of a police van.
“Throughout all my training, I seat-belted people inside my personal vehicle but never the wagon”. Porter said he suggested to the van driver, Officer Caesar Goodson, that Goodson take Gray to the hospital because he knew a prisoner claiming injury would be turned away from jail.
When asked about whether Porter had a duty to strap Gray into the van or call a medic as Baltimore police department orders dictate, Longo testified that individuals officers have discretion based on the conditions of the street.
A prosecutor is questioning Officer William Porter about apparent inconsistencies in his statements about the death of Freddie Gray. After Gray’s death, protests and riots erupted in Baltimore. Prosecutors say Porter was criminally negligent because he didn’t call a medic when Gray indicated he needed aid and he didn’t buckle Gray into a seat belt at the van’s fourth stop. She also asserted that Gray suffered his neck injury between the van’s second and fourth stops, probably when the van stopped suddenly.
For four hours, Porter was questioned about the incidents leading up to Gray’s injury and has plead not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.
The defense is expected to call more than two dozen character witnesses to the stand to testify.
“He would usually act out and yell and feign an injury”, Porter said.
Gladhill also testified about 80 percent of the arrests he has made involved transport in police vans, and none of those passengers were buckled in.
According to Porter, he did everything Gray asked of him.
“That wagon is pretty tight”, he said, noting that the gun on his right hip would have been very close to Gray.
He testified that while he always buckled prisoners into the back of his patrol auto, he had never done so in some 150 arrests involving a police van.
Porter’s testimony came on the first day of his defense team’s presentation, which also included testimony from a well-known forensics expert who contradicted the findings of the state medical examiner’s autopsy, and another police officer who took part in Gray’s arrest and was granted immunity by the state.
A couple of times during his cross-examination, Porter and Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow got into combative exchanges. Schatzow tried to put Porter on the defensive by raising inconsistencies between the interview he gave to investigators and Wednesday’s testimony.
“Completely impossible”, Schatzow asked.
Police Commissioner Kevin Davis stressed that his department is already making changes and reinvigorating its community engagement, “not waiting for the Department of Justice to tell us what to do”.
“Absolutely not”, Porter replied.
“I’m actually offended you’d say something like that”.
Proctor asked Porter if he was sorry Gray had died, and Porter said he was.
He says Gray wanted a medic, but he wouldn’t say why.
Di Maio is no stranger to being a defense expert witness in high-profile trials.
The prosecution says it occurred earlier.
Di Maio said Gray was likely injured between van stops at Penn-North and the Western District police station. So he says he and the van driver talked about taking Gray to the hospital instead. Gray, he said, showed no cuts, bruises or other signs of physical injury.
“Had he been injured I would have called for a medic”, Porter said. And first, tell us about officer William Porter and his role the day of Gray’s arrest. He said he opened the back, called Gray’s name and got no response, so he climbed in.
Advertisement
Porter rejected prosecutors’ contention that a “no-snitching” culture exists among police officers.
