Such an appeal could rest on the argument that the verdict was not fairly reached, that the jury was swayed by outside influences, and that the case should have been moved out of the city from the start.
Advertisement
Gray died while in police custody in Baltimore last April, setting off days of protests and riots.
Deliberations will continue Tuesday.
Gray’s death was a “horrific tragedy”, Murtha said, but “there is literally no evidence” that Porter caused it. Williams granted that request, but turned down one for a list of evidence.
The defense also asked that the trial’s venue be changed. The terms are “evil motive”, “bad faith” and “not honestly”.
The jurors went home at 5:30 p.m. and were to return Tuesday morning. It began deliberations about three hours earlier.
Gray was arrested while fleeing police in his neighborhood, just seven city blocks from the station, yet police stopped the van repeatedly during a circuitous trip around West Baltimore that went on for 45 minutes.
Thornton writes that the school system supports students’ right to express their emotions and will facilitate ways for them to do so. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office also is prepared to help.
The Baltimore jury in the manslaughter trial of Officer William Porter is hard at work on its second day of deliberations.
It wasn’t immediately clear what they wanted the speakers for.
Earlier Monday, prosecutors described Porter as indifferent to Gray’s safety, repeatedly denying him medical care in the police wagon where his neck was broken after he was left handcuffed and shackled but unbuckled, making Gray vulnerable to being bounced around inside the metal compartment.
Demonstrations were initially peaceful following the death of Freddie Gray on April 19, but scattered violence broke out after his funeral, and quickly escalated when high school students converged on a mall and threw rocks, bottles and bricks at police.
Those charges are involuntary manslaughter, second degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. The maximum penalty he faces is about 25 years. “This case is based on a rush to judgment and fear”.
Before prosecutors and defense attorneys delivered their closing remarks, Williams gave the jury a series of instructions on how to evaluate the charges. Porter is charged with manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct.
Hospitals, schools and community groups are among those invited.
“The state is asking you to make a decision based on speculation and conjecture…They want you to be emotionally disturbed and upset about the injuries that occurred, but Officer Porter didn’t precipitate that”.
“There’s an absence of information”, attorney Joseph Murtha said. Prosecutors say he suffered a serious spine injury while being transported in the back of a police van with his hands and feet shackled but without a seatbelt.
In a rebuttal, prosecutor Michael Schatzow angrily responded to Murtha’s impugning of witness integrity, reminding jurors of Porter’s inconsistent testimony and returned to the moment when Gray was in rough enough shape for Porter to ask Gray if he needed help (as Porter recounted in his initial interview with internal affairs).
Prosecutor Janice Bledsoe made the statement Monday during closing arguments in Porter’s trial.
But two physicians testifying for the defense said Gray’s death likely happened after the fourth stop.
Porter is the first of six officers to face trial.
Bledsoe told the jury there’s no reason not to put a seat belt on someone in the police wagon.
“You are looking into the wagon and then you turn your back on Freddie Gray”, Bledsoe said.
She also says that even though other officers have said they don’t use seat belts on prisoners, that’s not an excuse. Though it is unclear how exactly Gray got hurt, medical experts for both sides likened his injury to those sustained when someone dives head first into a shallow pool of water.
The Baltimore police department has banned officers from taking leave this week to ensure all its resources are available. Rawlings-Blake says the city also is communicating with outside law enforcement agency partners. He’s one of six officers charged.
The van stopped three more times as officers checked on Gray, and at one point, Porter opened the van’s doors and lifted Gray to a seated position, although still unbuckled. Of about 150 potential jurors called for Porter’s trial, all said they were familiar with the case.
The 26-year-old policeman had contact with Gray on Druid Hill Avenue at Dolphin Street at 8:59 a.m. on April 12 after a van driver asked for assistance with a detainee.
Advertisement
Defense lawyers have argued that Porter acted reasonably by passing along Gray’s request for aid. They say Gray’s death had nothing to do with the officer’s actions.
