According to the The Sun, the jury sent a note around 3:30 p.m., after nine hours of deliberating, indicating that they were in a deadlock.
Advertisement
Porter is charged with involuntary manslaughter and other charges in Gray’s death from a broken neck sustained in the back of a police van.
Jaros added that if the jury remained deadlocked, Williams could issue a so-called Allen charge, pushing them to reach a verdict.
Gray, 25, suffered a severe spinal cord injury in the back of a police van on April 12. Deliberations continued for about two hours and are set to resume on Wednesday morning.
Gilliam-Price was part of a group of protesters who in October held a sit-in and were arrested at City Hall as part of a campaign to demand police adopt a policy of de-escalation when it came to demonstrators.
Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams told them they won’t be asked to stop at 5:30 p.m., if all jurors want to keep working.
When Porter took the stand in his own defense last week, he said Gray “was unable to give me any reason for any kind of medical emergency” before he arrived at the station critically injured.
They also asked for a speaker for the computer on which they were allowed to watch and listen to key evidence in the case, including Porter’s statement to police investigators and police radio communications from the day of Gray’s arrest.
During his closing arguments, defense attorney William Murtha said the prosecution’s case was full of holes, citing “the absence of real evidence”. In the letter, Thornton said the school won’t tolerate any students leaving class to protest if Officer Porter is acquitted. Reynolds said officers have to use discretion as how to implement the general orders, which direct officers to seat-belt prisoners while in transport, when working on the streets.
Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow, in response, said there was “nothing incendiary” in the letter, and noted jurors have already assured the court they can be impartial during earlier questioning.
Jurors must determine whether they believe prosecutors, who say Porter’s indifference makes him criminally responsible for Gray’s injury, or the defense characterization of Porter as a conscientious officer who told supervisors to bring take Gray to the hospital.
Advertisement
Gray’s death sparked weeks of unrest in the city, despite repeated calls for calm by his mother and community leaders.
