Porter maintains that he sought help for Gray and is therefore not responsible for Gray’s death. In the document, Gray told a detective he couldn’t sit up straight in a chair because, “I hurt my back”. A bench conference was held after the jury left for the night. Prosecutors Michael Schatzow and Janice Bledsoe have painted Porter as an uncaring cop. Williams could have dismissed the case entirely. He died from a spinal injury. Asked whether Gray could have caused this injury himself, Sorriano said no, he couldn’t.
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The trial of Baltimore police officer William G. Porter heads into its second week Monday and is expected to restart with testimony from the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Freddie Gray, whose death in police detention led to demonstrations and a riot.
The trial of a Baltimore police officer charged in the death of a black man from injuries suffered in custody is likely to focus on the officer’s medical expertise, the victim’s history of claiming injury and even how closely the officer read his e-mail. Porter, 26, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment associated with Gray’s death.
During three contentious hours of questioning, assistant medical examiner Dr. Carol Allan repeatedly defended the conclusions of her investigation against suggestions by Murtha that they couldn’t be fully supported by objective evidence, and that her methods were less than thorough.
Allan testified Friday that Gray died of a neck injury, and that his death was ruled a homicide.
Prosecutors asked what damaged the spinal cord. Late in the day, Allan’s autopsy report was admitted as evidence.
Porter told investigators he and wagon driver Caesar Goodson had agreed Gray should go to the hospital.
Warren Alperstein, a former Baltimore prosecutor, said the defense had shown that Porter may have been unaware of a new policy that mandated that all passengers fasten seat belts in police vehicles.
Dr. Allan was asked what was the impact of the lack of medical attention on Gray’s condition. Another expert witness for the prosecution, neurosurgeon Morris M. Soriano, backed up Allan’s assertion. Porter’s attorneys and the attorneys for the other officers maintain that Allan was pressured by prosecutors into ruling the manner of death as a homicide.
Teel said Porter was cooperative, and that she did not consider him a suspect but rather a witness. She said there was no pressure placed on her to rush the autopsy or to rule the death a homicide. The defense has said Porter showed concern for Gray’s well-being but did not believe Gray was seriously injured until he was found unconscious in the back of the van at the Western District police station.
“That is correct”, Allan said.
The court wrapped for the day with the start of testimony from veteran paramedic Angelique Herbert, who responded on April 12 for a report of an arm injury. Blood was seeping from Gray’s nose, and he wasn’t breathing.
Prosecutors also played two cell phone videos of Gray’s arrest and the chaos that followed.
With the addition of a white male alternate, that meant the racial makeup of the jury changed to seven black jurors and five white ones.
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Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams announced at the outset of Monday’s session that juror number eight, a woman, has been excused due to a medical emergency. He’s the first of six officers charged in the case to face trial.
