If convicted on all charges, he could face about 25 years in prison.
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Baltimore Police officer William Porter approaches the court House in Baltimore, Maryland, November 30, 2015. Teel had previously testified that Porter, during a phone call three days after Gray was injured, told her that during the van’s fourth stop, Gray complained to the officer that he couldn’t breathe. He also said he couldn’t find a case where failing to seat belt a prisoner resulted in the reckless disregard of human life, which is one of the charges Porter faces.
The prosecution on Tuesday rested its case against William Porter, the first of six Baltimore police officers to go on trial for the death of Freddie Gray in a case that has drawn national attention due to the increased focus on the use of force by police.
Prosecutors contend that Porter ignored Gray’s pleas for medical aid and his failure to secure him with a seat belt violated department protocol.
His attorneys are arguing that Porter recognized that Gray was calling for help and needed medical attention, and tried to alert other officers, including police van driver Officer Caesar Goodson.
“A Baltimore Police Department DNA expert testified Tuesday that Gray’s blood was found inside the van, on a bench, a wall and a seatbelt”.
The judge recessed court for the rest of the day, with the defense scheduled to pick up its case at 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Prosecutors rejected this argument, saying that “what everyone does” is not the standard by which Porter must be judged.
Porter is charged with involuntary manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment in the April death of Freddie Gray. The state’s medical examiner and an expert neurosurgeon testified that by that point, Gray’s spinal injury would mean he was struggling for air, finding it hard to talk.
A Baltimore Police Academy instructor and other witnesses have spoken of “shared responsibility” for a detainee’s safety, although Porter’s defense lawyers have suggested ultimate responsibility lies with the driver of the police van.
Goodson is one of six officers charged and faces the most serious allegation, second-degree “depraved heart” murder.
Murtha’s aggressive style drew a warning Monday from the judge, who threatened to hold him in contempt if he didn’t stop “testifying”, by posing questions about information not in evidence, during his cross-examination of the assistant medical examiner.
Defence attorney Joe Murtha also raised the possibility that a prior back injury might have contributed to Gray’s death.
Monday’s witness interviews uncovered new information: that prosecutors failed to disclose information that Gray told a police officer about a prior back injury the month before he was arrested in the incident that led to his death. But defense attorneys did get Allan to concede that no one described seeing Gray stand up, and there is no physical evidence he ever did so. Protests followed Gray’s death and erupted on April 27 – the afternoon of his funeral – in the worst rioting Baltimore had seen in half a century.
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Sanders has been committed to reaching a wider array of voters since Black Lives Matters supporters interrupted his rally in August, demanding that their voices be heard.
