Judge Barry G. Williams declares mistrial Wednesday for Baltimore police Officer William Porter.
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It’s not immediately clear whether prosecutors are going to retry Officer William Porter after there was a hung jury in the Freddie Gray case.
The jury must reach a verdict on four charges involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.
Porter’s attorneys will have to return to court Thursday to reschedule the trial.
But a legal expert said he was surprised to see a mistrial declared on just the third day of deliberations.
It’s now up to the state’s attorney to decide if there will be a retrial in the case.
Porter, who was a backup officer, testified that Gray told him he needed medical aid.
Gray screamed and asked for medical help – saying he was hurt and asking for his asthma inhaler – in a shocking video that was later publicized.
In the coming months, five more officers will stand trial for their alleged roles in Gray’s death. “I urge everyone to remember that collectively, our reaction needs to be one of respect for our neighborhoods, and for the residents and businesses of our city”, she said in a statement. We will protect our residents. “As a community, as a city, we are stronger, and we are united to be better than what some displayed to the world last spring”.
Davis said there was no evidence of social media activity similar to what preceded the violence and looting at Mondawmin Mall following Gray’s death. “Folks who choose to commit crimes and hurt people and break things and harm people are no longer protesters”, he said.
Armored vehicles and police were stationed around the city, and officials promised they were prepared for any unrest.
The jury could not reach a consensus after deliberating for three days. This is a great city, and it isn’t great for everybody, but I’d rather die and go to hell than not continue fighting to make this city great. One reason, they said, is that Gray would have been unable to speak at that stop had the injury happened earlier. He told them to keep deliberating. “This is the road to more equal justice in our community”. The jury has not been sequestered, but they have been warned not to read news articles about the case or talk about it with anyone other than fellow jurors.
Baltimore Police Officer William Porter, 26, is the first of six officers to be tried.
In August, a North Carolina jury deadlocked in the trial of Randall Kerrick, a white officer in Charlotte-Mecklenburg charged with voluntary manslaughter in the September 2013 shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell, who was unarmed. The gag order has neutralized the demagoguery of Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
Activist groups had taken out permits ahead of time for possible protests, and crowds began gathering near the courthouse and the scene of Gray’s arrest. Upon learning of the mistrial, people chanted “No justice, no peace”, and the demonstration spilled from the sidewalk and onto the street. Two protesters were reportedly arrested. Police resources from outside jurisdictions have been staging elsewhere in the city since Tuesday.
A police helicopter is monitoring the relatively chaotic scene from above. Kwame Rose, who was marched by sheriff’s deputies into the courthouse, had called the mistrial an “injustice”. They’re now currently headed to City Hall.
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Tessa Hill-Acton, president of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP, also called for protests to remain peaceful.
