Gray, 25, suffered some type of “mysterious injury” while being transported by police on April 19 and died shortly later.
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Members of the Baltimore Police Department stand behind barriers outside of the Western District police station during a march for Freddie Gray, on April 21, in Baltimore. Towards the end of it CNN wrote, “At 25, Gray already had a lengthy rap sheet”, citing an interview one of the accused six officers had with The Washington Post. Then he was shackled and loaded into a police van. He asked if he needed a medic or to go to the hospital and Gray said he did.
What happened after his death?
The Baltimore riots cost the city millions of dollars in property damage. Indeed, Baltimore has the nation’s fifth-highest proportion of black residents at little more than 65 percent. Her decision to enact and maintain a city-wide curfew aggravated protesters.
Though a majority of Baltimore’s police officers don’t live in the city, Porter grew up near Gray in West Baltimore.
What were officers charged with?
Controversial state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby is the wife of Baltimore councilman Nick Mosby.
Prosecutors believe Porter, Goodson and White ignored Gray’s injuries and contributed to his death. Goodson is charged with second-degree depraved-heart murder. Courthouse, on November 30, in Baltimore.
Court sessions for the case against six police officers who were accused of causing the death of Freddie Gray are underway. The officers face different charges, and evidence against or in support of one may not be admissible against or in support of another.
“We’re really hoping not only that there is an indictment, but a conviction and that the police receive the same justice that anybody else in the street would receive, that they get jail time”, said Sharon Black, an organizer with the People’s Power Assembly, an activist group. Law experts have said that it will be much tougher to convict the officers if Officer Porter is acquitted.
Williams said he expects the trial to wrap up by December 17.
Lawyers for Porter and the other officers asked Judge Barry Williams to move the trials out of Baltimore, citing factors such as media coverage as potentially tainting the jury pool. Twenty-six people said they had strong feelings about the charges against Officer William Porter, which include manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.
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Though it’s unclear how long the trial will last, the next officer’s trial begins just after the new year. He quizzed about 79 potential jurors, but more than half – whom were Black – said they had heard of the case.
