Fraling asserted that, despite general orders for Baltimore police, officers had discretion in matters that directly affect officer safety.
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The death of a black prisoner whose neck was broken in a Baltimore police transport wagon should have been classified as an accident rather than a homicide, according to a medical examiner called to testify by attorneys for the officer who was driving the van. “And they may not come back”, she said. He said that assuming Gray was calm, the van driver should have seen to it he was properly restrained, and was obliged to get Gray to a hospital if Gray asked. However, he said that kicking in the van isn’t necessarily a sign of unwillingness-it could be done to get officers’ attention. Porter was the first officer of the six officers charged to be tried in the case, but his trial ended in a mistrial in December when the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous decision. Franklin is now executive director of a Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group that advocates reform of drugs laws.
“I said ‘What the F did you guys do”, she said she asked officers who were standing around the van.
A neurosurgeon testified yesterday that Gray would have been immediately paralyzed and unable to breathe after suffering his injuries. Fraling pressed Franklin on Goodson’s responsibility to respond to a call for a transport wagon following an urgent call for backup by other officers in the vicinity of Goodson’s position.
She said she saw some blood on his upper lip, right below his nose.
Herbert was on the stand for about an hour.
Williams said prosecutors didn’t turn over the material about Taylor’s notes to the defense in a timely manner, and violated discovery rules.
The judge is allowing the case to continue, but he did address the issue in open court. Taylor’s notes may suggest at one point, Gray’s death was discussed as a possible accident.
Prosecutor Michael Schatzow had argued these notes were similar to a conversation Officer Caesar Goodson had with an internal affairs detective in which the judge denied prosecutors from admitting into evidence.
The note and other pieces of evidence remained sealed and had not yet been submitted as defense exhibits on Wednesday, FOX45 reported.
As to the original issue which led to the judge ordering the prosecution to hand over evidence, the May 2015 meeting with Donta Allen. He was loaded into a police van to be taken to central booking.
A medical examiner who had testified that a Baltimore man’s death while in police custody was “no accident”, reportedly told a detective early on in the investigation that the man’s death could have been accidental, FOX45 reported. The state said the enhanced audio was to make it “easier to understand what was said”.
The defense is expected to raise that issue in its case.
Among the officers with Gray at that point were Goodson and officers William Porter and Zach Novak.
So far the state is 0-2 in prosecutions.
He was taken out of the courtroom by deputies.
Defense attorneys called Dr. Joel Winer to testify Tuesday in the trial of Officer Caesar Goodson, who faces second-degree murder, manslaughter and other charges in the death of Freddie Gray.
Gray’s death past year sparked days of civil unrest in Baltimore. But she feared that his injuries were fatal. Gray, and they poop themselves, that’s bad.
She described beginning medical interventions and feeling the back of his neck.
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Under cross examination, Arden testified he never examined Gray’s body, and so he did not have direct knowledge of his injuries.
