“He started running fast”.
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Gray, 25, died a week after he was taken into custody for fleeing an officer and possessing a knife.
The videos of Gray’s arrest have been part of the debate from the start. Gray’s mother, Gloria Darden, had broken down and was quickly escorted out, wrapped in the arms of another woman.
A small and peaceful group of demonstrators gather to protest in front of the Baltimore City Circuit Courthouse East where pre-trial hearings will be held for six police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray September 2, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Jurors have been screened for any connections to hundreds of potential witnesses and other stakeholders in the case, but it is not clear how many witnesses will be put on the stand.
Prosecutors began the proceedings Thursday morning by leading each of a series of witnesses through questions meant to establish that Porter “criminally neglected his duty” by failing to seat-belt Gray in the back of the van and not calling for medical assistance when Gray requested it. Gray, a 25-year-old West Baltimore native with a lengthy history of run-ins with the law, died after suffering fatal spinal injuries while in the hands of police in May. In his video footage, Gray is seen kneeling on the ground as officers shackle his arms and legs.
Officer Jennifer Anderson, a crime technician, said she had taken photos of the van on the day of Gray’s death but had not swabbed the inside or taken any biological samples.
The jury also heard from Officer John Bilheimer, a former police academy instructor who now works in the department’s special operations section of its aviation unit.
Bilheimer, who worked as an instructor at the academy for 10 years, said officers are trained to contact medics for injured prisoners.
“We do not transport injured people”. Williams also asked whether the defense and the state agreed that the van itself was not considered evidence.
Defense attorneys for Porter are arguing that he was unaware of the updated general order when Gray was arrested on April 12. The course also taught, however, the decision to use them was a case-by-case decision so as to not jeopardize officer safety. Porter is the first of six officers to be tried on the charges. The e-mail was one of more than 1,400 pages of messages Porter received that day, and the policy was included in 80 pages of attachments outlining several new rules that took effect that month. He said Thursday he saw Porter look inside the wagon before turning his back.
Gary Proctor, one of Porter’s attorneys, pointed out that the video showed Ross and Porter knew each other by name.
“He doesn’t say he’s in pain, he’s not wincing”, Proctor said of Gray during Porter’s interaction with him at the van’s fourth stop. He has waved and smiled at well-wishers, some of whom approached him for handshakes and hugs. Within minutes, Ross said, they came across the police van again.
In the video, Ross could be heard repeatedly saying “That’s not cool” and “That ain’t cool, man”.
Porter, Ross acknowledged, did not arrive at the scene until Gray was already on his knees.
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“If I told you that was Officer Porter, would you disagree?” According to the defense, Porter pointed one out. Porter faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. When asked by Proctor if he would believe that a security camera image showed him speaking peacefully to Porter, Ross replied, “I can’t believe what you say”. He then asked if Porter was the person Ross trusted to lodge his complaint about how police treated his friend.
