Here’s what you need to know as the trial of William G. Porter, one of six police officers charged in the case of Freddie Gray, starts in Baltimore. Gray broke his neck while in custody and later died. But Porter testified Wednesday that the investigator was mistaken, and that he only heard Gray say that when he was arrested, not when he was in the van.
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“Freddie Gray and I weren’t friends, but we had a mutual respect for each other”, Porter said, according to The Guardian.
“I can see the wagon shaking side to side”, Porter testified.
Porter testified it was customarily understood that a prisoner was under the control of the van driver, and that it would be quicker than calling a medic to let Goodson take Gray to the hospital.
Porter said that during the fourth stop, Gray made eye contact with him and spoke “in a regular tone of voice”.
Prosecutors also say by not buckling Gray into a seat belt during that stop, Porter was criminally negligent.
Asked by defense lawyer Gary Proctor if he was sorry about Gray’s death, Porter told a packed courtroom, “Absolutely”.
“This defendant did nothing to get him a medic or get him to the hospital. He did nothing when he could have saved a man’s life”, State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow said in court Tuesday.
When Gray’s injury occurred is key to the prosecutors’ case.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said at an event billed as a “unity” news conference Wednesday that people have the right to express their opinions. Gray understood he had a job to do, Porter said, and he understood why Gray did what he did on the streets. He said he did not know it was Gray at the time.
Prosecutors have countered that a later injury would mean Porter had even more opportunities to help Gray by fastening his seatbelt or calling for medical attention when he first asked. Baltimore Police Capt. Martin Bartness, chief of staff to the police commissioner, testified that six updated policies were emailed to all officers just days before the arrest of Freddie Gray, including a policy requiring officers to buckle all detainees in seat belts and to obtain medical care for them “when necessary or requested”.
Under cross-examination by Schatzow, Longo acknowledged that Porter could have done more for Gray.
Defense attorneys have suggested that the van driver was responsible for Gray’s safety and indicated the officer may have thought Gray was faking an injury to avoid going to jail. He did not see Gray again until the final stop.
Gray, 25, suffered a severe spinal injury while in the transport van and died a week later. The defense claims that whatever the guidelines, in practice, few arrestees are ever seat belted into police transport vans. During the fourth stop, Porter went inside the back of the van and lifted Gray, who was handcuffed and shackled, from the floor onto the bench.
Porter said he received an electronic copy of general orders, through a flash drive.
Porter is referring to an order that says seat-belting a detainee is at the discretion of the officer, based on safety requirements.
A defense witness testifying in the trial of a police officer charged in Freddie’s Gray death has been a witness in several other high-profile trials, including the acquittal of George Zimmerman.
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. Porter said she misunderstood.
Does Porter think the Baltimore Police Department has a “don’t snitch” culture?
“I’m actually offended you would say something like that”, Porter responded.
Porter testified he did not call for a medic because Gray “was unable to give me any reason for why he needed one”. His testimony was marked by contentious exchanges with a prosecutor and dramatic demonstrations in which one of Porter’s attorneys, Joseph Murtha, got on the ground and pretended to be Freddie Gray as Porter described Gray’s position in the back of the van following his arrest. Reporters and members of the public were not allowed to witness the jurors’ viewing. Prosecutors have argued he should be held responsible in the April 12 incident because he failed to properly buckle Gray into a police van and did not get Gray medical attention after the 25-year-old asked for a medic and said, “I can’t breathe”.
Porter has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.
Before Porter, the defense called a medical expert who refuted assessments from state medical examiner Dr. Carol Allan, including that Gray’s death was a homicide and that he was injured between the second and fourth stops of the van.
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Prosecutor Michael Schatzow pressed Porter on Wednesday about an apparent discrepancy between the officer’s first interview with a police investigator and his later interview and testimony.
