Freddie Gray hearing: police officers statements at issue

Three of the six officers charged are African American.

Defense lawyers say the officers provided the statements under duress because they feared that silence would cost them their jobs.

All six officers appeared Tuesday before Judge Barry Williams, who is to determine whether their still undisclosed statements will be allowed at trial.

Protesters march to Baltimore City Hall after it was announced that criminal charges would be brought against all six officers involved in the Freddie Gray case in Baltimore, MD on Saturday May 02, 2015.

Goodson, who drove the van that transported Gray from the scene of his arrest, faces the most serious charge in the case: second-degree depraved-heart murder.

After Gray’s funeral in late April, there were riots in parts of Baltimore City, drawing the National Guard to help quell the unrest. His trial is to begin November 30. Bottom left to right: officer William G Porter, lieutenant Brian W Rice, sergeant Alicia D White.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney spokeswoman Rochelle Ritchie said Williams will also hear arguments about what information prosecutors must share with defendants.

The trials of the six officers were meant to begin on 13 October.

While court officials have not said what the topic of the hearings will be, The Baltimore Sun reports they will likely center around whether statements the officers made will be admissible in court.

A police helicopter circled overhead, beginning when merely roughly one dozen journalists stood in their own line for entry to judge Williams’ courtroom.

The city agreed in September to pay Gray’s family $6.4 million to settle civil litigation in the case. There was no ticketing on Tuesday.