Baltimore on Edge as First Trial in Freddie Gray Case Begins

Prosecutors say Gray had suffered a spinal cord injury as he was being driven in a police van to the Western District precinct. Some of the other victims of police crime include Michael Brown from Ferguson, Missouri, Eric Garner from New York, Tamir Rice from Cleveland Ohio and others.

Gray was arrested and charged with possession of a knife.

Porter, 26, is charged with manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. He quizzed about 79 potential jurors, but more than half – whom were Black – said they had heard of the case. The rest of them include one Latino, one East Indian, and whites. Grey’s death a week later sparked riots in the city. Their chants of “All night, all day, we will fight for Freddie Gray”, could be heard throughout the proceedings.

Legal experts said the process is complicated and that certain answers to questions wouldn’t necessarily disqualify jurors, much less automatically exclude them.

The case is said to be closed no later than December 17. Yet Pettit says the this case is no “slam dunk”, despite that video of Gray’s arrest that played over and over on cable TV. He was taken into custody near his home in a public housing project called Gilmor Homes, in the heart of a West Baltimore neighborhood called Sandtown-Winchester. Porter is accused of ignoring Gray’s requests for medical aid and not putting a seatbelt on him, even though he was shackled and handcuffed.

“It’s very hard for state’s attorneys to indict police”, said Mitchell, now a host on local radio station WBAL. He was taken to a hospital and died a week later. If Porter is acquitted, there could be protests and possibly more unrest in the city. If he is convicted, prosecutors could try to force his testimony in their trials. 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.

Porter has pleaded not guilty.

Seven jurors stood up when they were asked if they would give more or less weight to the testimony of a police officer. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan called in the National Guard and a curfew was imposed.

In Baltimore, the stakes are high in this first of a series of trials. Despite interest in the officers’ trials, no cameras or electronic devices are permitted in the courtroom. And the lawyers on both sides are under a gag order.

Starting dates for the other trials are from January 6 to March 9.

“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.

William Porter, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, walks to a courthouse for jury selection in his trial, on November 30, in Baltimore.

According to official statements provided to the Baltimore Sun, Officer Porter told investigators that Gray asked him for help that morning. Prosecutors are expected to argue that Gray was critically injured in the van because he was unbelted, with legs and arms restrained, during the drive. “It was always a big scene whenever you attempted to arrest Freddie Gray”.