Officer could’ve saved Freddie Gray’s life

He was standing close by at the second stop when Gray was placed back into the van, facedown in a prone position, the prosecutor added. The defense argued that there wasn’t any physical evidence that Gray was in need of medical attention.

Gray was unresponsive by the time the van arrived at the Western District police station. In one specific instance, the prosecutors said that Gray and Porter conversed, with Gray saying that he couldn’t “get off the floor”.

Porter, who joined the city’s police force in 2012, answered Goodson’s call for assistance.

He told the jury that they “may hope finding him guilty will quell unrest”, but that Porter committed no crime. He implied the injury occurred when the van slammed on its brakes. Trials for the other officers – Alicia White, Garrett Miller, Edward Miller and Brian Rice – will follow later in 2016.

In an interview before the trial started, Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said he looks forward to the outcome of the federal probe and is working to reform the department.

He said the city paid extra to get those seat belts and “any one of which would have saved Mr. Gray’s life”.

“The facts are that he is an innocent man”, Proctor said in his opening statement.

All members of the racially diverse pool of jurors indicated they knew about Gray, and all but one was aware of the city’s decision to pay Gray’s family $6.4 million to settle legal claims over his death. “When he was taken out of the van, he couldn’t breathe, he was unconscious, no heartbeat”.

Nonetheless, when Gray – who was cuffed around his wrists, laying on his side, and loudly complaining that he couldn’t breathe – asked for help, Porter lifted the 132-pound Gray to his feet and placed him on a bench.

“He could walk, talk, run and breathe” before getting inside the vehicle, prosecutors said, noting that they have video that will demonstrate his physical abilities.

The prosecutor disagreed. “He has a duty to keep safe persons in custody”, said Mr Schatzow.

Defense attorneys will present their opening statements at about 1:45 p.m., after a lunch recess.

When two officers spotted Gray on North Avenue on the morning of 12 April, he took off running, leading to a chase that resulted in his arrest, though Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore’s chief prosecutor, has questioned whether there was cause for arrest at all.

Gray suffered a critical spine injury when he was handcuffed and shackled in a police transport van.

Gray’s death in April triggered rioting, arson and protests in the largely black city and fuelled a national debate over police tactics and relations with minorities. He was still dismissed.

Porter, one of six police officers charged with felonies ranging from assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray.

Nearly eight months after the initial uprising in Baltimore over the suspicious death of Freddie Gray during a “rough ride” in a police van, Baltimore court officials announced that eight Black jurors and four white jurors will decide the fate of the first indicted police officer involved in Gray’s death.

William Porter is the first of six officers to be tried, and opening statements were read out on Wednesday.

Gray was arrested April 12 and died a week later from a severe spinal cord injury suffered in police custody.

He faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. He’s accused of failing to render aid after Gray asked for medical assistance.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the trial is expected to set the tone for the subsequent trials and Porter is up first because he will serve as a material witness against two of the other officers.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams has so far called in 150 prospective jurors.