Majority Black Jury Selected in Freddie Gray Trial

The first Baltimore officer facing criminal charges for the death of Freddie Gray in the back of a police van is “on trial for what he did, and more important what he didn’t do”, prosecutor Michael Schatzow said in his opening statement Wednesday.

He said Porter one point asked Gray if he needed a medic and Gray replied that he could not breathe and could not move from the floor of the van, where he had been placed head-first and in plastic handcuffs and leg shackles.

He said that Officer Porter was at five of the six stops the van made.

But Gary Proctor, Porter’s defense attorney, said the officer didn’t think Gray was actually hurt because there were no outward signs of injury and Gray had a history of causing a ruckus during arrests; just a few weeks prior Gray tried to kick out the windows of a police auto. The case became a rallying cry in the “Black Lives Matter” movement, which emerged nationwide in response to several police killings of African-Americans over the past year.

Sixty-eight of the prospective jurors Tuesday were slated for individual interviews after indicating they might have some sort of bias or medical or personal issue that could disqualify them from service.

The prosecutor said Gray’s neck was broken between the second and fourth stops and that such an injury would have impacted his ability to breathe. “He’s completely at the mercy of whatever happens”.

Then, rather than take him directly to the station or a hospital, police made a fifth stop to pick up another suspect.

Prosecutors said Gray didn’t change positions between the fifth stop and the final stop because he’d already suffered the injury. That fits with defense arguments that Gray showed no signs of needing medical help when he complained to police.

Proctor also told jurors that as for failing to buckle Gray into a seatbelt, the police policy doesn’t often translate into practice. Schatzow said that Gray had requested medical attention and his pleas were ignored.

“You know, so he was always, always, like, banging around”, Porter said in the filing.

Gray, 25, was picked up after running from police who were patrolling his neighborhood. Porter lifted him from the floor of the van and onto the bench.

He’s charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Joe Murtha questioned if there was any post-academy follow-up emergency medical training for Porter and highlighted the challenges officers deal with in properly assessing whether individuals are experiencing an actual medical emergency.

His death triggered rioting and fuelled a national debate over allegations of police brutality, particularly against young black men. An incumbent mayor dropped a re-election bid and the police chief was sacked. Homicides skyrocketed at a rate unseen in decades.

His death sparked a week of riots, looting and unrest in the city.

Jury selection was completed earlier Wednesday, with five black women, three white women, three black men, and one white man seated.

Marilyn Mosby, who took office in January, spoke so forcefully when she announced the charges against the officers in May that defense attorneys argued she should recuse herself for bias. She listened from the third row of the gallery, which was about half full.