Defense set to call witnesses in Freddie Gray case

On cross-examination, Di Maio acknowledged that Gray would not have been injured during the van ride if he had been secured by a seat belt.

When he saw that Gray was unconscious in the back of the police van when it made its final stop, Porter testified that he saw that Gray was “unconscious”.

The first question to Porter from his attorney: “Did you know Freddie Gray?”. He also said that at a stop where he helped Gray up, Gray was never heard to say he couldn’t breathe, and that he could not identify the officers who arrested Gray.

He said that taking the stand allowed him to elaborate on what he said in his April statement.

“It was just an accident and accidents happen”, he said.

“I guess he did”, Porter said.

Porter is charged with involuntary manslaughter, second degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. With no eyewitnesses and no unequivocal evidence as to how and when Gray suffered the spinal injury that killed him, the trial could come down to Porter’s word against prosecutor’s assertion that he “callously” disregarded Gray’s request for medical aid, and intentionally left him unrestrained and vulnerable to injury in the back of the transport van.

Meanwhile, a nationally recognised forensic pathologist and former chief medical examiner testified on Wednesday he disagreed with the Baltimore examiner’s timeline of Mr Gray’s injury.

A state of emergency has been declared in Baltimore after riots erupted in the USA city. The van’s internal video camera was not working, and the detainee who was briefly in the other side of the van could not see Freddie Gray.

After telling the jury about his journey through life – from a poor family in West Baltimore to the Police Athletic League to the Baltimore Police Academy – Porter described his actions on the day he and at least five fellow officers played various roles in Gray’s apprehension, arrest and transport. All six officers charged in his arrest and transport have pleaded not guilty.

But “I can’t tell Officer Goodson what to do”, Porter said when asked why he didn’t do more to ensure Gray went to the hospital immediately.

When asked why he did not secure Mr Gray with a seatbelt, Porter replied that the van was “pretty tight”. They also allege that Porter, after seeing that Gray was not buckled in, did not get him into a seat belt as was department policy. Schatzow noted Porter’s earlier remarks regarding a “stop snitching” culture among Baltimore’s criminal element and asked if a similar culture exists in the police department. In his conversation with Baltimore Police Det. “I’m actually offended that you would say something like that”. At the time Porter was a witness, not a suspect.

The other detainee who was in the van with Gray is expected to take the stand Friday.

“Toe tags”: Police officer’s term for paperwork that accompanies arrestees on their way to Central Book and Intake Center. His mother, a nurse, didn’t have money to pay for other activities, he said.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said it was clear outside eyes will be on Baltimore when the verdict is in, saying Baltimore’s is the most recognized police uniform in the country right now.

Porter said he was “always fair” as an officer, and that he had certain pet peeves – including littering.

In the Zimmerman case in Florida, DiMaio said Trayvon Martin’s injuries suggested he was on top of and leaning over Zimmerman when Zimmerman fired his gun, killing the unarmed black teenager. “So you shouldn’t litter”.

At one point, when prosecutor Michael Schatzow asked Porter why he was providing additional information on the stand that was not part of his interview shortly after Gray’s death, Porter responded, “When I made that statement, I made it as a witness”. Echoing Porter, he said the primary responsibility for the detainee’s safety rest with the person transporting them (in Gray’s case, Goodson).

“We need everyone to respect the jury’s decision”, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.

Di Maio said he believed Gray was injured between the fifth and sixth stops, and that his death was not a homicide as state medical examiner Dr. Carol Allan found, but an accident.

Asked whether Gray said he couldn’t breathe, Porter replied: “Absolutely not”.