Neurosurgeon Testifies at Freddie Gray Trial

Charlottesville Chief Timothy Longo was called to the stand by attorneys for Porter, who faces charges of manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment in the arrest and death of Gray.

Gray’s neck was broken April 12, while riding, handcuffed and shackled, in the back of a police transport van that made six stops over a 45-minute ride that covered just a handful of city blocks.

Porter testified that it was customarily understood that a prisoner was under the control of the van driver and that he figured it would be quicker to let Goodson take Gray to the hospital than calling a medic. Porter said Gray wasn’t limp, and was able to support himself with his legs. “I’m actually offended that you would say something like that”.

And one of Porter’s fellow officers, Mark Gladhill, told the court about a time when he transported a woman to the hospital because she said she was pregnant.

Earlier, Porter testified that he did not call for a medic before that final stop because Gray had not exhibited signs of a medical emergency. He said Gray suffered a “catastrophic and complete” spinal cord injury and said he concluded Gray suffered paralysis and death “in milliseconds”.

“He did not appear to be in any pain he looked exhausted, lethargic”, he said.

Among the sticking points was evidence presented by detective Syreeta Teal, the initial investigator, which said that Gray told Porter he could not breathe at the van’s fourth stop.

University of Maryland law professor Douglas Colbert, who has been attending the trial, said he believes prosecutors helped their cause while Porter was on the stand. “I think the prosecution was very methodical in pointing out some discrepancies in Porter’s testimony”, Colbert said.

The testimony gets to the heart of the prosecution’s case, which is that Porter neglected department regulations by failing to strap Gray in the police van.

MCEVERS: So it sounds like this would refute, to the prosecution’s contention, that Freddie Gray had already fallen in this van and broken his neck by this point, right?

A Baltimore Police Academy instructor and other witnesses have spoken of “shared responsibility” for a detainee’s safety, although Porter’s defense lawyers have suggested ultimate responsibility lies with the driver of the police van.

Porter took the stand for more than four hours Wednesday.

It’s the policy of the Baltimore Police Department to seatbelt those in custody, but in his opening statement defense attorney Gary Proctor suggested few do. He told jurors he didn’t call a medic because when he saw Gray, Gray wasn’t injured. He also took exception to Schatzow asking whether there was a “no-snitching culture” among police officers. Porter said he helped lift Gray onto the bench in the van.

“The jury is going to have to decide whether Officer Porter’s inconsistencies are one that he handled correctly at trial or whether there are still unanswered questions to why he didn’t seat-belt [Gray] and why he didn’t seek medical help”, said Colbert. But after a meeting with city officials and community leaders, she says everyone agrees that unrest like that seen in the spring is unacceptable.

Prosecutors contend that Porter ignored Gray’s pleas for medical aid and that his failure to secure him with a seat belt violated police policy.

Under cross examination, Wood said he had learned from veteran officers that prisoners needed to wear seat belts. Schatzow tried to put Porter on the defensive by raising inconsistencies between the interview he gave to investigators and Wednesday’s testimony. Porter and his team also brought in a medical expert to testify that Gray likely was not injured until just before arriving at the Western District-after the last time that Porter checked on Gray. Porter was present at five of them. But prosecutors say it would have been as easy as pressing a button on his chest for Porter to call for a medic.

There was mucous around Gray’s nose and mouth, Porter testified.

“Absolutely not”, Porter said.

He testified he saw Gray holding up his own head and back, indicating that he was not paralyzed. He said he opened the back, called Gray’s name and got no response, so he climbed in.

It remains unclear exactly how Gray was injured, but Dr. Carol Allan, the assistant state medical examiner, testified Monday that Gray probably received his neck injury between the van’s second and fourth stops.

Porter added that he left the scene after lifting Gray from the floor of the wagon to the bench, and it was Caesar Goodson, the driver, who closed the wagon’s doors.