Baltimore officer on trial for ‘what he didn’t do’ for Freddie Gray

He wants “to help people”.

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.

Attorneys for Officer William Porter disputed that claim and others made by prosecutors, including exactly when Gray was critically injured in the back of a police van and whether the young black man told Porter he couldn’t breathe. (Indeed, almost all prospective jurors were familiar with it.) Presumably, then, they know that six officers have been accused of giving Gray a “rough ride” in the police van after arresting him and allegedly ignoring his repeated cries for help.

Gray had a knife that defense attorneys maintain was an illegal switchblade.

In his presentation, Gary Proctor, one of Porter’s lawyers, described the difficulties faced by officers who are often on the beat with insufficient backup and confront uncooperative suspects who resist arrest and would rather go to the hospital than jail. Also expected is expert forensic testimony about Gray’s injuries and how he might have gotten them.

Porter responded immediately when he heard a radio call from a fellow officer asking for help checking on a prisoner because “that’s the kind of officer he is”, Proctor said. Gray, 25, died a week after he was taken into custody on April 12 for fleeing an officer and possessing a knife.

Proctor characterized Porter as a man born and raised in West Baltimore who became a police officer “not to swing a big stick, but to help people”.

Proctor also argued that Porter, 26, had a mostly esteemed record as an officer and had previously shown no indication that he was an indifferent officer. He implied the injury occurred when the van slammed on its brakes. She listened Wednesday in the courtroom.

Pointing to a poster-sized photo of the van with one of its rear doors open, Shatzow said Porter failed to buckle Gray in, as required by Baltimore Police Department policy.

“There was no reason not to put him in a seat belt, unless you simply didn’t care”, Schatzow said. He had been on the force for three years when he was charged in Freddie Gray’s death last spring. Prosecutors say it was a legal folding knife and he should have never been arrested. “It’s impossible. His legs wouldn’t have worked”, Proctor said.

“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.

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

The first of the Baltimore police officers accused in Freddie Gray’s death sat erect at the defense table as his lawyer gave a glowing description of his character on this first day of the trial.

On April 12, Gray was arrested outside the Gilmor Homes, a public housing complex in West Baltimore, after making eye contact with a Baltimore police officer on bike patrol and running from the officer.

“Mr. Gray’s death is a tragedy”, Proctor said.

Protests followed Gray’s death and erupted on April 27 – the afternoon of his funeral – in the worst rioting Baltimore had seen in half a century. Judge Barry Williams repeatedly denied defense motions to move the trial out of Baltimore.

One juror has already been dismissed for saying he has had “unfortunate” experiences with Baltimore police.

Members of Gray’s family attended the opening statements, shielding themselves with an umbrella when they stepped out of the courthouse during the lunch break.

“The defendant alone is on trial for what he did, or more importantly, what he did not do”, Mr Schatzow told a jury of eight women and four men during opening statements. The four alternates are men.

Gray, who was 25, died of a severe spinal injury a week after riding in the back of a police van without a seat belt, a violation of Baltimore police rules.

Schatzow presented his argument before a majority-black jury, who will be tasked with weighing charges against William Porter of second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.