Freddie Gray’s family reacts to mistrial

She says while a lot of people are upset that the trial of Officer William Porter ended in a mistrial, she says they recognize that they have a lot more to go through with five more trials of other officers charged in the case.

A judge declared a mistrial December 16 in the case of Baltimore police Officer William Porter after jurors said they were deadlocked.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says she has been pleased with the city’s reaction to the mistrial in the case of Officer William Porter in the death of Freddie Gray.

There are two likely options: retry Porter or offer him a deal to testify against Officer Caesar Goodson, Jr., who faces the most serious charges and was behind the wheel of the police wagon when Freddie Gray suffered the injuries that killed him. They may decide to give up on prosecuting Porter, give him immunity and use him as a witness anyway, but that’s obviously not a solution they wanted.

“In the case of any disturbance in the city, we are prepared to respond”.

The death of Gray, who was black, ignited a wave of protests as debate surged nationwide over whether police use excessive force, particularly against African Americans.

“We are not upset with them and neither should the public be upset”.

Five other officers are set to be tried in connection with the case, with the next trial slated to begin in early January. One police officer said, “The protesters have not caused any problems, they have stayed on the sidewalk and have obeyed our orders”.

Reading from a statement, Richard Shipley, Gray’s stepfather, told CNN he is hopeful Porter will be retried.

“We can not – and will not – be defined by the unrest of last spring”.

An attorney for the Gray family, Billy Murphy, called the outcome “a bump on the road to justice”.

“For the folks that expected Baltimore to act in a way that was reminiscent of April and May, I think we just showed the world that we’re better than that”, Davis said.

“You’re not seeing less willingness of prosecutors bringing these cases”.

“The men and women of the Baltimore Police Department and our regional partners did an awesome job yesterday, and we continue to monitor social media”, she said.

One positive prosecutors could take from the mistrial relates to ongoing defense efforts to have the trials moved out of Baltimore. Uniformed police officers took up positions throughout the city, including by the courthouse and police headquarters, and at least two demonstrators were arrested. Jurors said they couldn’t reach a verdict in the case over Freddie Gray’s death.

Because of the mistrial, the next officer’s trial, scheduled for January 6, could be pushed back. Gray’s neck was broken inside a police van after a seven-block trip to the station turned into a 45-minute journey around West Baltimore. Porter was charged with manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment, which carry a maximum sentence totaling 25 years.

“It is clear you will not come to a unanimous agreement on any of the four charges”, the judge said Wednesday. The testimony of the former Baltimore police chief and of current officers contradicted it.

Officer William Porter said at his manslaughter trial that he feared Gray would reach for his gun so he didn’t buckle him in, even though that is department policy.