Porter Says Freddie Gray Didnt Give Reason For Medic

All six officers charged in his arrest and transport have pleaded not guilty. Porter said Gray was unresponsive “with mucus around his nose and mouth”.

— According to Porter, did Gray ask for medical attention or did Porter suggest it?

“Are you sorry Freddie Gray died?” one of his lawyers asked.

“I can see the wagon shaking side to side”, Porter testified.

“Freddie Gray wasn’t injured at stop four or five, it’s that simple”, Porter said.

“This defendant did nothing to get him a medic or get him to the hospital”.

Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow, upon cross examining Di Maio, questioned why Di Maio had accepted claims from other witnesses that Gray was found in a different position at the sixth stop from the one he was in at the fifth stop.

Gray’s death a week after the injury sparked outrage and demonstrations, some of which were plagued by arson, vandalism and looting despite his family’s pleas for peace. “In order to call for an ambo I need age, sex, location and complaint of injury.

“It was very traumatic for me also, seeing him in the neighborhood every day, calling his name and not getting a response”, Porter said. He said the autopsy on Gray’s body was thorough, but disagreed with the finding of homicide as Gray’s cause of death. After Ross told him he wouldn’t be satisfied with just showing the video to the police themselves, Porter said he told Ross to take the video to the media.

William Porter testified Wednesday in his own defense. People often feign injury to try to avoid going to jail, he…

Porter added that it would have been Goodson’s responsibility to buckle Gray into a seatbelt and he didn’t know if Goodson did so at the fourth stop because he left the scene before as the driver was closing the van doors. He did not see Gray again until the final stop. Part of the reason, he said, was officer safety. Di Maio said that the hospital would have put Gray in a brace that would preserve the injury, so that it wouldn’t have changed much. Gray was handcuffed and shackled, and unrestrained by a seat belt while in the van.

Novak also told jurors that when it comes to seat belting prisoners, in his experience only 10 percent of all detainees are buckled in. Porter was present at five of them.

His mother is a nurse and his father served in the U.S. Air Force, Porter told the jury.

The prosecution rested its case against Porter on Tuesday, arguing that Porter did not follow department rules requiring him to secure Gray with a seat belt when he was detained in the back of the police van in April.

However, Porter later said things that conflicted with what Det. “I’m actually offended that you would say something like that”. “I wanted to give people a different view to police….I was always fair”. Under Schatzow’s cross-examination, he conceded that if Freddie Gray had said he could not breathe, that would be reason to seek help.

Following Porter, Officer Zachary Novak took the stand for the defense. The state had granted him immunity in exchange for his grand jury testimony.

Porter, a patrolman, responded to calls for assistance at some of the van stops.

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

As for putting Gray in a seat belt, Porter suggested that it would have been risky. Novak was the one who ultimately called an ambulance.

Porter’s four hours on the stand Wednesday came after his attorneys called a forensic pathologist as their first witness. Porter testified that Gray was making eye contact and talking in a normal voice, and that there was no way Gray was partially paralyzed when the officer helped the 25-year-old to the bench of the police van.

Officer William Porter, 26, who faces manslaughter and other charges in the death of Freddie Gray, also said he had become acquainted with Gray while patrolling his crime-ridden neighborhood.

Maryland Assistant Medical Examiner Dr Carol Allan testified last week that Mr Gray’s injury most likely occurred between the second and fourth stops of the trip. As far as testimony from various experts and character witnesses, Colbert said, “What’s wonderful about our jury system is that they are able to distinguish the relevant from the irrelevant”.

The defense started presenting their case Wednesday. When he gave his initial statement, he said, he thought he was just a witness – not a suspect.

“This was a high energy event”, he said. The case is expected to end by December 17.