First Cop Charged in Death of Freddie Gray Faces Sentencing

Prosecutors have described Porter as acting with “callous indifference”, alleging the officer ignored Gray’s plea for help when he said he couldn’t breathe in the back of the police wagon. Two weeks after Gray’s death, Marilyn Mosby, the state’s attorney for Baltimore, charged six officers, including four accused of murder or manslaughter. The terms are “evil motive”, “bad faith” and “not honestly”.

Prisoners were never secured with seat belts during field training, and though cadets were instructed to secure prisoners with seat belts, they were not shown how, Porter said.

The jury will return to the deliberation room at 8:30 a.m.

The letter dated Monday from school system CEO Gregory Thornton was sent home with students. In October, more than a dozen activists, including several high school students, were arrested after an overnight sit-in at City Hall. They will resume deliberations Tuesday.

A panel of eight women and four men were handed the closely watched case on Monday after closing arguments.

The jury was told to consider Porter’s conduct from the perspective of a reasonable police officer, not as a civilian.

The case went to the jury Monday after closing arguments. He could face about 25 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

There was no camera inside the van, and there was conflicting information from medical experts who testified about when Gray may have become injured. But on the stand, Porter said he had heard Gray say those words when he was first being arrested and not again.

The defense says the prosecution’s case was based on speculation, not evidence.

Defense closings were expected following a short break.

Porter faces charges of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.

Shaleena tells WNEW’s Jenny Glick she does not feel safe, or that the city is prepared.

Joseph Murtha spent more than an hour delivering closing remarks Monday.

Gray’s death was a “horrific tragedy”, Murtha said, but “there is literally no evidence” that Porter caused it.

Authorities say Gray broke his neck on April 12 while being transported in the police van, shackled but not wearing a seat belt.

Prosecutors said that was a blatant lie.

Porter told jurors he didn’t call a medic because Gray didn’t show signs of injury, pain or distress and said only “yes” when Porter offered to take him to the hospital.

‘How long does it take to click a seat belt?’

“Simply because it is hard to prove doesn’t mean a case shouldn’t be brought”, he said.

Other witnesses also testified that the driver was responsible for buckling Gray to the bench.

“It is the responsibility of the wagon driver to get the prisoner from point A to point B”, he told the jury. “We need everyone visiting our city to respect Baltimore“.

The van “became his casket on wheels” after Porter repeatedly denied Gray medical care and left him handcuffed and shackled but unbuckled, thus unable to keep his body from slamming into the end of the metal compartment if the van stopped suddenly, Bledsoe said. Rawlings-Blake says the city also is communicating with outside law enforcement agency partners. Six officers are charged in his death.

The apparent police killing of yet another black man, a seemingly preventable death in a city with a long history of police abuse, sparked widespread protests in Baltimore and beyond.

Following Gray’s funeral in late April, there were riots in parts of the city, drawing the National Guard to help quell the unrest.

“Freddie Gray went into the van healthy and he came out of the van dead”, prosecutor Janice Bledsoe reminded jurors. He’s charged with manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. He was found unconscious and not breathing at the Western District police station.

Gray died April 19, a week after he suffered a broken neck in the back of a police transport van.

Using video clips of Porter’s statements and video from the scene, prosecutors argued that Porter knew that Gray was too injured to be booked into jail, but did nothing.