Jury Seated in Porter Trial, Opening Statements Underway

A jury has been selected in the trial of Officer William Porter, the first to stand trial in the death of Freddie Gray.

WBAL Reporter Robert Lang says most of the jury is black, and most are also female. 

The defense and state each used a peremptory challenge. The defense replaced a black woman with a white man, while the state replaced a black man with a white woman. Wednesday brought a smaller jury pool than the first two days of jury selection, just 47 of a total 150 jurors selected.

With the jury seated, the prosecution began to present an opening statement to the jury just after 11:30 this morning.

Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow told jurors that while they will see video of the arrest of Freddie Gray on April 12, he noted that Officer William Porter had nothing to do with that. 

He did say, "what the defendant did not do, contributed to Freddie Gray’s death."

He said Porter was in the van observing Gray at five of the six stops it made before taking Gray to Shock Trauma, and at no time did Porter get Gray any help, or put him in a seat-belt.

"There were ten seat belts in that van, any one of those could have saved Freddie Gray's life," Schatzow told jurors.

Schatzow said when Gray was put in the van,  "he could walk talk and breathe, by the time the van took Gray to the hospital he could not breathe or move,,"suffering from a broken neck. 

Schatzow told jurors that they will hear defense testimony from Donta Allen, who was arrested and was briefly in the van that day.

Schatzow said jurors will hear Allen Claim that Gray was banging his head against the wall of the van.

Schatzow said that evidence will show it was impossible for Gray to do that, since his neck was already broken by the time Allen was placed in the van.

Allen later recanted those claims in an April interview with WBAL-TV's Jayne Miller.

"For his gross indifference, his criminal negligence, and for not helping Mr. Gray, the defendant is charged," Schatzow said at the end of his hour long opening statement.

The defense will present its opening statement after the lunch break. Court is scheduled to resume at 1:45 this afternoon.

Porter is charged with second degree assault, involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.

He is the first of six police officers to go on trial in Gray's death.

Judge Barry Williams has told jurors this trial will wrap up by December 17