The prosecution rested late Tuesday in the case against Officer William Porter, the first of six to stand trial in the death of Freddie Gray.
The jury was sent home late Tuesday morning as Judge Barry Williams prepared to settle what he termed "legal issues," including a routine defense motion to dismiss based on a lack of evidence to proceed. That motion was denied.
Gray died April 19, one week after being injured in a police transport van after he was arrested. His death sparked protests and riots in the city. Porter is charged with second degree assault, involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. The prosecution has been presenting its case since Wednesday afternoon.
Witnesses heard from Tuesday included a police criminologist, a crime lab technician, a DNA analyst and a criminal justice professor.
Michael Lyman of Columbia College in Missouri, an expert witness called by the state, confirmed he has never been a uniformed officer. However, echoing earlier testimony from Porter's academy trainers and former Commissioner Anthony Batts' chief of staff, Lyman said the driver is not the only person tasked with detainee safety. That driver, Officer Caesar Goodson, faces a charge of second-degree murder in Gray's death. Rather, he said, all officers involved in an arrest have a duty to ensure the detainee is properly belted in, unless the arrested individual is dangerous. He said that based on those guidelines, Porter should have not suggested, but demanded Goodson get Gray medical attention upon finding Gray in distress during a stop at Druid Park Lake Drive and Dolphin Street.
In testimony Monday, the assistant medical examiner who performed Gray's autopsy said the finding of homicide was in part based on a theory that earlier medical attention could have saved Gray's life.
Monday, an Illinois neurosurgeon testifying as an expert witness for the prosecution, told the jury that Gray was likely brain dead by the time his first MRI was taken several hours after he was taken to Shock Trauma on April 12.
The trial is continuing after Williams denied a request for a mistrial late Monday.
After the jury was sent home for the day on Monday Judge Barry Williams said that he would allow the defense to use a newly disclosed statement Gray gave a police detective in March.
In the statement, Gray admits to having injured his back.
Defense attorney Joe Murtha called the statement exculpatory and accused prosecutors of withholding it.
Chief Deputy State's Attorney Michael Schatzow says the prosecution team was only made aware of the statement Monday morning, after two prosecutors not part of this case forwarded the statement to the prosecution team. Murtha said he received the statement over the weekend.
While not sanctioning the prosecution, Judge Williams said prosecutors violated rules of discovery, which requires the attorneys to share evidence they gather with the opposing counsel.
A jury of seven women and five men will hear this case. The composition was changed Monday after a black woman juror told the Court that she could not continue to serve due to a medical emergency. That juror was replaced by the first alternate, a white male.
Last week during jury selection, Judge Williams told prospective jurors that the case would be completed no later than next Thursday, December 17.
Source WBAL
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