BALTIMORE (AP) — The latest on the trial of a Baltimore police officer who is charged with manslaughter in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who was injured in the back of a police transport van (all times local).
2:10 p.m.
Jury notes in the Baltimore trial of a police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray are causing a lot of courtroom commotion.
The panel’s request Wednesday for a transcript of witness testimony was at least the ninth note from jurors to Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams since deliberations began Monday. Williams denied the request.
On Tuesday, the jury told the judge they were deadlocked, but he told them to keep working.
He also has refused to give jurors transcripts of audio recordings, saying they are not evidence in the case. He has provided jurors paper, highlighters and an easel.
People in the courtroom first learn of such jury requests when a buzzer sounds. Then it takes 10 to 20 minutes for lawyers and the defendant to assemble in the courtroom. The judge calls them to the bench for a quiet discussion and then reads the note aloud and announces his decision.
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1:45 p.m.
As a jury deliberated in the trial of Officer William Porter, a handful of protesters are gathering outside the courthouse, chanting “send those killer cops to jail.”
Porter is facing manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges stemming from Freddie Gray’s death. He is the first of six officers to go on trial.
Prosecutors say Porter was criminally negligent for failing to buckle Gray into a seat belt and for not calling an ambulance when he indicated he needed medical aid.
Porter says Gray didn’t appear injured or in distress, and that it was the van driver’s responsibility to ensure prisoners were transported safely.
Gray died April 19, a week after his neck was broken in the back of a police van.
The jury is in its third day of deliberations. On Tuesday, they told the judge they were deadlocked, but he told them to keep deliberating.
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12 p.m.
Jurors deliberating the fate of an officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray have asked the judge for a copy of a transcript from a witness, but the judge has refused to give it to them.
The jury made the request Wednesday during the panel’s third day of deliberations in the trial of Officer William Porter, who faces manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct charges.
Jurors told the judge Tuesday afternoon that they were deadlocked, but Circuit Judge Barry Williams told them to keep working.
The jurors have made several requests since they began deliberating Monday. The judge has granted some of them and refused others, saying they were not part of the evidence.
It’s not clear exactly what witness transcript they were seeking Wednesday.
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