BALTIMORE (AP) – He didn’t fire a gun or wield a Taser. He didn’t place anyone in a chokehold or wrestle anyone to the ground. In fact, William Porter barely touched Freddie Gray.
But Porter, the first officer on trial in Gray’s death, is accused of manslaughter for failing to pay enough attention to the 25-year-old black man, who was handcuffed and shackled in the back of a police van and suffered what would be a fatal spinal injury.
In Porter’s case, an officer’s negligence, rather than violent acts or excessive force, is on trial. He is also charged with assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. If convicted, Porter faces up to 25 years in prison.
His crime, according to prosecutors, is failing to immediately call a medic to the scene when Gray indicated he needed medical attention and ignoring a Baltimore Police Department general order requiring officers to buckle prisoners in with seat belts.
Jurors will begin deliberating on Monday. But with no eye witnesses and no unequivocal evidence as to exactly how or when Gray was injured, negligence could be difficult to prove, legal experts say.