The Baltimore police officer charged with manslaughter in the death of Freddie Gray has taken the witness stand to begin testifying in his own defense.
Officer William Porter was the second witness called by the defense. Prosecutors say Porter failed to call for a medic after Gray said he needed one and the officer didn't buckle Gray into a seat belt when he was riding in the back of a police wagon.
Defense attorneys have tried to suggest that the van driver was responsible for Gray's safety. They have also said Porter acted the way any reasonable officer would have and suggested that the officer may have thought Gray was faking an injury to avoid going to jail.
Gray injured his spine in the back of the police wagon and died a week later.
Autopsy
Earlier, defense attorneys called a forensic pathologist as their first witness in the manslaughter trial of a Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray.
Dr. Vincent DiMaio says he disagrees with certain interpretations of the autopsy findings, including the timing of Gray's fatal injury.
Maryland Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Carol Allan testified for the state that Gray's neck was most likely broken between the second and fourth stops of a ride in a police van. Gray was handcuffed and shackled, and unrestrained by a seat belt while in the van.
