BALTIMORE (AP) - The prosecution has rested its case in the manslaughter trial of a Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray.
The state rested Tuesday after calling about 15 witnesses. Gray was a 25-year-old black man who died in April after his neck was broken while he was being transported in handcuffs and shackles on the floor of a police van.
Officer William Porter, who is also black, is charged with manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. If convicted on all charges, he could face about 25 years in prison.
He's the first of six officers charged in connection with Gray's death to face trial.
The judge sent the jury home for the day and will take up legal issues. The defense will likely begin its case Wednesday.
On Monday, Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams denied a defense motion for a mistrial regarding whether Gray had a pre-existing back injury but said defense attorneys could use the documents in question to build their own case.
Prosecutors say Porter is partially responsible for Gray's death for failing the buckle him into a seatbelt, and for not calling a medic when Gray indicated he was injured.
Medical Examiner
An assistant state medical examiner says she would not have ruled Freddie Gray's death a homicide if a police van driver had taken Gray to the hospital, as Officer Porter suggested.
Carol Allan testified under cross-examination Monday. Prosecutors contend Porter's failure to call a medic contributed to Gray's death.
Porter told investigators he and wagon driver Caesar Goodson had agreed Gray should go to the hospital. That was after Gray, shackled hand and foot on the floor of the van, asked Porter for help at the vehicle's fourth stop.
Instead, Goodson picked up a prisoner at another location, and then drove to a police station.
Goodson's trial will be held next year.
Previous Back Injury
Defense attorneys say they have a document indicating Freddie Gray complained in March to a police officer that he had a back injury, and online court records show Gray was taken into custody twice that month in Baltimore.
Porter's defense attorneys asked for a mistrial Monday because prosecutors had not disclosed the document to them. The judge denied the motion, but said they could use the document at the trial.
According to court records, Gray was charged March 13 with assault and malicious destruction of property. He was taken into custody March 18 and released the same day on $3,500 bond. Gray was also arrested March 20 for drug possession. He was released the same day on $5,000 bond.
In his opening statement, defense attorney Gary Proctor described an arrest of Gray a few weeks before his April 12 encounter with the six officers charged in his arrest and death. Proctor said Porter was aware Gray had a history of causing a ruckus during arrests, citing an arrest a few weeks earlier in which Gray allegedly tried to kick out the windows of a police vehicle.
When asked for police reports on the earlier arrests, Baltimore Police Department spokesman T.J. Smith said they had to be obtained through a public records request. Police did not immediately respond Monday to that request.
It was not clear if any of the March incidents were the ones referred to by defense attorneys Monday in the document they described to the judge.
