Trial begins for first of officers charged in death of Freddie Gray

Seven months after Baltimore erupted in riots over the death of Freddie Gray, the first of six police officers charged in the case went on trial Wednesday, with a prosecutor saying the patrolman could have saved Gray's life simply by pushing a button on his uniform to call for a medic.

Officer William Porter wasn't involved in Gray's initial arrest in April, but he was present at five of six stops that a police transport van made during a 45-minute ride after Gray was taken into custody, prosecutors said. At one point, Porter asked Gray if he needed a medic, and the young black man replied that he could not breathe and could not move from the floor of the van, where he had been placed head-first, in plastic handcuffs and leg shackles.

Instead of calling a medic, prosecutors say Porter picked Gray up from the floor and placed him in an upright position on the bench, and did not secure him in a seatbelt, as required by Baltimore Police Department policy.

Pointing to a poster-sized photo of the van with one of its rear doors open, prosecutor Michael Schatzow said: "The city paid extra to get those seat belts in that van, any one of which would have saved Mr. Gray's life."

Porter, who is also black, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. The charges carry maximum prison terms totalling about 25 years.

His attorneys were to present their opening statement later Wednesday.

According to a pretrial filing, Porter told investigators that arresting Gray "was always a big scene" and indicated that he knew of a previous arrest in which Gray allegedly tried to kick out the windows of a police vehicle.

"You know, so he was always, always, like, banging around," Porter said in the filing.

Porter is expected to take the stand in his own defence.

Grey, 25, died April 19 of a severe spinal injury he suffered while riding in the back of police van without a seatbelt. Gray arrived at a police station unresponsive, was taken to a hospital and died a week later.

Shatzow said Gray's neck was broken between the third and fourth stops and that such an injury would have impacted his ability to breathe. He implied the injury occurred when the van slammed on its brakes.

"If it slams on its brakes, he's going to move at the speed it was going before it slams on its brakes," Shatzow said. "He's completely at the mercy of whatever happens."

A jury was seated in a process that was relatively brisk, given defence assertions in pretrial proceedings that it would be impossible to seat an impartial panel. Judge Barry Williams questioned 150 jurors over two days, mostly out of public view, in an efficient process designed to shield their identities. Some were dismissed, leaving a smaller pool for the final 12 — eight women and four men — and four alternates.

Prospective juror Franz Schneiderman said he was interviewed individually by the judge after he indicated that he had been accused in or the victim of a crime. He told the judge he had some "unfortunate" experiences with Baltimore police, but believed he would be able to render a fair verdict. He was still dismissed.

Gray's death triggered protests and rioting in the city, and helped fuel the Black Lives Matter movement. The troubles forced an incumbent mayor in the throes of a re-election campaign to drop out of the race, and toppled the career of a reform-minded police chief. The Baltimore homicide rate skyrocketed at a pace unseen in decades.

A verdict will likely to set the tone for the city. Many fear that an acquittal could prompt more protests and unrest or that a conviction could send shock waves through the city's troubled police department.

Two other officers are black and the three additional officers are white. They will be tried separately beginning in January and lasting through the spring.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was harshly criticized in the wake of the civil unrest and her decision to enact and maintain a city-wide curfew aggravated protesters. In August, she announced that she would not seek re-election.

But no reputations hinge on the trial's outcome as much as state's attorney Marilyn Mosby and her husband, Nick Mosby, a councilman for Baltimore's west side who announced his mayoral candidacy shortly after Rawlings-Blake pulled out.

Marilyn Mosby, who took office in January, announced charges against the officers in May, using language that led defence attorneys to argue that she was so biased she should recuse herself from the case.

She listened from the third row of the gallery as Shatzow, her chief deputy, gave the state's opening statement.

The gallery was about half full, including about 50 members of the general public along with reporters and lawyers.