Baltimore jury mulls officer's fate in Freddie Gray's death

BALTIMORE (AP) — Jurors wrestled over what "evil motive" means today as they deliberated the fate of the first of six officers to be tried in the death of Freddie Gray, a black man whose neck was broken in a police van, fueling the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

The panel also puzzled over the meaning of "bad faith" and other terms the judge said they must use to decide whether Officer William Porter is guilty of misconduct in office, the least of the charges against him. Porter also is accused of manslaughter, assault, and reckless endangerment, and faces up to about 25 years in prison if convicted of them all.

The verdict will likely set the tone for the others as well as for the city, still healing from an April riot triggered by Gray's death that caused millions of dollars in property damage and exposed the deep divide between the police and the people of Baltimore.

Authorities sought to prevent more trouble ahead of the verdict, opening an emergency operations center Monday and urging parents to control their children. A letter Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Gregory Thornton sent home with students warned that "student walkouts, vandalism, civil disorder and any form of violence are not acceptable."