Judge sets 1st trial in Gray case

Associated Press

BALTIMORE

The first trial in the case against six Baltimore police officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray will take place Nov. 30, and the other trials are set for early next year.

Judge Barry Williams decided Tuesday that Officer William Porter, one of three officers to check on Gray after he was put in a police van, will stand trial first. Porter is accused of failing to provide or request medical care for Gray and not securing him safely in a van.

Porter faces charges of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office in the death of Gray, a black man who died a week after he was handcuffed, shackled and put in the van.

Prosecutors have said they intend to call Porter as a witness against at least two other officers, including the van driver and sergeant who checked on Gray after he was put inside the van.

The judge ruled earlier this month that each officer will get his or her own trial and that they will take place in the city. Five of the six officers appeared in court Tuesday for the first time in their case. Only Porter did not attend.

Gray’s death led to protests and rioting in Baltimore, and became a symbol for the treatment of black men by police in America. It also shed light on long-standing and systemic disenfranchisement of African-Americans in the city.