Jury in Officer Porter trial was one vote from acquittal on most serious charge

[Calista241]

Source: Baltimore Sun

The jury in the trial of Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter was one vote from acquitting him of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Freddie Gray, the most serious charge he faced, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.

Judge Barry G. Williams declared a mistrial because the jury deadlocked on all four charges last month. Jurors were two votes from convicting Porter of misconduct in office, and more divided on the charges of assault and reckless endangerment, sources said.

How the jury voted has not been revealed previously, and the judge ruled that jurors' names should not be revealed.

Legal experts say the information is critical to understanding the process now playing out as prosecutors and Porter's defense attorneys prepare for his scheduled retrial in June. The information also could help shape legal strategies in the pending cases against the other five police officers charged in Gray's April arrest and death.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-porter-jury-split-20160115-story.html

[MariaThinks]

1. Let's protect the racist juries. Disgusting - now we know why cops feel they can get away with murde

[cigsandcoffee]

2. His jury was majority black. So is he. n/t

[NutmegYankee]

3. I doubt the jury was racist.

It's far more likely that the jury was composed of "law and order" authoritarian type people based on the interviews who tend to defer to police in all situations.

[Sunlei]

4. people in juries tend to defer to polices 'word'. Police know this & so do their defense attorneys.

Everyone abused by our out of control police should demand a jury trial. Even for a traffic violation.

At the most local of levels police expect most people to shut-up and just pay the ticket.