The show trial is not going as intended.
Via 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 charges of assault and reckless endangerment, sources said.
How the jury voted was not publicly revealed, 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.
Prosecutors and Porter’s defense attorneys are barred by a gag order from discussing the case. When reached by The Baltimore Sun, the attorneys declined to be interviewed.
One juror said some on the panel in Porter’s trial were driven to tears during deliberations and afterward. The juror agreed to be interviewed by The Sun but asked to remain anonymous because Williams requested that panel members not discuss their experience. Sun reporting corroborated the juror’s account of the votes.
The jurors had to vote unanimously to be able to convict or acquit Porter of any of the four charges he faced, and their inability to reach a verdict weighed heavily on their minds, the juror said.
While deliberations turned tense at times, the juror said the panel members were “heartfelt in their duty.”