Baltimore Police Officer William Porter will be retried for his role in the death of Freddie Gray — a 25-year-old black man who died in April of a spinal cord injury that prosecutors say can be traced to police misconduct. The trial is set for June 13 of next year.
Last week a jury failed to reach agreement
The 26-year-old Porter, who is also black, was
the first of six police officers to be tried
As NPR's Jennifer Ludden
has reported
"This issue isn't new. There are a number of previous instances in Baltimore of people dying or becoming paralyzed after riding in Baltimore Police vans without being seat-belted."
The trial of Officer Caesar R. Goodson, who faces the most serious charge,
second-degree murder
Gray died
one week after being taken into police custody
Last week's hung jury complicates the way forward for the prosecution. As
The Baltimore Sun reports
"With charges still hanging over his head after a mistrial last week, Porter would most likely assert his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination if called as a witness against Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., whose trial remains scheduled for early January."That means prosecutors face an uphill battle to introduce Porter's statements to investigators or his testimony on the witness stand from his own trial, and will have to give heavy consideration to granting Porter immunity, legal experts said."Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.