Jury selection to start in second Freddie Gray death trial

[January 11, 2016]  By Ian Simpson
 
 (Reuters) - Jury selection is set to start on Monday in the trial of a Baltimore police officer charged with murder in a black detainee's death, with a key witness blocked for now from testifying.

Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. is the second of six officers to be tried in Baltimore City Circuit Court for the death of Freddie Gray in April. He faces the most serious charge, second-degree depraved heart murder.

Goodson, 46, was the driver of the police transport van where Gray, who was arrested after fleeing police, suffered a broken neck. He died a week later.

The majority black city of 620,000 people exploded in protests and arson after Gray's funeral. The unrest followed other police killings of black men in New York and Ferguson, Missouri.
 

The first trial in the case, that of Officer William Porter, ended in hung jury in December. Prosecutors want Porter as a witness against Goodson, and last week Judge Barry Williams ordered him to testify since he had been offered immunity from prosecution for what he might say on the stand.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals agreed on Friday to a motion by Porter's lawyers to temporarily halt William's order. [L1N14S1G2]

Porter has said he will invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination if called to testify. His retrial is scheduled for June.

Goodson, who is black, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the murder charge. In Maryland, depraved heart murder is a killing done while acting with extreme disregard for human life.

He also is accused of manslaughter, three counts of assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.

(Editing by David Gregorio)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.