BALTIMORE—A second set of 75 prospective jurors was due to be questioned in a Baltimore court for the first trial of a city police officer stemming from Freddie Gray’s death.
Tuesday is the second day of jury selection for the trial of Officer William Porter, one of six officers charged in the case, which led to protests and rioting and added fuel to the Black Lives Matter movement.
On Monday, Judge Barry Williams questioned about 75 prospective jurors. A second group of 75 would be questioned Tuesday. On Wednesday, some of the potential jurors from each group will advance to a second round of questioning.
On Monday, Williams conducted initial questioning in the marble-walled courtroom, and then interviewed dozens of the prospective jurors in a private conference room. The large jury pool suggests how difficult the selection process could prove to be.
Gray was a 25-year-old black man who died April 19 of a severe spinal injury he received while in police custody.
Porter, who is also black, is accused of failing to get medical help for Gray during several stops made by the police van that carried Gray on a 45-minute trip. At the end, officers found Gray unresponsive. He was taken to a hospital and died a week later.
The officer is being tried first in part because prosecutors want to use him as a witness in the trials of several other officers. He is charged with manslaughter, assault, misconduct and reckless endangerment.
The judge asked potential jurors Monday if any of them had not heard about the case, the citywide curfew imposed after Gray’s death or the $6.4 million settlement the city paid to his family. No one responded.
