Defense rests in trial of Baltimore officer

BALTIMORE - The defense rested Friday in the manslaughter trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter after a department captain testified Porter went beyond the call of duty in assisting the driver of the police van in which Freddie Gray's neck was broken.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams sent the jury of seven women and five men home for the weekend after the defense rested early in the afternoon. Lawyers argued about jury instructions later Friday. The jury will hear the instructions and closing arguments Monday.

Gray, 25, was arrested April 12 after he ran from police. His death a week later set off protests and rioting in the city, and became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Porter, 26, is the first of six officers to stand trial for Gray's death. He is charged with manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment.

Earlier Friday, Capt. Justin Reynolds, testifying as an expert in police training and policies, said Porter did nothing wrong on the day Gray was hurt. Porter says he interacted with Gray at two of the van's six stops after responding in his patrol car to calls for assistance. The van's 45-minute trip ended with Gray unconscious at the Western District police station.

Porter told investigators that at the fourth stop, he helped the handcuffed and shackled prisoner move from the wagon floor to the bench and asked Gray if he needed medical help. After Gray said, "yes," Porter contends, he advised van driver Officer Caesar Goodson that Gray wanted to go to the hospital. Porter says he told a supervisor, Sgt. Alicia White, the same thing at the van's fifth stop.

Reynolds said those actions "go beyond what many officers would have done."