JAISAL NOOR: Welcome to the Real News Network.
We're in front of Courthouse East, where the
trial of Officer William Porter has entered
its sixth day.
We spoke to one of the protesters gathered
outside the courthouse.
JONATHAN: My name's Jonathan.
We're out here because these cops who have
murdered Freddie need to do some serious jail
time.
As we say, indict.
Convict.
Send the killer cops to jail.
The whole damn system is guilty as hell.
NOOR: We also spoke to legal expert Doug Colbert
about the three witnesses presented today.
They all provided their medical expertise.
We asked Colbert how their testimony went
for the defense and the prosecution.
So Dr. Carol Allan, she was the person that
conducted the autopsy on Freddie Gray.
Chief assistant medical examiner.
She was cross-examined.
You could say it didn't, it didn't look so
well for the prosecution.
Give us your thoughts, and what kind of impact
that might have on the trial.
DOUG COLBERT: Well, I thought she did much
better today on cross-examination.
I thought she held her ground, she explained
things.
And she certainly contested the defense suggestions.
NOOR: What was the defense trying to accomplish?
COLBERT: Well, the defense wanted to suggest
that you had to prove intentional homicide,
when the law allows for other states of mind,
such as acting recklessly or acting negligently
or gross negligently.
And so I think the judge's instructions will
inform the jury about what they have to find
in order to return a verdict of guilty or
not guilty.
REPORTER: --Did its job when it tried to counter
when he--the standards, between standards
and guidelines, and rules and guidelines.
Do you think they were effective with that?
In essence trying to tell her how to do her
job, or questioning that.
COLBERT: I thought the witness made clear
that the standards really are the rules for
how an autopsy is conducted.
And the guidelines are there to be used at
the doctor's discretion.
So I think that came across more clearly on
cross-examination today.
NOOR: And the second witness was an expert,
Dr. Morris Soriano.
He said some pretty damning things on behalf
of the prosecution.
He said Freddie Gray could not have sustained
that injury by himself, that it was a high-impact
injury.
And so, also he said Freddie Gray's, you know,
the fact that Freddie Gray didn't get immediate
medical attention helped--resulted in his,
in being brain dead.
COLBERT: Yeah, they said if the paramedics
arrived there wouldn't be a brain injury.
I mean, that's pretty strong coming from an
expert with his qualifications.
They also said he was hungry for air.
Now, the strength of Dr. Soriano is that he
brought Freddie Gray into the courtroom again.
So you could feel his injuries.
You could hear him call out for help.
And that's very moving testimony for a jury.
When you get into more technical areas of,
of the cause of death, that's where the defense
is going to focus upon.
They're going to argue that the prosecution
has not proved what actually caused the death,
and they're going to suggest that it could
be anything from a self-inflicted injury to
injuries that Officer Porter could not reasonably
be held accountable.
NOOR: And finally, Angelique [Webster], she's
a firefighter-paramedic.
Her testimony today, what impact do you think
that had?
COLBERT: Well, I think by the time firefighter
or paramedic Angelique came on the hope was,
was gone.
But she could certainly recognize his condition.
Now, whether or not you need to be an expert
or trained, compared to the training a police
officer receives, will be a question for the
jury.
But I think she certainly pointed out not
only his injury but also that the defendant
or no other officer rushed to bring her along,
to say we need help right away.
And that also could have an impact on the
jury.
NOOR: And finally, how would you evaluate
how the prosecution's case is going so far?
It's been about four days now.
COLBERT: Well, I think the prosecution has
a strong case.
I also think the defense are raising arguments
that could cause jurors to find a reasonable
doubt.
And that's what we want from our jury system.
We want both sets of lawyers to be able to
represent their sides well.
It's an adversarial system.
And then we have a jury which, because of
its multiracial composition, will decide this
case, in my opinion, on the evidence, and
not on race.
NOOR: Thank you.
From Baltimore, this is Jaisal Noor for the
Real News.
