The trial of the Baltimore police officer who drove the van in which Freddie Gray was mortally wounded was postponed by the Maryland appeals court just as jury selection was ready to get underway Monday.
The order from the Court of Special Appeals postpones the trial of Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. until an appeal by his colleague, Officer William Porter, is resolved. Officer Porter, who was going to be forced to testify in the case, was the first of six officers charged in connection with Gray’s death to go to trial in December. Jurors deadlocked in his case, and it ended in a mistrial. Officer Porter is expected to be retried in June.
Last week, Officer Porter’s attorneys filed an injunction seeking to prevent him from being called as a witness in Officer Goodson’s trial. Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams had previously ruled that Officer Porter could be forced to testify under a limited immunity that would prevent what he says in Officer Goodson’s trial from being used against him when he is retried.
The appeals court order issued Monday morning by Chief Judge Peter B. Krauser states that “it is presumably in the interests of all parties” that Officer Porter’s appeal be resolved before moving forward with Officer Goodson’s trial.
An earlier order issued Friday by Judge Krauser had hinted at possible postponement, with the judge issuing a temporary reprieve that would have blocked Officer Porter from being made to testify in Officer Goodson’s case.
A total of six police officers were charged in connection with the death of Gray, who suffered a broken neck while handcuffed in the back of a police van in April and died a week later. Officer Goodson faces the most serious charges of the officers charged — second-degree depraved heart murder.
During Officer Porter’s first trial, prosecutors said the officer was partially to blame for Gray’s death because he failed to buckle Gray into a seat belt in the van or to call for an ambulance when Gray asked for a medic.
But Officer Porter testified during his trial that he told the driver of the van, Officer Goodson, to take Gray to the hospital.
It was unclear how the decision might affect the timing of the four remaining officers’ trials.
Trial dates for two other officers, Sgt. Alicia White and Officer Garrett Miller, had already been pushed back prior to Monday’s order.
Sgt. White’s trial was scheduled for Jan. 25 and has been rescheduled for Feb. 8. Officer Miller’s trial, scheduled for February, has been moved back to March 7.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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