A Baltimore Police Department internal investigation shows that at least one officer suggested that Freddie Gray needed "medical care but wondered, along with others, whether he was faking injuries or being uncooperative," according to the Baltimore Sun.
The alert for medical attention, which the news outlet notes has never been publicly revealed, likely explains why a judge has ordered separate trials for the six officers charged in Gray's April 12 arrest, which led to nights of protests and an eventual shakeup of the city's leadership. Some of the officers' accounts of the incident differ, leading defense attorneys to argue that such "conflicts could create problems in a joint trial," notes the report.
The officer, William Porter, reportedly told investigators that after he was called to check on Gray, he told the transport "driver that the city booking facility would not process Gray because he was in medical distress," the Sun writes.
Porter told investigators that Gray said, "Help me. Help me up," the report says. The officer claims to have helped Gray up, writes the Sun, asking, "Do you need a medic or something? Do you need to go to the hospital?" Gray, 25, who was in handcuffs and shackles and not secured with a seat belt, told the officer yes.
Porter then says he told the driver of the van, Officer Caesar Goodson, Jr., that Central Booking would not accept Gray because he was in medical distress, noting that he was uncertain if Gray was "trying to convince officers to take him to the hospital instead of jail," the report says. During the discussion, another call came in for police support, and Goodson left the scene with Gray still unsecured in the back of the van.
Goodson was the only officer charged in Gray's arrest and transport who did not provide a statement to investigators, notes the report.
Besides Goodson, who was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault and misconduct in office, and Porter, who was charged with manslaughter, assault and misconduct in office, the other officers are Lt. Brian W. Rice, who was charged with manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment; Sgt. Alicia D. White, who was charged with manslaughter, assault and misconduct in office; and Officers Edward M. Nero and Garrett E. Miller, who were charged with assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment.
In a statement to the Baltimore Sun from lawyers for all six officers, defense attorney Joseph Murtha described the release of their clients' statements as "unfair and unconstitutional."
Read more at the Baltimore Sun.