The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the jury in the recently hung jury of Officer William Porter was one vote shy of acquittal on the most serious charge of manslaughter when they were finally dismissed in a mistrial, with 11 of 12 jurors voting for acquittal.
This information purportedly is sourced from...
Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals (the state’s intermediate appellate court) has issued a last minute order (embedded at the bottom of this post) staying the trial of van driver Officer Caesar Goodson, for which jury selection was to begin today, reports the Baltimore Sun. The purpose of this stay is to...
UPDATED (1/8/16): We’ve embedded the state’s response to the appellate court order at the bottom of this post.
UPDATED (1/8/16): We’ve embedded Chief Judge Krauser’s order at the bottom of this post.
Well, that was (appropriately) quick.
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the state’s mid-level appellate court, today issued an order halting trial Judge...
Numerous pre-trial rulings were made today by Judge Barry Williams, the trial judge overseeing the “Freddie Gray” trials in Baltimore.
Most were unsurprising, but one in particular raised eyebrows: Judge Williams ordered that Officer William Porter, whose case just ended in a mistrial and who is scheduled to be retried in June,...
Obama can once again lay credible claim to the title of “Best Gun Salesman Ever.”
His recently announced policy changes on guns not only do nothing to discourage gun purchases, they if anything facilitate even greater volumes of gun sales, and in particular machine guns, suppressors, short-barreled rifles/shotguns, and other highly controlled “NFA”...
Today, a Cleveland grand jury declined to indict two Cleveland Police Department officers over the November 2014 killing of Tamir Rice, as reported by ClickOnDetroit. We’ve posted repeatedly on the shooting of 12-year-old Rice by Cleveland police officers, including:
VIDEO: Shooting of Tamir Rice by Police Goes to Grand Jury (6/4/2015)
Various news agencies, including The New York Times, have reported today that there were no indictments issued by a Texas grand jury with respect to the in-custody death of Sand Bland.
By all appearances, Bland had hanged herself in her cell.
Bland was 28-years-old when she responded with anger and non-compliance after being lawfully...
The re-trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter has been scheduled for June 13, 2016,according to reporting by The Baltimore Sun.
By that time the trials of the other 5 officers charged in Freddie Gray’s death will have been completed. Absent immunity, Porter therefore remains vulnerable to criminal prosecution throughout the course...
A reader alerted Professor Jacobson that Legal Insurrection and I got a mention on the Mark Levin Show. Naturally we tracked down the mention in order to crow about it and share it with you loyal readers (but mostly to crow about it).
In fairness, it’s probably more accurate to say that...
I have been rather amused the last 48 hours or so watching the Progressive news media (but I repeat myself) in the aftermath of the hung jury in the “Freddie Gray” trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter.
The media’s efforts to avoid acknowledging what an unmitigated disaster this outcome was for...
The trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter ended in a mistrial today, with Judge Williams accepting that the jury was hung on all four criminal charges brought against Porter in the aftermath of the in custody death of Freddie Gray.
Update: For those curious about what the jury vote breakdown might...
UPDATE: (12/16/15, 3:16PM): MISTRIAL, JURY HUNG ON ALL FOUR CHARGES.
UPDATE: (12/16/15, 3:01PM): Told that both Porter and Mosby are in the courtroom.
UPDATE: (12/16/15, 2:43PM): State’s Attorney Mosby is in the courtroom, first time since deliber...
UPDATE (5:37PM, 12/15/15): That’s it for today, folks. No verdict, and jury sent home for the night. Deliberations start up again in the morning.
UPDATE (4:01PM, 12/15/15): In a shocking statement, trial Judge William Barry told the hung jury to “Compromise if you can do so without violence to your own moral judgement,” according to...
The defense counsel for Officer William Porter has moved for a mistrial after discovering that the Baltimore City Public Schools sent home a letter with students cautioning parents in which the CEO of the school system wrote:
I am very concerned about the possibility of civil disorders following announcements of the verdict.
UPDATE (12/14/15, 5:39PM): Jurors dismissed for the day, back to deliberations at 8:30AM tomorrow.
UPDATE (12/14/15, 5:22PM): Both prosecution and defense agree with Judge Williams that no additional legal definitions will be provided to the jury.
UPDATE (12/14/15, 5:11PM): Jury asks for legal definitions of “evil motive,” “b...
Today the defense wrapped up their case in the “Freddie Gray” trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter. The jury has been dismissed for the weekend, and closing statements will be completed on Monday. I would not be surprised if the jurors went into deliberations Monday afternoon, or Tuesday at...
We’re now into the second day of the defense’s case in the “Freddie Gray” trial of Police Officer William Porter, and it looks more and more like this prosecution has even less of a leg to stand on than did the prosecution of George Zimmerman.
In the Zimmerman trial one could at...
