Freddie Gray hearing: Officer’s 2 statements admissible

BALTIMORE (AP) – A judge is holding a hearing Tuesday on the admissibility of statements made to investigators by Baltimore police officers charged in connection with Freddie Gray’s death.

All six officers appeared before Judge Barry Williams, who is to determine whether their still-undisclosed statements will be allowed at trial.

Officer William Porter, the sole officer to waive his appearance at a hearing last month, is in court Tuesday. His trial is to begin Nov. 30.

The others facing charges are Officers Edward Nero, Garrett Miller and Caesar Goodson; Lt. Brian Rice; and Sgt. Alicia White.

All face assault and reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges. Porter, Rice, White and Goodson also face manslaughter charges. Goodson, who drove the police van in which Gray was critically injured, faces an additional charge of “depraved-heart” murder.

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SERGEANT’S STATEMENTS TO BE USED AT TRIAL

The judge ruled that White’s statements to investigators are admissible in court.

White was involved in Gray’s transport April 12. According to charging documents, a police van made several stops, during which White and two other officers checked on Gray but didn’t call a medic.

Williams ruled that White’s April 12 and April 17 statements can be used during her trial, scheduled for Jan. 25. Williams decided the first statement can be used because White was interviewed as a witness and didn’t need to hear her Miranda rights. He found the second statement admissible because White offered it voluntarily after she was advised of her rights.

“She had the opportunity to say, ‘No,’ to say she didn’t want to give any statements,” Williams said.

White’s attorney, Ivan Bates, argued that she wasn’t aware she’d become a suspect after initially being interviewed as a witness and that she only initialed the Miranda rights on April 17 because a detective interviewing her said that wouldn’t waive her rights.

Detective Syreeta Teel, who interviewed White on April 17, testified that White was called for the second interview because of “inconsistencies” in her initial testimony.

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OTHER STATEMENTS IN QUESTION

Also Tuesday, Nero, Miller and Rice temporarily withdrew their requests to suppress their statements, and Goodson never made a statement to investigators, so the judge was expected to deal with Porter’s request on Tuesday afternoon.