Freddie Gray case: Manslaughter trial begins for 4th Baltimore police officer charged

Prosecution has yet to receive a conviction for the officers charged in the case

Handout/Mark Makela/Getty

The trial of the highest ranking Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray begins, as prosecutors still seek a first conviction in the case.

Lt Brian Rice is charged with manslaughter as the prosecution said he should have secured Mr Gray in the back of the police van upon his 12 April 2015 arrest, when he suffered a catastrophic spinal injury that resulted in his death a week later.

“Because of the decisions that Lieutenant Rice made that day, Mr Gray is dead,” said chief prosecutor Michael Schatzow, Reuters reported.

Defence lawyers, however, said it was up to the officer to determine whether or not Mr Gray was buckled in. Chaz Bell, who is representing Rice, said that the defendant based his decision on “a nine-second assessment that it was too dangerous to force a seatbelt on Gray.”

Prosecution argued that the six officers, including Rice, broke department protocol by not fastening Mr Gray.

Baltimore City Circuit Court judge Barry Williams is presiding over the case. Mr Williams acquitted officers Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson Jr, both of whom opted for bench trials over jury.

Officer William Porter, the first of the six to stand trial, was met with a hung jury. He is set for a retrial in September.

Rice faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment.