By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--December 21, 2015
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Legal analysts described the mistrial as a major setback for the prosecution that could affect its efforts to convict the other five officers set to stand trial. The analysts said Porter -- who prosecutors said failed Gray, including by not making sure he wore a seat belt and not calling a medic sooner -- could have testified in those other cases or his statements in his own trial could have been used against the other officers. Now, though, everything is up in the air. One main order of business is determining when, or if, Porter will stand trial again. A new trial date could be determined at one or more scheduling conferences Judge Barry Williams may hold with the prosecution and defense in his chambers, the court's communications office said.This leaves the prosecution is a very difficult position because they were counting on Porter's conviction to help clear the way for the the others. With that first step now in jeopardy, they're pretty much making it up on the fly:
"A hung jury is a defeat for the prosecution, especially when they needed Porter to make some of these other cases," Toobin said."Now there are lots of strategic decisions ahead. They may decide to give up on prosecuting Porter, give him immunity and use him as a witness anyway, but that's obviously not a solution they wanted. All of these issues will have to be debated, and the prosecution here is in serious trouble." Porter was picked to go ahead of the other officers, at least in part, because prosecutors wanted to have him as a witness, according to Andrew Alperstein, a Baltimore defense attorney and former prosecutor. "Their thinking, seemingly, was if he was convicted maybe they could flip him and get him to become a witness for the state. ... On the other hand, if he was acquitted, he became what's called a compellable witness. He could be forced to testify," Alperstein said. "This hung jury is, really, I think, a major setback for the state because they have neither option available."
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