At least one Baltimore police officer involved in the Freddie Gray murder investigation said Gray did ask for medical help, but that he and other officers questioned whether he might be faking his injuries.
According to a report published Sunday by the Baltimore Sun newspaper, investigators found conflicting statements among the six officers questioned in the case, explaining why a judge has ordered separate trials for them.
Officer William Porter said that after checking on Gray the morning of April 12, he told the van's driver that the city booking facility would not process Gray because he was in medical distress, according to the Sun.
Porter said he was not sure if Gray was in actual distress or trying to convince officers to take him to the hospital instead of jail.
Prosecutors have asked for Porter go on trial first because he will be called to testify in the cases against the van's driver, Officer Caesar Goodson, and Sergeant Alicia White.
Charges
All three face charges of manslaughter, misconduct in office, assault and reckless endangerment. Goodson faces an additional charge of second-degree murder.
Gray was arrested on April 12. He died in a hospital a week later of the spinal cord injury.
Prosecutors say Gray was unlawfully detained, and have disputed police accounts about a knife he was allegedly carrying.
His death sparked long-simmering tensions between Baltimore police and poor neighborhoods in the largely black city -- culminating in rioting and looting that left hundreds of businesses damaged and resulted in a citywide curfew.
