Baltimore. A city just to the north of Washington D.C. Rich in history. A city whose Fort McHenry withstood the bombardment of the British during the War of 1812, and while watching the shelling a young man by the name of Francis Scott Key wrote the awe-inspiring words to what is now our National Anthem.

Unfortunately, Baltimore today, has a much different reputation. It is a city of violence and unrest due in large part to the on-going repercussions of the Freddie Gray case. Much of which we’ve written about on this blog. Today we find out that the trial of Officer William Porter – one of six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray has hit a snag.

Baltimore judge declares hung jury in trial of officer charged with manslaughter in Freddie Gray's death: https://t.co/QB8fTntPjP

— The Associated Press (@AP) December 16, 2015

Oh boy…that’s quite a snag! One wonders what happened? I mean, really! The prosecutors, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake,  the judge, and especially State Attorney Marilyn Mosby thought this first case (and likely all the others) were going to be a slam dunk of guilty! Evidently the jury had other ideas.

A quick review of the Freddie Gray case. In April of this year, Freddie Gray died of a spinal cord injury and broken neck in the back of a police transport van while enroute to booking after his arrest. Baltimore erupted into flames and the political powers-that-be looked for scapegoats. Officer William Porter is one of 6 police officers whom State Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged in Gray’s death.

From the get go, this trial was full of trial and errors – pun intended. It was full of missteps and major judicial shenanigans. The prosecution brought experts from all over the country to opine about the case. As Legal Insurrection’s Andrew Branca and blogger Page Croyder, who served as Baltimore’s State attorney for 21 years have noted; the many rushes to judgement by Mosby that have led to this point, so much so that Croyder notes Mosby is getting her butt kicked during this trial. Especially when you consider that Gray’s own autopsy report, and the seatbelt issue doesn’t support Mosby’s indictments of all 6 police officers.

Branca also pointed out the fallacies in the prosecution’s closing statements along some very interesting moves by Judge Barry Williams during the course of the case, particularly during jury deliberations.

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 reporting by ABC News.

Such a statement coming from a trial judge is shocking because “compromise verdicts” in criminal cases are anathema to American concepts of jurisprudence and due process.

All of which led to a major case, as Mike McDaniel over at Stately McDaniel Manor stated, where the only provable fact is that the media is incredibly biased FOR the prosecution and Freddie Gray is dead. Period. The result being:

A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the trial of Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter, after jurors told a judge it could not reach a verdict on any of the four charges against him.

The panel had informed the judge on Tuesday that it was deadlocked, and Judge Barry G. Williams had ordered them to continue deliberations.

The prosecution and defense will be meeting with Judge Barry tomorrow morning to determine the next steps.

Officer Porter is, of course, subject to re-trial on all four charges: involuntary manslaughter, second degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office.

All in all, many legal experts, some mentioned here agree. The prosecution’s case was incredibly weak from the beginning. What does this mean for Officer William Porter, whose life was turned upside down because of the political aspirations of Marilyn Mosby? We’ll know more tomorrow.

Meanwhile in anticipation of the verdict, schools cancelled field trips and considered shutting down; all law enforcement officers were called to 24/7 duty, and the media is just salivating at the thought of Baltimore erupting into flames once again. All because of the death of one career criminal and a case that should never have been brought to trial in the first place.