Officer's Lawyers Want Freddie Gray Jury To Be Sequestered

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Lawyers for the Baltimore police officer set to be tried first in the Freddie Gray case are calling for jurors to be fully sequestered.

Rick Ritter with more on what that means for those people chosen to sit on the jury.

Defense attorneys for Officer William Porter want jurors to be put up in a hotel with no access to their cell phones, limited access to television and supervised interaction with family and friends until the trial is over.

According to a new court filing, Officer Porter's attorneys are calling for the jurors' names to be kept secret so they don't feel pressure to convict Officer Porter as a "sacrificial lamb" to avoid "further civil unrest" in the city.

Lawyers claim the additional precautions are necessary because of Judge Barry Williams' decision to keep the trials in Baltimore.

Gray was arrested back on April 12, loaded into a police van and injured. He died of a spinal cord injury a week later.

Criminal charges, ranging from second-degree murder to reckless endangerment, were filed against six city police officers.

Each officer has pleaded not guilty.

The first trial for Officer William Porter is set to begin on November 30.

Stay with WJZ for complete coverage of the Freddie Gray case. We will bring you all the developments as the officers' trials approach.