Freddie Gray trial: Officer William Porter tells trial he didn't call for a medic

The Baltimore police officer charged in the April death of a black man from an injury while in custody testified on Wednesday that he had not called for a medic because there appeared to be no reason to do so.

Officer William Porter, 26, said he saw no signs of wounds or injuries when Freddie Gray told him in the back of a police van that he needed medical help.

"He was unable to give me a reason" to call a medic, Porter, who is black, said on the first day of defense testimony in the high-profile trial in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

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Porter, who is charged with manslaughter in Gray's death, also told a packed courtroom that the 25-year-old Gray never told him that he could not breathe.

A police investigator testified for the prosecution that Porter had told her a few days after the injury that Gray had said he could not breathe. But Porter did not say that in a later statement to investigators, according to testimony.

Gray's death triggered rioting in the largely black city and intensified a U.S. debate on police tactics. Porter is the first of six officers, three of them black, to face trial in Gray's death.

Officers arrested Gray on April 12 after a foot chase in crime-ridden West Baltimore. He was bundled into a transport van while in handcuffs and shackles and was not secured with a seatbelt.

Gray died a week later from a spinal injury and a medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

Porter was present at five of the six stops the van made before the end of the ride at a police station. Gray then was found unconscious and not breathing.

Porter said he knew Gray from patrolling the West Baltimore neighbourhood where Gray lived. The defense has said Porter did not believe Gray was seriously injured until the final stop. His lawyers have suggested that responsibility for seeking medical help lay with the other officers.

In other testimony, Vincent DiMaio, a San Antonio pathologist, called Gray's death an accident rather than a homicide.

Prosecutors contend Porter ignored Gray's pleas for medical aid and his failure to secure him with a seat belt violated department protocol.

Porter is accused of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct.

Charges against the other five officers range from misconduct to second-degree murder.