Their trials were already delayed after Porter’s attorneys asked the Court of Special Appeals, the state’s second highest court, to intervene.
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According to The Sun, the question at hand now is whether Maryland’s immunity statute covers Porter’s right against self-incrimination. Top row from left: Caesar R. Goodson Jr., Garrett E. Miller and Edward M. Nero. The Court of Appeals agreed to bypass the lower-level appeals process in order to expedite a ruling on whether Officer William Porter can be compelled to testify against the other five officers while still facing his own charges.
This photo from the Baltimore Police Department shows the six police officers charged with felonies ranging from assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray.
The Maryland Court of Appeals delayed the trials until it could consider whether Officer William Porter, whose case ended with a mistrial last December, can be compelled to testify under immunity against the other officers.
In a case already comprised of several moving parts, the order from the court halts the officers’ trial until March where it will decide if one of the officers will testify against the group.
Nero’s trial was scheduled to start next Monday while the trials for Miller and Rice were set for March.
Porter’s legal team argues that information from his testimony could be used against him at his later trial.
Earlier this week that Court stayed its proceedings while waiting to see if the Court of Appeals would intervene.
Neither side is at liberty to comment on the case as a result of a gag order opposed by Williams. The officers were indicted in connection with his death on May 1, after more than a week of peaceful protests that at times gave way to unrest, arson and looting.
The Court of Appeals, the state’s highest Court has handed the prosecution in the Freddie Gray cases a victory Thursday.
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Gray, 25, suffered a severe neck injury in the back of the police van that Goodson was driving April 12, prosecutors said.
