The Court of Appeals in Maryland has ordered that the trials for officers involved in theFreddie Gray case be delayed after agreeing to hear appeals from five of the six officers in the matter. This order will postpone Officer Edward Nero’s trial, which was scheduled to begin next week.
Right before Monday’s scheduled jury selection in Nero’s case, the appeals court mandated that all of the other officers’ cases will be held up until March while it is decided whether or not one of the officers would testify in the case of the prosecution and against his fellow officers. The court will discuss the constitutional ramifications of Officer William G. Porter testifying against Sgt. Alicia D. White and Officer Ceasar Goodson Jr. The trials of Lt. Brian Rice and Officer Garrett Miller will also be discussed.
Officer William Porter’s trial ended in a hung jury in December, but prosecutors want him to testify against Officer Goodson and Sgt. White before Porter goes back to trial, which is slated for this summer. The state is promising Porter immunity and will not use witness statements in his retrial, however, making Porter testify in turn violates his Fifth Amendment rights not to incriminate himself, argues his legal team.
Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera ordered that the oral arguments in all five cases will be heard on March 3.
