Maryland’s highest court ruled Tuesday that one of the officers in the case involving the 2015 death of Freddie Gray must testify against his colleagues.
The Court of Appeals issued a ruling siding with prosecutors who had asked that Officer William Porter be compelled to testify against five other officers facing charges from Gray’s death.
The two-page ruling affirmed Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams’ decision to force Porter to testify against Officer Caeser Goodson and Sgt. Alicia White, and reversed the judge’s decision that he did not have to testify against the three other officers, Edward Nero, Garrett Miller and Lt. Brian Rice.
Porter’s trial ended in a hung jury in December. He was charged with manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office, and the hung jury put the rest of the trials on hold as lawyers debated whether Porter would have to testify against his colleagues.
The state had argued that Porter’s Fifth Amendment rights would not be violated by making him testify. His testimony at the other officers’ trials cannot be used as his own retrial on the manslaughter charges.
The cases now return to the to the lower court for trial, though no timetable has been set.
All six officer’s involved in Gray’s arrest and subsequent death in police hands have pleaded not guilty.
