The Freddie Gray case was back in court on Thursday, but no officers were on the stand. The Maryland Court of Appeals heard from prosecutors and defense attorneys for the police accused in Gray’s death to determine whether Officer William Porter will have to testify in future trials.
According to Reuters, seven judges heard the arguments that Porter should have to testify from the state’s Assistant Attorney General, and that testifying would violate his 5th Amendment rights from Porter’s attorney, Gary Proctor. At the circuit court level, Judge Barry Williams initially ruled that Porter had to testify in two officers’ trials, but not the other three. Both sides appealed.
Porter’s own trial ended in a mistrial in December, and another trial in his case is scheduled for June. The state wants to leave the option open to call him as a witness in the five other cases.
The fact that Porter has already been through trial appears to weigh heavily on the case. Proctor sought to spin his own client’s credibility in the eyes of the state, bringing up the fact that the state has already said Porter lied on the stand.”The state has already labeled what he is going to say perjury,” he said.
There’s no timetable on when the Court of Appeals may rule in the case. Some reports, like this one in the Daily Caller, have quoted lawyers saying the case could go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
