Fellow officer must testify in 2nd Freddie Gray trial

Associated Press

BALTIMORE

The second trial for a police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray is set for next month – a year after the black man’s neck was broken in a police van – and one of the officer’s colleagues will be forced to testify.

The latest reshuffling of trial dates happened Tuesday when Maryland’s highest court ruled that Officer William Porter must testify against his fellow officers while he awaits retrial. Porter’s trial ended in a hung jury in December, and proceedings for the other officers have essentially been on hold while the courts determined whether he should be forced to take the stand.

The trial for Lt. Brian Rice, the highest-ranking officer charged in the Gray case, will start April 13 – one year and one day after Gray was arrested outside the Gilmor Homes in Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood when he ran from police.

Gray was booked after Rice and officers Edward Nero and Garrett Miller found a knife they deemed illegal in Gray’s pocket. The state’s attorney has said the knife was legal, and Gray never should have been taken into custody. He died a week after his injury in the van.

Rice is charged with manslaughter, misconduct in office, reckless endangerment and assault. All of the officers have pleaded not guilty.