Maryland’s highest court heard arguments Thursday to decide a pivotal point in the trials of the Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray.
The Maryland Court of Appeals listened to arguments from prosecutors who hope to force Officer William Porter to testify against his fellow cops, despite the fact that he still has pending charges against him and has pleaded his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself, The Baltimore Sun reports.
Porter’s trial ended in a mistrial in December when the jury could not make a decision. The mistrial has put the prosecution in a bind because they hoped to use Porter’s testimony against the other officers charged in the death. Most expected an unconvicted Porter couldn’t be forced to testify against his fellow officers since he could still invoke the Fifth Amendment.
In a surprise decision, Judge Barry G. Williams ruled Porter could be forced to testify in another officer’s trial, but that his testimony could not be used against him. The ruling was a major victory for the prosecution, and only offered transactional immunity. The ruling was the first of its kind in the state and raised eyebrows among some legal experts. Williams himself admits his own ruling is legally “in uncharted territory.”
Transactional immunity is the broadest type of immunity. For example, an accomplice in a bank robbery will testify against his fellow robbers in exchange for a guarantee that he will not be tried for the robbery. But Porter was offered the more narrow use of immunity, which compelled him to testify while saying the testimony can’t be used against him.
While the prosecution can’t officially use the testimony against Porter in court, the information gathered from his testimony could still be extremely helpful to the prosecution.
Porter’s defense, worried the testimony could still hurt his chances in a retrial, appealed the decision to the state. Two officers’ trials will be pending until the Maryland Court of Special Appeals rules on the judge’s decision to force Porter to testify.
High-profile defense attorney Barry Slotnick told The Daily Caller News Foundation in February the case would likely go before the Supreme Court.
“This is going to be decided by the Supreme Court of the United States for the simple reason that can you force someone to testify someone to testify against themselves,” Slotnick told TheDCNF. “The answer is no … unless you give him immunity.”
Police arrested Gray in April and transported him in the back of a police van. Gray appeared healthy when arrested but was injured within an hour after his encounter with police. His spinal cord was severely damaged and he died a week later from the injuries.
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