State's highest court intervenes in Freddie Gray case, halting all lower court proceedings

[Eugene]

Source: Baltimore Sun

The highest court in Maryland has agreed to hear appeals in the trials of five of the six Baltimore police officers charged in the Freddie Gray case, preventing any lower court proceedings from moving forward for the foreseeable future.

The Maryland attorney general's office, representing the Baltimore state's attorney's office, had petitioned the Court of Appeals to bypass the lower-level appeals process and expedite a review regarding questions over whether Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter can be compelled to testify against other officers while still facing his own charges.

Porter was ordered by Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams to testify in two of the officers' cases — Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. Sgt. Alicia White — and Porter's lawyers have been seeking to overturn the decision. In the three other cases — of Officers Edward Nero and Garrett Miller and Lt. Brian Rice — prosecutors failed to convince Williams that Porter is a necessary witness, and they are seeking to overturn that decision.

The Court of Appeals' decision to take the cases means that all lower court proceedings — including the pre-trial motions hearing scheduled for Friday in Nero's trial, which was set to begin Monday with jury selection — are canceled.

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Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/in-depth/bs-md-ci-appeals-taken-up-20160218-story.html

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By Kevin Rector and Justin FentonContact Reporters
The Baltimore Sun

FEBRUARY 18, 2016, 5:17 PM

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Original Reuters article:

World | Thu Feb 18, 2016 5:58pm EST

Maryland court to hear officers' appeals in Freddie Gray case

Maryland's highest court agreed to hear the appeals of several officers involved in the murder trial of Freddie Gray, halting all lower court proceedings for the time being, court filings showed on Thursday.

The state's Court of Appeals agreed to hear arguments for five of the six officers involved in the Gray case, whose death prompted the majority black city to explode in violent protests last year.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Scott Malone)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-baltimore-police-idUSKCN0VR2VF

[TipTok]

1. The prosecution is trying to delay...

... to try the cases in the right order with the witnesses they want it seems.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-nero-hearing-20160216-story.html

[cstanleytech]

2. I dont understand how the prosecutor thinks that they can get the courts to agree to

force Porter to testify without an offer of immunity on the table due to the 5th amendment problems it would clearly raise.

[mike_c]

3. I think the original plan was to convict Porter first...

...and then use lenient punishment as a bargaining chip in exchange for his testimony and cooperation with the prosecution on the other cases. They saw him as the low hanging fruit that could be turned against the others.

[branford]

4. Note that Porter would need both state and federal immunity

to remove all 5A issues.

[cstanleytech]

5. What do you give the odds of both of them giving him that? nt

[branford]

6. I really don't know.

Usually immunity is granted only after a proffer of the anticipated testimony of the defendant largely due to the bargaining leverage possessed by the prosecution. However, in this instance, the state needs Porter far more than he need them, particularly after the obvious weaknesses in the government's case against him, including the mistrial and jury polling, as well as the timing of the other cases. The state doesn't want to be in a position where they grant Porter immunity, he testimony is not that great, and all the cops walk free. That's a scenario that ends careers.

A federal civil rights prosecution is always the Plan B, although such cases are VERY difficult to win. I would surmise that the feds want to stay clear of the mess the state finds itself in, and will not rush to offer immunity for the same reasons the state has not done so, at least without the state very publicly requesting the feds do so, and thus adopting even more responsibility if the cases continue to go badly.

The state's legal strategy appears to have been garbage, the courts have not been impressed with the state's excuses, and at this point, its entirely possible all officers will be acquitted of any wrongdoing due mostly to prosecutorial incompetence.