State Seeks Delay In 3 Officers' Trials In Freddie Gray Case, Pending Appeals

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Baltimore prosecutors are asking a judge to delay the trials of three police officers charged in the Freddie Gray case until appellate courts decide if another officer can be compelled to testify against them.

Prosecutors filed the motions Friday in the cases of Lt. Brian Rice and officers Edward Nero and Garrett Miller in Baltimore Circuit Court.

Prosecutors indicated Thursday they will appeal the court's Jan. 20 decision blocking them from calling Officer William Porter as a witness. Porter's manslaughter trial ended in a hung jury.

All three defendants are charged with assault, misconduct and reckless endangerment. Rice is also charged with manslaughter.

Nero's trial is currently scheduled for Feb. 22.

Gray was a 25-year-old black man who was fatally injured in police custody, leading to charges against six officers.