Officer in First Freddie Gray Case Seeks to Not Testify in Other TrialsAttorneys for William Porter’s file motion to block client’s testimonyBy Scott Calvert
Updated Jan. 5, 2016 11:03 a.m. ET
http://www.wsj.com/articles/officer-in- ... 1452009448(excerpts)
BALTIMORE—Lawyers for William Porter, one of six police officers criminally charged in the death of Freddie Gray last April, asked a judge Monday to block prosecutors from forcing Mr. Porter to testify at the coming trials of two fellow officers.
Mr. Porter’s lawyers say compelling his testimony in other officers’ trials would violate his constitutional right against self-incrimination and expose him to potential perjury charges, according to a filing Monday that hadn’t previously been made public. In the filing, his lawyers asked the judge to quash the prosecutors’ subpoena for Mr. Porter’s testimony.
Prosecutors have previously said Mr. Porter is a “necessary and material witness” in both high-profile cases. A spokeswoman for State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby declined to comment, citing a gag order in the case.
The issue is expected to be argued in court Wednesday, defense lawyers Joseph Murtha and Gary Proctor said in their motion Monday, a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
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According to Mr. Porter’s lawyers, prosecutors argue that Mr. Porter can’t refuse to testify at the two coming trials because, they say, they plan to offer him an immunity grant that would prevent them from using his own testimony against him.
Mr. Porter’s lawyers argued in their motion to the court that compelling his testimony would violate his right against self-incrimination. Even with such an immunity grant, calling him to testify in two trials about the same matters related to his pending manslaughter charge wreaks of impropriety, they said in the filing.
Mr. Porter’s lawyers said a continuing federal probe of Mr. Gray’s death could lead to federal charges against Mr. Porter, noting that members of the local U.S. Attorney’s Office were present when Mr. Porter testified in his own defense. “It is therefore, surely, undeniable that Officer Porter remains in the sights of the United States,” the defense lawyers wrote in the motion.Mr. Porter’s lawyers also said his compelled testimony at the other officers’ forthcoming trials could expose him to perjury charges. If the state believed his testimony differed from testimony he gave during his own trial, “all the immunity the state could confer would be rendered meaningless,” they said.
Because a convicted perjurer can’t testify in court, calling Mr. Porter to testify at the two trials could strip him of his ability to testify at his retrial, they said,
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I put in bold the paragraph that I think is important that many might not consider. He not only has to worry about the State charges but also possible future Federal charges. It would shock me if the Judge rules in the prosecutions favor. This seems like an easy call IMO.