Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams ruled Wednesday that police Officer Garrett Miller must testify against Officer Edward Nero and Lt. Brian Rice.
Miller, Nero and Rice are charged along with three other officers in the death of Freddie Gray one year ago.
Prosecutors asked Williams to compel Miller to testify against Nero and Rice.
Miller’s lawyers, Catherine Flynn and Brandon Mead, told Williams that forcing their client to testify would violate his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and that if forced to testify he would invoke that right on the stand.
Williams, however, dismissed their arguments and ordered Miller to testify.
Flynn and Mead said they would decide whether to appeal after they read the Court of Appeals opinion in the case of Officer William Porter, whose trial ended in a hung jury in December.
The state’s highest court denied in March Porter’s appeal of an order to testify against his fellow officers, but has not issued a written opinion yet.
Collectively, the officers face a range of charges from misconduct in office to second degree depraved heart murder.
Nero’s trial is scheduled to begin May 10. Trials for Rice and Miller are scheduled for July.
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