FILE - In this March 3, 2016 file photo, Officer William Porter, right, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, arrives to Maryland Court of Appeals in Annapolis,... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this March 3, 2016 file photo, Officer William Porter, right, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, arrives to Maryland Court of Appeals in Annapolis,... (Associated Press) 
 
 BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray must testify against his colleagues while he awaits a retrial, Maryland's highest court ruled Tuesday. 
 
 The Court of Appeals did not give any reason for the decision, saying it would issue an opinion later. The case was unusual because Officer William Porter's trial ended with a hung jury and as he was awaiting a retrial, a judge ruled he had to testify against some of the officers charged in the Gray case but not others. 
 
 The appeals court heard arguments over the issue last week and questioned Porter's attorney about why he shouldn't testify at multiple trials. Porter's attorney said every time he took the stand it could subject the officer to a perjury charge. 
 
 Gray died in April, a week after his neck was broken in the back of a police transport van while he was handcuffed and shackled, but left unrestrained by a seat belt. 
 
 Porter testified at his trial and said he didn't do anything wrong during Gray's arrest. He told a jury that it was the van driver's responsibility to make sure Gray was secured in a seat belt. 
 
 Porter was the first officer to stand trial, but the issue of whether Porter could be compelled to testify against his colleagues halted the other trials. 
 
 Tuesday's rulings mean the cases will be sent back to a lower court and the trials can move forward. 
 
 The appeals court issued two rulings. The first ruling agreed with Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams' decision to force Porter to testify against Sgt. Alicia White and Officer Caesar Goodson, all of whom face manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges. Goodson, the van driver, faces the most serious charge, second-degree murder. 
 
 A second order reversed Williams' decision that Porter did not have to testify against officers Garrett Miller, Edward Nero and Lt. Brian Rice. They face misconduct in office, reckless endangerment and assault charges. Rice also faces a manslaughter charge. 

 Officer William Porter (Photo: Jose Luis Magana, AP) 
 
 A Baltimore police officer accused in the death of Freddie Gray must testify against all other officers facing charges in the case, Maryland's highest court ruled Tuesday. 
 
 Gray's April death while in police custody set off rioting in the city and Black Lives Matter protests across the nation. The officer involved in Tuesday's ruling, William Porter, is awaiting a second trial after his first ended in a hung jury in December. 
 
 Five other officers also are awaiting trial in the case. Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., who drove the van that transported Gray from the scene of his arrest, faces the most serious charge: second-degree depraved-heart murder. Prosecutors accuse Goodson of driving erratically despite knowing that Gray was injured and asking for medical assistance. 
 
 Gray, 25, was transported without a seat belt during the 45-minute ride. An autopsy report revealed Gray, 25, died of a "high-energy injury" to his spine that probably was the result of a sudden stop. 
 
 Porter's testimony could be crucial in Goodson's case. At his own trial, Porter testified he was in the van for most of the ride to the police station. Porter said Gray did not appear injured and kicked and yelled for most of the journey. Gray didn't ask for medical assistance, but agreed when Porter asked him whether he wanted to go to a hospital, Porter said. 
 
 Porter testified Goodson declined to take Gray to the hospital, instead stopping to pick up another prisoner. When the van finally arrived at the police station, Gray was unresponsive. 
 
 Jason Ott, a Baltimore defense lawyer who has been watching the case closely, said he was shocked by the ruling. Ott said compelling Porter to testify while his own charges remain pending could have an impact on his case — the reason for the Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination. 
 
 Ott said he believes the charges should never have been brought and that the evidence remains thin. Still, the defense cases just got more difficult, he said. 
 
 "Everyone is in big trouble now," Ott said. "Goodson is the case I would be most concerned about if I was involved in these cases." 
 
 The appeals court issued two rulings, one affirming trial Judge Barry Williams' order that Porter testify against Goodson and Sgt. Alicia White, the other reversing Williams' decision not to require Porter to testify against the other three officers. 
 
 Porter himself is charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and assault in the death of Gray, who had been accused of carrying an illegal switchblade. Prosecutors say Porter failed to belt Gray into the van and then failed to provide medical assistance when Gray asked for it. 
 
 Porter and Goodson are black. Trials for the other four officers — three white, one black — are scheduled for the next few months. Porter is tentatively scheduled for a retrial after those trials are completed. 
 
 The city agreed in September to pay Gray's family $6.4 million to settle civil litigation in the case. 
 
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 Maryland's highest court ruled in favor of prosecutors in the Freddie Gray cases Tuesday, ordering that Baltimore police Officer William G. Porter can be compelled to testify against his five fellow officers. 
 
 The Court of Appeals rejected Porter's request that he not be forced to testify at the trials of Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr. and Sgt. Alicia D. White. It also reversed an order by Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams that denied prosecutors' request to call Porter to testify against three other officers, Edward M. Nero, Garrett E. Miller and Lt. Brian W. Rice. 
 
 The rulings allow for the resumption of the officers' trials, which have been halted since January. On Tuesday, Rice's trial — originally set to begin Wednesday — was rescheduled for April 13, judiciary spokeswoman Terri Charles said. She noted that the date could change, and it will be up to the court to set a schedule for the remaining trials. 
 
 The high court's decision was a victory for prosecutors, who argued that Porter's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination would not be violated by requiring him to testify under a grant of limited immunity. Under the immunity, his testimony at the officers' trials cannot be used at his own retrial. Porter's first trial ended in a mistrial in December when jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the four charges against him. 
 
 Prosecutors also contended that Williams wrongly blocked their authority when he ruled that they could not call Porter to testify at the Nero, Miller and Rice trials. They had not said previously that Porter was considered a witness in those cases, and Williams said their deciding to call him later was a stall tactic. 
 
 "I think [prosecutors] have weathered the storm," said Douglas Colbert, a law professor at the University of Maryland. "They've been doing that since the beginning. There have been so many efforts to either delay or derail the prosecution. ... Both sides as well as the public are served when we are able to hear the truth about what happened to Freddie Gray on April 12th." 
 
 It was not clear whether Porter's attorneys, Gary Proctor and Joseph Murtha, would try to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the wake of the Court of Appeals rulings, Porter must testify or face jail time for contempt. 
 
 The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled for the prosecution, meaning Officer William Porter must testify against his fellow officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. The cases were sent back to the lower court for trial. (kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun video) The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled for the prosecution, meaning Officer William Porter must testify against his fellow officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. The cases were sent back to the lower court for trial. (kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun video) SEE MORE VIDEOS 
 
 Attorneys in the cases, who are barred by gag order from speaking publicly about them, declined to comment. 
 
 William "Billy" Murphy Jr., the civil attorney for Gray's family, said prosecutors' request to call Porter as a witness was "straightforward" and the appeals court ruling was correct. 
 
 "This is the definitive ruling for all intents and purposes," Murphy said. 
 
 The high court judges did not expound on their decision, which came in the form of a two-page order less than a week after the judges heard arguments in Annapolis. A more detailed ruling is expected to be issued in the coming weeks. 
 
 Attorneys on both sides, as well as Williams, agreed that while prosecutors have discretion to grant immunity, it was unprecedented in Maryland for a defendant awaiting trial to be compelled to testify against co-defendants. 
 
 Defense attorneys say that could open the door for prosecutors to force co-defendants, even those who had invoked their right to remain silent, to testify at the trials of others. 
 
 David Jaros, a law professor at the University of Baltimore, said attorneys will be anxiously awaiting the more detailed ruling to determine how the court viewed the issues. 
 
 "What remains to be seen is whether or not this is a narrow victory that simply speaks to what can be done in the Freddie Gray cases, or if this is a new arrow in the quiver of prosecutors when they deal with co-defendant cases," Jaros said. "I hope the answer is that the kind of unique circumstances here makes this OK in this instance, but shouldn't and will not change how co-defendant cases are typically tried." 
 
 Williams ordered last year that the six officers would have separate trials and set a schedule that put Porter's trial first. After the Porter case ended in a mistrial, the court moved on to Goodson's case, with White's to follow. But those trials were postponed after Porter appealed Williams' order that he testify to the Court of Special Appeals, the state's second-highest court. 
 
 That moved up the trials of Nero, Miller and Rice. But when Williams denied the state's motion to compel Porter to testify in those trials, prosecutors appealed, and all five cases were halted and taken up by the Court of Appeals. 
 
 Gray, 25, died after being arrested in April. The state medical examiner's office said Gray suffered a severed spine while being transported without restraints in the back of a police van. His death occurred amid heightened focus nationwide on deaths of black men in police custody, and touched off weeks of unrest in Baltimore that escalated into rioting. The city has agreed to pay a $6.4 million settlement to Gray's family. 
 
 The six officers involved in Gray's arrest and death face charges that including manslaughter, assault, second-degree murder and misconduct in office. All have pleaded not guilty and are free on bail. 
 
 Those involved in the case say prosecutors face a complicated task in their quest to retry Porter later. They will have to prove that nothing Porter says during his testimony under immunity will be used against him or be considered, a process that could require a so-called taint team to screen the testimony. 
 
 Yet Assistant Maryland Attorney General Carrie Williams, who argued the prosecutors' case last week before Maryland's high court, contended that Porter's first trial offers a road map for what prosecutors knew before any later testimony, benefiting both Porter and the state. 
 
 "I think everyone's better off," she told the judges.
– Baltimore police officer William Porter will have to testify against five fellow officers in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, Maryland's court of appeals ruled Tuesday, in what the Baltimore Sun calls a "big victory for the state." Gray was 25 when his spine was severed while he was in the back of a police van in April. According to USA Today, the jury in Porter's manslaughter trial was deadlocked in December, and trials for the other five officers involved were halted while the appeals court decided if Porter would have to testify against them. Now those trials are free to resume. The appeals court didn't explain its ruling, which reverses a lower court's ruling, stating it would release an opinion some time in the future, the AP reports. Porter had requested he not be forced to testify against his fellow officers. A defense lawyer says making him do so while his own case remains unresolved could violate his right to not self-incriminate. Porter's retrial is not scheduled until after the other five trials. The ruling could be especially bad news for Officer Caesar Goodson, who was driving the van at the time of Gray's death and faces a second-degree murder charge. During his initial trial, Porter testified that Gray wasn't wearing a seatbelt in the van, and that it was Goodson's responsibility to make sure he was. He also testified that Gray requested to go to the hospital, but Goodson declined, instead picking up another prisoner and driving to the station. Porter was in the van for most of the ride, which prosecutors claim officers made intentionally rough for the unrestrained Gray.