The trial of Officer Edward Nero continued today with devastating testimony from Garrett Miller in support of Nero.  Miller and Nero were the two bicycle officers who originally encountered Freddie Gray.
As unbelievable as this may sound, the prosecution had never interviewed Garrett Miller before he took the stand today and destroyed the prosecution case against Edward Nero.
Miller’s testimony was compelled by the prosecution, challenged by the defense attorneys, upheld by a Maryland court order, and such compulsion is the subject of considerable ongoing legal controversy.  Garrett Miller is also charged with identical charges as his partner Edward Nero.

Today, Miller took the stand and […] said he and Nero were on bicycle patrol in the Gilmor Homes area on April 12 last year when Lt. Brian Rice radioed that he was engaged in a foot chase from nearby.
Miller testified that he never sought to clarify the purpose for the chase. Prosecutors said in opening statements that by not seeking to determine the reason for the pursuit, the officers exceeded any legal authority to detain Gray and committed an assault.
“Did there come a time when you and the defendant apprehended Mr. Gray?” Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow asked Miller.
“I did, sir,” Miller responded.
He answered “no” when Schatzow asked if Nero participated in “grabbing” Gray.
On Friday, prosecutors played a video recording of the statement Nero gave to police detectives on the day of Gray’s arrest. Schatzow emphasized Nero’s language in the interview, in which he said, “Miller and I, we got him in custody.”
Neill Franklin, a policing expert for the prosecution, said Nero’s description was “consistent with that of a joint arrest,” though Zayon suggested Nero was speaking collectively out of habit about actions that were actually taken by Miller alone. Miller, too, said Monday that he liberally used the word “we” in his initial statement to describe what occurred.
[…] Miller calmly answered Schatzow’s questions, with mostly short responses. Zayon frequently objected as Schatzow sought to impeach Miller by reading his statements to police investigators and contrasting them with his testimony. Williams sustained many of the objections, preventing Miller from answering.
“It can’t be done this way,” Williams told Schatzow, causing prosecutors to huddle to the side of their trial table.
[…] Warren Alperstein, a defense attorney who is not involved in the case but has been watching the proceedings, said Miller “helped the defense a great deal” with his testimony, making it “abundantly clear” that he arrested Gray, not Nero.
The state was “at a disadvantage” in calling Miller because it wasn’t able to interview him prior to compelling him to take the stand with the court’s backing, Alperstein said.
Warren Brown, another defense attorney watching the proceedings, said Miller’s testimony “really put a human face on what went on” during Gray’s stop and arrest.
“What you got from it was a real sense of what was going on out there,” Brown said. “A chase is announced so they joined in the chase. That’s what they’re supposed to do. It’s absurd that you’re going to criminalize their good faith behavior.”
Brown said it was amazing to watch Miller testify, rare as it was.
“We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before: defendants in the midst of criminal charges pending against them being called to testify against the co-defendant,” Brown said. “And the prosecution arguing that the police didn’t have probable cause? That’s usually something the defense argues.”
[…]  After the state rested its case, Zayon asked Circuit Judge Barry Williams, who is deciding Nero’s fate instead of a jury, to grant a motion for judgment of acquittal, saying the state’s assault case was based on “one misstated pronoun.” Schatzow countered that it was about Nero’s “own words and statements.”
Williams denied the motion, saying the state had met its minimum burden for the case to proceed.  (read more)