The Maryland Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from a former Baltimore Police officer who failed to prevent a suspect in an assault from attacking a man lying on the ground.

At a bench trial in 2022, Baltimore Circuit Judge Kendra Y. Ausby convicted then-Officer Christopher Nguyen, 29, of Hanover, of reckless endangerment. She acquitted him of misconduct in office.

The judge initially sentenced Nguyen to serve one year, with all time suspended but 60 days in jail, plus 1 ½ years’ probation. She also ordered him to complete implicit bias and cultural sensitivity training.

Days later, Ausby changed her sentence and suspended the incarceration.

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The justices agreed to consider three legal questions. Oral argument is scheduled for Oct. 2, according to court records.

Read previous coverage of the case against former Baltimore Police Officer Christopher Nguyen

On Aug. 12, 2020, Nguyen responded to a call about two men fighting on Kolb Avenue near Belair Road in Northeast Baltimore and found Wayne Brown lying face down and bleeding on the sidewalk. He was unresponsive.

Nguyen called for a medic and then started to speak with Kenneth Somers, who alleged that Brown had stolen his car. Somers reported that he had beaten up Brown.

Later, Somers walked over to Brown for a second time and taunted him. Somers then kicked Brown one time in the face.

Somers, 43, of Dundalk, was later found guilty in Baltimore Circuit Court of first-degree assault and reckless endangerment and sentenced to seven years in prison.

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At trial, Nguyen testified that he experienced tunnel vision and felt overwhelmed.

Nguyen said he neither knew that Somers was going to kick Brown nor wanted that to take place. But the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office argued that Nguyen’s inaction created a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury and constituted a crime.

He was suspended at the time of his conviction and subsequently resigned from the department.

The president of the Baltimore City Lodge No. 3 Fraternal Order of Police, Mike Mancuso, criticized the Baltimore state’s attorney at the time, Marilyn Mosby, for bringing the charges against Nguyen.