(Reuters) - Baltimore prosecutors had asked police to focus drug enforcement efforts on the corner where Freddie Gray was chased by officers before he allegedly suffered a fatal injury in police custody, the Baltimore Sun reported on Wednesday.

The request from State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby came about three weeks before Gray, a 25-year-old black man, was arrested on April 12, according to a court filing by defense attorneys for six officers Mosby has charged in Gray's death.

Mosby's request means she should be removed from the high-profile case, the Sun quoted the motion in Baltimore City Circuit Court as saying.

"This is a case where the witness and the prosecutor are the same," it said.

Gray died on April 19 from an injured spine a week after being chased from a west Baltimore street corner by three officers who found a knife on him. His death sparked widespread protests and rioting that prompted a curfew and the calling in of National Guard troops.

The defense motion quotes a police email that said Mosby's office had asked a police division chief to concentrate drug enforcement efforts on the corner from which Gray fled, the Sun said.

Mosby's office has dismissed previous defense calls for her removal from the case, including some based on conflict-of-interest allegations stemming from her husband's post as a city councilman in the district where Gray was arrested.

A spokeswoman for Mosby's office had no immediate response to a request for comment.





(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)