JERSEY CITY — The Jersey City police lieutenant accused of kicking and dragging an innocent man set ablaze by a car crash in June 2017 wants a judge to dismiss all the charges he faces, saying there was "spillover prejudice" against him when a grand jury heard the allegations against him along with the charges against his three co-defendants.

The lieutenant, Keith Ludwig, also argues that his case should be separated from the other cops' cases because his defense is "truly antagonistic" to theirs and because they have argued in their legal briefs that he is not credible. This could cause prejudice to all the defendants, he argues.

Ludwig's requests come in a brief filed last week by his attorney, Anthony Iacullo, with the Hudson County Superior Court. The 23-year veteran of the Jersey City police force is charged with aggravated assault and official misconduct for his alleged actions on the night of the crash.

With Ludwig's Sept. 4 request for a dismissal, all four men facing charges in the case have now asked Judge Nesle A. Rodriguez to dismiss their indictments. Two of them, former cop MD Khan and Eric Kosinski, face a total of 18 counts, including attempted murder. Francisco Rodriguez is charged with four counts. They have all pleaded not guilty.

The case stems from a June 4, 2017 high-speed pursuit that started in Jersey City's Greenville section and ended six miles away on Tonnelle Avenue. Officers that night were pursuing Leo Pinkston when, on Tonnelle Avenue, Khan, Kosinki and Rodriguez shot at Pinkston's car. Pinskton crashed the car near North Street, causing an explosion involving a second car driven by Miguel Feliz-Rodriguez.

Following the crash, in a moment caught on video by an eyewitness, officers appeared to kick and drag Feliz-Rodriguez as he tried to extinguish the flames that had engulfed him. Some of Ludwig's and Khan's charges are related to that episode. The attempted murder charges stem from the officers shooting at Pinkston's car.

Lawyers for the four men have made similar arguments to Judge Rodriguez for why their indictments should be tossed, including that prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence from the grand jury; that jurors received unclear instructions on the charges; and that the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office had a conflict of interest that should have precluded them from prosecuting the four men and, separately, Pinkston. Prosecutors charged Pinkston with eluding police, aggravated assault, aggravated assault by auto, and aggravated assault by eluding. He pleaded guilty to eluding in February.

Ludwig's brief argues that the charges he faces are "wholly unrelated" to the charges against the cops who shot at Pinkston's car and should not have been presented at the same time to the same grand jury.

"There are no allegations of a specific conspiracy, yet the state uses the potential 'blue line' prejudice to improperly obtain multiple indictments," the brief reads. "To hear days of testimony including multiple officers employing deadly force in a prolonged incident with an alleged criminal certainly serves to prejudice a jury and likely color its view of Ludwig's actions with an innocent person."

Khan's attorney, Daniel Welsh, argues in his brief that Khan and Ludwig were charged in Feliz-Rodriguez's beating "basically ... by way of process of elimination." Officers who gave statements to prosecutors did not identify the cops seen kicking the man, Welsh's brief says, so "it was assumed the officers allegedly assaulting (Feliz-Rodriguez) were Khan and Ludwig."

Asked to respond, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez referred to her previous statement, which said, "It is our position that this matter was handled appropriately and beyond that we have no further comment as it involves pending litigation."

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.