A hearing was held in Northampton on Wednesday afternoon where prosecutors said four men charged with raping a UMass student in her Amherst dorm room in October 2012 should be tried together.
The Northwestern District Attorney's Office filed a motion in Hampshire Superior Court seeking to join the cases of Justin King, Emmanuel Bile, Caleb Womack, and Adam Liccardi, all of Pittsfield.
The suspects, who were teens at the time of the alleged rape, were not students at UMass.
Prosecutors said the state wants one trial, in part, to avoid having to convene four juries and recall the same witnesses four times.
All defendants face identical charges based on identical evidence. Their lawyers say the sex was consensual.
The judge was not expected to issue a ruling Wednesday.
Copyright 2014 WSHM (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.