Five Indiana Pacers players charged due to the brawl in November at the Palace in Auburn Hills, will be tried separately.

A judge Friday granted the players' request for separate trials on misdemeanor assault and battery charges so they would not be called as complaining witnesses at the same trial in which they are defendants.

Lawyers for the five -- Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal, Stephen Jackson, Anthony Johnson and David Harrison -- contended there was a risk the players would be called to testify in a way that could be self-incriminating.

Judge Lisa Asadoorian said the two remaining defendants -- David Wallace, brother of Pistons center Ben Wallace, and John Green, the fan who prosecutors say sparked the brawl by lobbing a drink that struck Artest -- would be tried together. Wallace and Green did not ask for separate trials.