Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby attended her pre-trial hearing Thursday, for federal charges of perjury and lying on loan applications purchasing vacation homes in Florida.
Federal Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby ruled that a trial will proceed as planned in September. She denied Mosby’s motions for a bill of particulars, to dismiss the indictment against her, and to disqualify Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Wise as prosecutor.
Mosby’s attorney, A. Scott Bolden, argued that the prosecution was ‘selective and vindictive,’ and accused Wise of ‘animus.’
Judge Griggsby repeatedly pressed Bolden for objective evidence of animus. Bolden said all they had to prove was a ‘strong likelihood’ and urged the judge to consider the ‘totality of the circumstances.’
Bolden alleged that Wise’s animus began with a Gun Trace Task Force meeting in 2018 where Mosby ‘embarrassed’ Wise in front of his superiors.
Wise pushed back, saying he hardly remembered what was discussed at the meeting and that he was prosecuting Mosby for ‘not telling the truth.’
Bolden also noted that Wise donated $200 to Mosby’s political opponents that same year; Griggsby did not find Wise to have any conflict of interest.
He also suggested the animus was racial, accusing Wise of having a history of prosecuting elected Black officials.
Mosby echoed that sentiment in front of the Edward A. Garmatz U.S. District Courthouse, flanked by Bolden and her husband, City Council President Nick Mosby.
“Leo Wise has a history of racial animus based prosecution that predates me, and has been seen in the city of Baltimore since his existence here,” she said.
In court, Wise said the defense was creating a ‘victim fantasy.’
“It’s all an attempt to deflect from the defendant’s own conduct, and delegitmize anyone who has the temerity to question her behavior,” Wise said.
Mosby has repeatedly framed the federal charges against her as being based in racism, and as backlash against her decision to charge the police officers responsible for the death of Freddie Gray in 2015.
“We have to think about how these investigations began. It started with my travel, and then it went from an OIG investigation and then went to State Ethics Commission, State Board of Elections,” she said. “They have combed every aspect of my life for the past two years."
Mosby also accused Wise of ‘prosecutorial misconduct.’ The defense argued that Wise did not present exculpatory evidence before a grand jury and that Mosby was not allowed to testify before a grand jury.
However, Griggsby ruled that there is no evidence to show that Wise violated the Department of Justice Manual while investigating the case.
“I'm going to fight and I'm going to prevail, like I always do,” Mosby said.
