12 jurors will begin deliberating Marilyn Mosby’s federal perjury trial Thursday morning. The former Baltimore City State’s Attorney is accused of lying about experiencing a financial hardship due to COVID-19. She withdrew funds from her city retirement account and purchased two vacation homes in Florida. Listen to the audio above to find out how both sides closed their arguments and what’s at stake for Mosby.
TRANSCRIPT
Q: A lot happened in court yesterday including closing arguments. Let’s start there. What did the prosecution say?
A: Aaron Zelinsky is the Assistant U.S Attorney who presented the closing. He told jurors that telling the truth matters. He said that it matters when public officials seek to use funds for their personal gain. According to Zelinsky, the funds Mosby withdrew did not belong to her. That $90,000 belonged to her employer and was being held in a trust until she either quit, died or had some sort of emergency. He repeated that investing in real estate does not count as an adverse financial consequence, especially when so many people at the time — including city employees — were unable to work because of the virus.
Q: What about the defense?
While the prosecution painted Mosby as greedy, the defense painted a picture of a mother looking to provide for her family. Public defender, James Wyda, told the jury that Mosby needed to have a stable financial life, since her time in office was coming to an end. Wdya told jurors about a magical trip Mosby took to Jamaica in April of 2019.
That trip is what inspired her to create Mahogany Elite Enterprises, a travel (and consulting) agency that would provide retreats for successful women of color. As soon as she came back, she spent hundreds of dollars getting the business off the ground. But when the pandemic hit, Mosby like other business owners had to pivot. What matters, he said, is her state of mind when she filled the withdrawal forms. According to Wyda, she reasonably believed she qualified for those withdrawals under the CARES Act.
Q: Because the burden of proof is on the prosecution, they get the final word. What did prosecutors say in their rebuttal?
A: Assistant U.S Attorney Sean Delaney delivered the rebuttal. He spoke emphatically in questioning the validity of Mahogany Elite. Delaney pointed out that Mosby had no problem listing a business, on the Maryland Ethical Disclosure form. As for the owner, it was her husband, Nick Mosby, another elected official.
He showed jurors that form as evidence and continued that theme about the truth, saying that it matters. He said Mosby should be found guilty of perjury because she lied twice.
Q: This trial seems to be moving a lot faster than expected. What’s next?
A: The judge gave the jury instructions before adjourning for the day. She said their sole duty is to determine whether Mosby willfully lied on the forms she filled out in order to access the money. The charge is perjury, not tax or mortgage fraud.
Q: Now that Mosby’s fate is in the hands of a jury, what is something listeners should keep in mind?
A: A crux of this case is what counts as an adverse financial consequence.
Judge Griggsby told jurors the definition of that key term is an ‘Unfavorable or negative outcome related to money.’
On one hand, the defense said Mosby lost future profit because the pandemic halted travel. On the other, the prosecution said the business never made a profit, so you can’t lose what you never had.
Prosecutors also said that if Mosby really had a hardship, she would have spent some of those funds on childcare or medical expenses. A claim which Wyda shot down, saying the law didn’t specify how you can spend your money.
