Perjury Trial For Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby Has Been Delayed
A postponement of Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s federal criminal trial has been ordered after a dispute over expert witness testimony. U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby ordered the postponement “with regret” on Wednesday (Sept. 14).
According to CBS News, federal prosecutors argued they needed more time to locate a witness to rebut testimony from an expert Mosby’s defense team planned to place on the stand.
"There's just no realistic way to proceed," Judge Griggsby said, according to the news station.
That witness was expected to testify that Mosby’s non-operational travel business suffered due to the pandemic. Prosecutors say they only recently learned of Mosby’s expert witness.
Judge Griggsby said she considered Mosby’s right to a speedy trial before making her ruling and noted she wanted to give Mosby’s defense time to respond to whatever expert the prosecution will bring.
In January, a federal grand jury in indicted Mosby, 42, the incumbent candidate for the prosecutor job in Baltimore, on four counts of perjury and mortgage fraud. She’s accused of falsely claiming a pandemic-caused financial hardship to purchase houses. Mosby has pleaded not guilty to all four counts. She has said that the legal action against her is politically motivated.
A provision of the federal CARES Act waived penalties on early retirement account withdrawals for people who were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal prosecutors allege that Mosbly did not experience financial hardships during the pandemic lockdown from furlough, lay off, or reduced work hours. Those were some of the circumstances that qualified applicants for early withdrawals.
According to the criminal indictment, federal prosecutors also say she hid a tax debt on a
mortgage loan application, and agreed to rent a home in Florida, despite promising not to rent the property in order to get a lower interest rate.
Mosby has served in her position since 2015 and is known for prosecuting the case against the six police officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray, charging them with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. A mistrial was declared in the case of one officer and the others were acquitted.
