By Fiona Davis
BALTIMORE, MD – The Baltimore Metropolitan Council AFL-CIO endorsed Marilyn Mosby for a third term as Baltimore City State’s Attorney, even as she faces federal indictment, and accusations of violating a gag order in the Keith Davis, Jr., case.
Four months after her first term began in 2015, Marilyn Mosby—the youngest elected chief prosecutor of any major city in the US.—garnered national attention when her office charged six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old Black man who died after suffering a spinal cord injury in police custody.
Now, the Baltimore Metropolitan Council AFL-CIO announced that it would be endorsing Mosby for a third term in the upcoming midterm election.
According to the press release, the American Federal of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the AFL-CIO is often considered one of the most important endorsements a campaign can receive.
“Their ability to impact elections by providing on the ground resources as well as aggressive campaign communication is unparalleled,” the press release stated.
Michael Spiller, Interim President of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council AFL-CIO, specifically praised Mosby for “her pursuit of one standard of justice for everyone,” as well as her “innovative work with the young people of [Baltimore’s] city.
“The working people of Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO are proud to stand with Marilyn Mosby,” Spiller stated in his endorsement of the candidate. “She is working hard for the people and is the right leader to help lead our city toward the better Baltimore we all want it to be.”
However, this endorsement follows several legal controversies involving Mosby.
Beginning this last January, Mosby was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of perjury related to a financial hardship withdrawal related to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The grand jury also indicted her on the charge of making false mortgage applications, which were linked to two Florida vacation homes purchased in 2020.
According to the indictment, Mosby claimed to have experienced significant financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, using this justification to withdraw from Baltimore’s Deferred Compensation Plan twice, receiving $40,000 and $50,000.
However, documentation from this time indicates that Mosby continued to earn a full salary throughout the pandemic that annually grossed $247,955.58.
The indictment argues that, “rather than experiencing a reduction in income in 2020, Mosby’s gross salary in 2020 increased over her gross salary in 2019, which was $238,772.04.”
The indictment also alleges Mosby made false statements on loan applications, by not disclosing her federal tax liabilities, in order to purchase two properties in Florida.
In response to the indictment, Mosby’s A. Scott Bolden strongly denied the allegations made by the grand jury.
“Marilyn Mosby is innocent, has been innocent, and we look forward to defending her in the court of law, and presenting evidence of her innocence to a jury of her peers,” Bolden said.
He accused the grand jury of prejudice, stating, “She will prevail against these bogus charges—charges that are rooted in personal, political and racial animus five months from her election.”
Simultaneously, Mosby faces further criticism in her involvement and potential legal violations in the case of Keith Davis, Jr.
In 2015, Davis, Jr., was shot at by Baltimore police more than 30 times when he was suspected of the armed robbery of an unlicensed taxi driver.
Seven months after his arrest, after being charged by Mosby, and sustaining several critical injuries as a result of the police shooting, he was found innocent when the taxi driver stated that he was not the man that robbed him.
However, just a week after his acquittal, Mosby’s office then charged Davis with the homicide of a 22-year-old security guard who was killed the same morning as the armed robbery.
Six years later, after two mistrials and two overturned sentences, Davis is still being held for and charged with the murder, as he is scheduled to face a fifth jury trial.
For this most recent trial, Circuit Court Judge John S. Nugent issued a gag order to prevent Mosby, prosecutors, and defense attorneys associated with the Keith Davis, Jr., murder case from actions “intended to influence public opinion regarding the merits” of the case.
Despite this gag order, however, Mosby publicly discussed the case when she appeared on Baltimore public radio station WYPR-FM.
Following her radio appearance, Davis’s public defenders filed a motion for Mosby to be held in contempt for the public remarks she made, arguing her statements violated the gag order and that she had attempted to persuade listeners of the accused’s guilt.
Judge Nugent then ordered Mosby to appear in court for the alleged violation. The chief prosecutor will have the ability to defend herself and her radio appearance in August.
