At the beginning of the month, Baltimore state attorney Marilyn Mosby brought relief to many when she announced that she was bringing serious charges against the six police officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray. Unsurprisingly, the cops were not among those pleased by Mosby’s swift action. On Friday, attorneys representing the officers filed a motion to dismiss the case. Additionally, they demanded that Mosby recuse herself from the legal proceedings.
From the Baltimore Sun:
They argue that Mosby and her husband, a city councilman who represents the epicenter of protests and rioting following Gray’s death, “seized political and personal gain” with charges intended to appease constituents and quell unrest. They also contend that the charging paperwork for the officers contains errors.
“Rarely in the history of any criminal case has a prosecutor so directly maintained so many conflicts of interest … and a prosecutor steadfastly refuses to recuse him or herself,” the attorneys wrote in the 23-page filing in Baltimore District Court.
The attorneys call the charges against the officers “extraordinary prosecutorial overreaching” at best. At worst, the charges “are something far more nefarious.”
The lawyers also claimed that Mosby’s charging paperwork contained errors and that she is too close to William H. Murphy Jr., an attorney representing the Gray family. (“[Murphy] supported Mosby’s campaign,” the Sun reports. “And, according to an email purportedly from Murphy and included in the filing, represented her in a matter before the Attorney Grievance Commission last year.”) Mosby has yet to respond to the filing, but based on what we’ve learned about her so far, it seems unlikely that she’ll back down without a fight.
