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Marilyn and Nick Mosby

The Dripby Brew Editors2:53 pmJan 17, 20230

Judge turns down Marilyn Mosby’s request for a change of venue

Judge Griggsby also places a limited gag order on Mosby’s defense attorneys, instructing them not to make unfounded statements to the media of racial animus by prosecutors

Above: State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby speaks before the City Council last November at the invitation of her husband, Council President Nick Mosby. (CharmTV)

Marilyn Mosby took it on the chin today when U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby denied her attorney’s motion to move her upcoming corruption trial to Greenbelt.

Baltimore’s former state’s attorney, who left office January 3 following her electoral defeat by Ivan Bates, sought to have her case moved from Baltimore, saying people have preconceived notions about her.

After noting that a federal jury pool draws from the Eastern Shore as well as the western part of Maryland, Griggsby said there is no evidence indicating there would be less pretrial publicity for a Greenbelt jury pool.

Notoriety alone is not enough to justify transferring venue, she ruled.

The judge also granted a limited “gag order” sought by prosecutors, who had accused Mosby’s chief counsel, A. Scott Bolden, of uttering profanities and making a veiled threat in front of the courthouse after a hearing last September.

Griggsby directed the defense not to make comments to the press about the prosecution being motivated by racial or political animus, saying she had previously ruled there was “no evidence to support those statements.”

Baltimore’s ex-top prosecutor was charged last January with two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements. Prosecutors say she lied about a financial hardship in order to illegally access thousands of dollars from her city retirement account, then lied on paperwork related to the purchase of two Florida homes.

The trial, twice postponed, is scheduled for March 27.

She was accompanied to today’s hearing by her husband, City Council President Nick Mosby.

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