Two hundred men, women, and children have already been brutally murdered this year in Baltimore, and a former Baltimore prosecutor says Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s “questionable judgment” is part of the reason.
Despite the spate of homicides, Mosby’s office has only charged 28 assailants. Five defendants that were released are alleged to have committed a second homicide this year.
“Having been a prosecutor in this city for 12 years, four in the Homicide Division, I can no longer stand idly by and watch State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby avoid taking responsibility for her role in the increase in violence,” writes Roya Hanna, a former Baltimore prosecutor.
“Had these cases been handled differently, had her office worked more effectively with police or made stronger arguments in court, perhaps the victims would still be alive,” says Hanna’s op-ed for the Baltimore Sun.
Mosby gained national fame when she charged six Baltimore police officers for the death of Freddie Gray, but detractors said her press conference announcing the charges unfairly cast the as-yet-untried cops and smacked of political rhetoric.
Mosby’s press conference had a “chilling effect on the Baltimore Police Department” which has dampened officers’ response to crimes and left officers jittery, Hanna writes. Officers know if Mosby disagrees with their assessment of probable cause in an arrest, they will be charged.
“Following her press conference, city arrests dropped and violence increased because officers cannot trust that she won’t again decide to place their futures in jeopardy,” writes Hanna.
Six veteran prosecutors were fired in Mosby’s first week on the job, and ten more trial attorneys have left since then. This has forced the new prosecutors to enter cases unprepared and present low sentences or plea deals that would have been unacceptable a year ago.
“While Ms. Mosby’s predecessor had a strict policy about invoking mandatory sentences for gun cases, the current administration has no such policy. The ‘bad guys with guns’ get slaps on the wrist,” says Hanna.
Instead of hiring prosecutors, Mosby has brought on media staff and community outreach people, reports Hanna.
“Ms. Mosby has allocated over $1 million in salaries for newly created positions for people who do not regularly prosecute cases,” writes Hanna.
Hanna asks for an independent review of suspects involved in the latest crime spree to see if they were released during Mosby’s tenure.
