Baltimore City prosecutors are engaging in “discriminatory prosecution” by trusting the word of a white woman over the statements of black middle schoolers in a high-profile bus beating case, a defense attorney argued Wednesday.

“I?m not trying to make this a race issue,” said attorney Kimberly Thomas, as she argued that charges should be dropped against her client, Nakita M., 15. “Nakita has been unjustly and unfairly discriminated against by the state.”