ELDERSBURG, Md. — It was Monday night on Liberty Road in Eldersburg when a sheriff's deputy in an unmarked car spotted a vehicle going 65 miles per hour in a 45 miles per hour zone and pulled them over.
Ironically, it was less than 12 hours before Marilyn Mosby's big announcement.
"Effective immediately, the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office will no longer prosecute marijuana possession cases regardless of weight and/or criminal history," said Mosby.
When an officer approached their vehicle and said he thought he smelled marijuana, the driver, Stanley Ray, Junior and his passenger, Brittany Nicole Price became nervous... really nervous... even though the Baltimore City State's Attorney would probably argue there's little value in pursuing them criminally for their stash.
"There is no public safety value in prosecuting marijuana possession,” Mosby explained at her news conference, “Furthermore, there is no link between marijuana possession and violent crime."
On that last point, a sergeant with the Carroll County Sheriff's Office would disagree.
The occupants of the car called for the officer's supervisor when he attempted to search the vehicle, and when that sergeant arrived and attempted to search the car himself, they drove at a high rate of speed, dragging him from the car for 50 yards before officer could get the suspect to stop.
Sure enough, the center console of the car contained a Ziploc bag with 15.5 grams of marijuana in it.
The pair now face several misdemeanor charges and a felony count of second degree assault on a law enforcer---all over a simple marijuana possession incident.
