BALTIMORE — Federal prosecutors Saturday filed an opposition to former Baltimore City State's attorney Marilyn Mosby's legal counsel's motion to withdraw from her case.
RELATED:Judge appears to grant request of Mosby's defense team to withdraw from the case
Mosby's defense team consists of A. Scott Bolden, Rizwan A. Qureshi, Anthony Todd, and Kelly Miller, all from the Washington D.C. based law firm Reed Smith.
Two other attorneys on Mosby's defense team include Lucius Outlaw and Baltimore based lawyer Gary Proctor.
Both say they are representing Mosby pro bono. In Proctor's case, he claims to be part on a two-person law office with no support staff which limits his availability. He also says he booked a non-refundable trip to the United Kingdom for a family member's birthday as partial reasoning for his withdraw.
Proctor adds it was "never his intention, nor anyone else’s understanding that he would play a prominent role in this trial." He told the judge his main purpose on the defense team was to help access court funds that could be used towards obtaining expert witnesses.
Outlaw cites his schedule as a law professor at Howard University.
Federal prosecutors said they want the case to move forward as it is just two months from trial.
"A planned paternal spring birthday trip is not good cause for postponing today’s response deadline," prosecutors wrote in their response. "Similarly, Professor Outlaw seeks to withdraw because he has teaching obligations during trial. But there is no indication why Professor Outlaw’s spring teaching obligations conflict with his ability to file a motions response today. In fact, it appears that Professor Outlaw has no classes scheduled to teach until Wednesday of this week."
While opposing the withdraw of five defense team members, prosecutors did say "the government does not object to Mr. Bolden withdrawing in light of his unprofessional and uncivil behavior in this case."
"Given the fact that the charges and the evidence in this case are not complicated and that the case is in a late stage, just 60 days before trial and after extensive pretrial litigation, any one of the four experienced attorneys who have been working on this case for months if not longer, Mr. Qureshi, Ms. Miller, Mr. Outlaw or Mr. Proctor, could try this case on his/her own."
A video conference has been set for Friday on whether to grant the defense's request.
Back in September Bolden called the judge's decision to grant the government a continuance "bull***." He apologized for his comments the next day.
Throughout the entire litigation process, Bolden has continuously attacked and accused prosecutors of having racial animus towards Mosby. The judge found no evidence that has occurred.
At a hearing on Tuesday, Bolden was spoken to in court for allegedly violating court rules. He has until Jan. 31 to show the court why he should not be held in contempt.
Charges against Mosby revolve around hardships she claims to have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors allege Mosby withdrew $90,000 from her city Deferred Compensation Plan under false pretenses and used it to buy vacation homes in Florida, which they say contradicts any notion that she may have suffered financial harm. They have also previously highlighted the fact that Mosby received a more than $9,000 raise during the time period in question.
Mosby served two 4-year terms as city state's attorney and left office last month after losing her reelection bid.
Her trial is scheduled for March 27, 2023.
