BALTIMORE — Federal prosecutors on Thursday took aim at Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's defense team as her perjury trial was pushed back to next year.
In a new court filing the government asked District Judge Lydia Griggsby to impose a "narrowly tailored" gag order, that would prohibit all parties from making statements that "pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice," or "that are intended to influence any juror."
Feds file a motion to prevent @BaltimoreSAO Mosby’s defense atty from making statements to reporters entering/exiting the courthouse saying it could threaten their ability to seat an impartial jury @WMAR2News pic.twitter.com/rQAszIZb2K
— Kendall Green (@KNDLGRNTV) September 15, 2022
The request comes one day after Mosby's lead attorney, A. Scott Bolden, called a decision by Griggsby to grant the government a continuance, "bull sh*t."
That ruling was made after prosecutors accused Bolden of waiting until the last minute to disclose certain expert witness testimony. Prosecutors were originally prepared for trial back in April, however Bolden and his team asked for and was granted a delay in order to find expert witnesses.
Following Wednesday's decision to push back the trial a second time, Bolden spoke to the media on the steps outside the federal courthouse in Downtown Baltimore, where he continued making claims that Mosby's prosecution was motivated by racial animus.
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The court previously found no such evidence of that, and so prosecutors in their filing are seeking to limit such speech, at least when entering, exiting, or within the vicinity of the courthouse.
"Mr. Bolden’s continued insistence that this prosecution was motivated by racial animus, even though this Court has found that he presented no objective evidence to support that inflammatory claim, because there is none, also poses the risk of prejudicing potential jurors against the United States in this matter," prosecutors wrote.
On Thursday, Bolden apologized in court for his remarks. Griggsby did not rule on the gag order but did set a new trial date for March 27, 2023, at which time Mosby will already have left office.
