Judge Williams prosecuted cases as an assistant state’s attorney for Baltimore City from 1989 until 1997. In 1997, he joined the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice where he served as a trial attorney until 2002, and as special litigation counsel from 2002 to 2005. (link)

Trial date Oct. 13, 2015, with motions hearings scheduled for Sept. 2nd.

(Via Baltimore Sun) Judge Barry G. Williams, a former city prosecutor and civil rights litigator with a no-nonsense reputation, will preside over the high-profile criminal cases against six Baltimore police officers indicted in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray..

Williams’ appointment Monday came as each of the officers asked for a jury trial and entered not-guilty pleas in writing — a legal maneuver that allows them to avoid appearing at court arraignments that had been scheduled for next week.

“We look forward to trying this case before Judge Williams,” Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby said in a statement. “The defendants have all entered not guilty pleas, which is their right. All defendants in this case are presumed innocent, until, or unless they are found guilty.” (more…)

Setting aside the profoundly poor timing of penning an op-ed for Fathers day publication, which contains predictions he will soon be arresting more cops who are also likely fathers, husbands, dads and brothers, Police Chief Batts breaks the absolute cardinal rule of principle-centered leadership:

♦  When you are a leader of significant influence – never, ever, never, punch down with your admonishments.  Fight those above you, on behalf of those behind you; never vice-versa.

All failed leaders of large complex organizations generally collapse because when the pressure gets too extreme they violate basic tenets of principle-centered leadership.  Loyalty is lost, and you weaken your own ability to influence positive outcomes.  Pointing to the past, or the boss, might garner you sympathy – but it will never generate respect. 

(Baltimore Sun) More Baltimore police officers likely face arrest as the result of reforms in a scandal-ridden department that requires “wholesale change,” Commissioner Anthony W. Batts wrote in a wide-ranging opinion piece published in The Baltimore Sun..

“Our reform efforts will very likely see more police officers arrested,” Batts wrote. “We will have more officers who are forced out because their outdated, outmoded views of policing do not match the standards the community expects and demands.”

The piece was published Friday on The Sun’s website and appears in Sunday’s print editions. (more…)

A judge had given Mosby until June 26 to respond to three defense motions. In addition to the motion to remove her and her office from the case, defense attorneys have asked that the case be moved away from Baltimore and that it be dismissed because of “prosecutorial misconduct.” (link)

Baltimore’s Special State Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby’s office has responded to defense motion that she should be removed from prosecuting the Baltimore Six. (Full pdf motion below)

An astoundingly petulant, and ideologically-worded, rebuttal motion claiming the accused police officers and their attorneys distort facts in the hope “vitriol will trump logic.”

Notably absent, actually glaringly absent, from the motion is anything relating to a “rough ride” despite numerous references to the construct of negligence in reference to the transport of Freddie Gray.

This excerpt screams petulance -directed at a media audience- and is seriously lacking in any foundation toward the substance of the actual recusal motion itself: (more…)

Well, well, well – what do you know, FEMA gets it right.  The taxpayers are spared from having to bail out Baltimore’s inept leadership.   Almost immediately: “the wheels on the bus go whaa – whaa – whaa”…  Up next: “FEMA is racist”.

BALTIMORE – The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied a state request for disaster aid to cover the costs associated with the rioting and unrest that broke out in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray.

W. Craig Fugate, FEMA’s administrator, wrote in a June 12 letter to Gov. Larry Hogan that federal disaster aid was “not appropriate” for such an event.

“Therefore, I must inform you that your request for a major disaster declaration is denied,” Fugate wrote.

Spokeswoman Erin Montgomery said Friday that the Hogan administration “is reviewing FEMA’s response and will make a determination about the appropriate next steps, including a possible appeal.” (more…)

Hypocrisy, thy name is….

Today Marilyn Mosby filed a motion requesting a protective order over the evidence in the Freddie Gray case.   Specifically, she is seeking to block the defense attorney’s from publicly sharing the autopsy results.

Can you imagine her activist outrage if Saint Louis prosecutors hid Mike Brown’s autopsy?  Can you imagine her outrage if New York prosecutors hid Eric Garner’s autopsy?

According to the Baltimore Sun Mosby’s position is thusly described:

[…]  In a motion filed in Baltimore Circuit Court on Tuesday, Mosby’s office argued such an order is necessary because defense attorneys “have demonstrated a likelihood of publicizing discovery materials in a manner that may jeopardize the ability to conduct a fair and impartial trial.”

Mosby’s office asked for an expedited hearing to present its arguments for the order, as discovery is due in the case on June 26.

(more…)

Marilyn Mosby files some additional statements in response to defense requests for substantiation of “probable cause”.

However, the oddly worded response -obviously intentionally obtuse- does not provide much additional detail as to how she can derive legal charges against the Baltimore Six.

To the contrary, if you are following the ongoing construct of her claims, based on her prior sunlight avoidance tactics, you can find additional support for a reasonable belief the ME report is not supporting Mosby’s public assertions. From the Baltimore Sun:

[…] The office of State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby filed the documents in response to motions by the officers’ defense attorneys requesting more information on her reasons for filing the charges.

Gray died in April after suffering a severe spinal cord injury in police custody, according to police and prosecutors. But how he was injured remains unclear. His autopsy results have not been made public.

(more…)

An email has surfaced as part of a defense motion to recuse Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby.  The email is from Mosby’s office in the weeks just prior to the arrest of Freddie Gray.

In the March email Mosby is specifically asking the Baltimore police to target the exact intersection where Freddie Gray was apprehended –  and work on eliminating increased drug activity.  (Via Baltimore Sun)

[…]  “It must be understood that Mrs. Mosby was directing these officers to one of the highest crime intersections in Baltimore City and asking them to make arrests, conduct surveillance, and stop crime,” the defense attorneys wrote. “Now, the State is apparently making the unimaginable argument that the police officers are not allowed to use handcuffs to protect their safety and prevent flight in an investigatory detention where the suspect fled in a high crime area and actually had a weapon on him.”  (link)

The email was sent from Joshua Rosenblatt, division chief of Mosby’s Crime Strategies Unit to Baltimore Police Major Osborne Robinson.

The most damning part of the communication is from Major Osborne Robinson to his police officers informing them of the State Attorney expectation. (more…)

“Danger, Will Robinson, danger!” is a catchphrase from the 1960s’ American television series Lost in Space.  The Robot,  acting as a surrogate guardian, says this to young Will Robinson when the boy is unaware of an impending threat… Consider the information below a similar warning of potential consequence.

The decision by South Carolina’s Ninth Judicial Circuit Solicitor, Scarlett Wilson,  yesterday to charge Officer Michael Slager with murder in the shooting death of Walter Scott is the impetus for the alert.

Wilson presented only one charge, only one option, to the South Carolina grand jury; a charge of murder:

Within the indictment you can see the broad framework of the three elements needed to convict a person of Murder.  They are:  ¹) The unlawful killing of another human being, ²) with malice aforethought (ie. depraved heart); and ³) specific intent to kill. (more…)

We know this is pointing out the obvious, but can you imagine what would happen if the district attorney or prosecutor in the Mike Brown shooting asked a Ferguson judge for a gag order and a motion to hide the autopsy? The hypocrisy of the professionally aggrieved is jaw dropping.

BALTIMORE – The judge presiding over the prosecution of six Baltimore Police officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray struck the state’s motion for a gag order in the case.

Judge Charles J. Peters ruled the motion lacked standing in an actual proceeding, as it was filed by Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office in Circuit Court on May 14. At that time, the officers’ cases were still in District Court. They weren’t transferred to Circuit Court until May 21, when the officers were indicted.

Rochelle Ritchie, a Mosby spokeswoman, declined to say whether the state planned to file a new gag order motion, which Peters’ ruling did not preclude.

“We’re not going to litigate this case in the media and discuss our trial strategy,” Ritchie said. (more…)

Previously Marilyn Mosby submitted a motion to keep the Medical Examiner’s report secret, and to keep the media from seeing elements of evidence in her case.

BALTIMORE – Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has until June 26 to respond to three defense motions in the high-stakes trial of six officers in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, a judge has ordered.
Attorneys for the six Baltimore Police officers have motioned for Mosby to be removed from the case, for the case to be removed from Baltimore and for the case to be dismissed based on “prosecutorial misconduct.”
The defense attorneys have argued Mosby has multiple conflicts of interest, including that her husband, City Councilman Nick Mosby, represents the area of West Baltimore where Gray was arrested. (more…)