Marilyn Mosby

Mosby gained national attention following the killing of Freddie Gray in 2015, after which she led a highly publicized investigation and unsuccessful murder prosecution of the police officers who arrested and transported Gray.

Marilyn Mosby
25th State's Attorney of Baltimore
In office January 8, 2015 – January 3, 2023
Preceded by	Gregg Bernstein
Succeeded by	Ivan Bates
Personal details
Born	Marilyn James (1980-01-22) January 22, 1980 (age 44) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Nick Mosby ​ ​ (m. 2005; sep. 2023)​
Children	2
Education	Tuskegee University (BA) Boston College (JD)
Signature

Mosby was reelected in 2018 but lost her 2022 reelection campaign to Ivan Bates, following her January 2022 indictment by a federal grand jury on perjury and mortgage fraud charges. The charges against Mosby stemmed from allegations that she had withdrawn money from a program designed to help people financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mosby denied any wrongdoing, and pled not guilty to the charges, but was convicted on two counts of perjury on November 9, 2023, and on one count of mortgage fraud on February 6, 2024.

Born Marilyn James in Massachusetts, Mosby was raised by her grandparents in the Dorchester section of Boston, Massachusetts. Mosby's mother, Linda Thompson, was 17 when Mosby was born. Her mother and father both became police officers; her family traces its association with the police for two generations, as her grandfather was one of the first African-American police officers in the state. She attended Dover-Sherborn High School, an hour away from her home, as a result of METCO, the longest-standing school desegregation program in the country. She served in the Student Government Association, and was co-editor of the school newspaper.

Her interest in practicing law was sparked by the murder of her 17-year-old cousin by another 17-year-old outside of her home. Her cousin was mistakenly identified as a drug dealer and consequently murdered.

In 2000, when she was a 20-year-old Tuskegee University student, James appeared on the Judge Judy television show as a plaintiff, suing a roommate for damaging her property during summer break. She prevailed in the arbitration, and was awarded $1,700. She graduated magna cum laude from Tuskegee University with a (B.A.) degree; she earned a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School in 2005.

Mosby served as a law clerk and as Assistant State's Attorney for Baltimore from 2005 to 2011. Before that she had held a series of legal internships in Boston while in law school.

State's Attorney for Baltimore City

In 2013, Mosby announced plans to run for State's Attorney for the city of Baltimore. She ran against incumbent Gregg L. Bernstein in the Democratic primary, defeating him with 55 percent of the vote. She faced no Republican opposition in the general election.

Mosby won the general election, receiving 94 percent of the vote, defeating Independent Russell A. Neverdon Sr., who staged a write-in campaign. At the time of her election, Mosby was the youngest top prosecutor in a major US city.

Mosby was sworn into office on January 8, 2015. Soon after her first term in office had begun, Mosby announced restructuring of her office that was inspired by ideas from prosecutors' offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Deputy State's Attorney Janice Bledsoe was named to oversee the new division of "criminal intelligence". Mosby reestablished community liaison positions, which her predecessor had eliminated, to inform residents of developments in cases relevant to their neighborhood. She created the Policy and Legislative Affairs Unit to advocate for legislation to help keep residents safe and prosecute cases efficiently.

Mosby pushed unsuccessfully for bills that would have allowed prosecutors to introduce prior accusations against serial sex offenders during trial, an issue which she raised during her campaign. In May 2015, she secured the conviction of Nelson Clifford, a sex-offender who was acquitted in four previous sexual assault cases involving a "consent" defense. After the verdict she stated, "While we were able to secure a guilty verdict in this case, we must still encourage our legislators in Annapolis to bring our predatory sexual assault laws in line with the federal statute. Clifford was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison."

In January 2019, she announced that her office would no longer prosecute individuals for marijuana possession, regardless of quantity. She added that she would vacate nearly 5,000 marijuana possession convictions. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she announced that her office would no longer pursue charges related to drug possession, prostitution, minor traffic violations and other low-level offenses in order to halt the spread of the coronavirus in Baltimore prisons. In March 2021, she said she would make that permanent, as she said that the temporary experiment had not led to more serious crimes.

Mosby announced on April 12, 2022, that she would run for re-election to a third term. She was defeated by defense attorney Ivan Bates in the Democratic primary on July 19.

Violent criminal prosecutions

Mosby campaigned on a promise to target and prosecute violent repeat offenders. Since her administration began in January 2015, she has overseen successful prosecutions of a number of locally highlighted offenders, such as Darryl Anderson, Capone Chase, Nelson Clifford, Mustafa Eraibi, and Cornell Harvey.

She created the Criminal Strategies Unit, modeled after a similar unit in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, to use community assistance to identify and target violent repeat offenders. The Unit utilizes technology, data-analysis, and intelligence-gathering in combination with close relationships with community organizations to identify trends in crime and works with law enforcement to target those who perpetuate these trends.

In response to a 2015 spike in violent crime in Baltimore, Mosby and newly appointed interim Police Commissioner Kevin Davis announced that prosecutors and police officers would co-locate inside of a 24-hour "war room" in which law enforcement would target violent repeat offenders around the clock.

Freddie Gray case

In 2015, Mosby charged six police officers, who had arrested detainee Freddie Gray prior to his death caused by injuries sustained in police custody, with a variety of crimes including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. David Jaros, an associate professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, was reported as saying that Mosby quite possibly overcharged the officers, while noting this is absolutely typical in criminal cases involving defendants who are not police.

Anonymous police department sources were reported by CNN as saying the Baltimore police's investigation did not support some of the charges brought against the officers. According to CNN,

Mosby has good reason to separate her probe from the police. There is widespread community distrust of the police. And many critics say letting police departments investigate themselves is partly why alleged excessive use of force incidents by officers rarely draw serious punishment.

Mosby defended the charges in a statement released through a spokesperson, and condemned the release of information as unethical.

In a May 4, 2015, interview on Fox News, Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz said that he believes Mosby overcharged the officers in an attempt to satisfy protesters and prevent further disturbances. Former Baltimore Prosecutor Page Croyder wrote an op-ed in The Baltimore Sun in which she described Mosby's charges as reflecting "either incompetence or an unethical recklessness". Croyder said that Mosby circumvented normal procedures "to step into the national limelight", and that she "pandered to the public", creating an expectation of a conviction.

On May 21, a grand jury indicted the officers on most of the original charges filed by Mosby, with the exception of the charges of illegal imprisonment and false arrest, and added charges of reckless endangerment to all the officers involved. In May 2015, Mosby appeared onstage at concert with the musician Prince, after which she was criticized for using the Freddie Gray incident for personal and political gain. The Baltimore Sun reported that Mosby received $12,000 in free travel to speak at events around the nation after the officers were charged.

When asked to respond to the allegation from police that she does not support the police, Mosby called the notion 'absurd', citing her family's history of working in law enforcement. Mosby was criticized for requesting the increased police presence, in the same neighborhood where Gray was arrested, just weeks prior to the incident.

William Porter was the first officer tried; this resulted in a hung jury, and the judge declared a mistrial in December 2015. The Baltimore Sun reported that Porter was within one vote of an acquittal on the most serious charge against him.

The second trial of officers ended on May 11, 2016, when Officer Edward Nero was acquitted on all charges. His acquittal resulted in increased criticism of Mosby for having moved too quickly in charging the officers.

The third trial ended on June 23, 2016, and Officer Goodson was acquitted on all counts. George Washington University Law School professor John F. Banzhaf III filed a complaint with the Maryland's Attorney Grievance Commission against Mosby, saying she did not have probable cause to charge six officers in the killing of Freddie Gray, and also that she repeatedly withheld evidence from the officers' defense attorneys.

Five of the six police officers charged by Mosby sued her for malicious prosecution, defamation, and invasion of privacy. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the lawsuit on the grounds that Mosby had immunity from such charges in May 2018, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied the officers' appeal in November 2018.

Community outreach

Mosby started initiatives to engage the Baltimore community, including:

• Aim to B'More – Begun in the spring of 2015 to provide an alternative to incarceration and a criminal record for first-time, non-violent felony drug offenders. Eligible defendants are granted probation before judgment, and placed on three years of probation. During probation, defendants complete 150 hours of community service, job skills training, and GED testing and/or substance abuse treatment as needed. The Office of the State's Attorney partnered with local employers to secure full-time jobs for program participants following completion of their job skills training. If successful, after three years participants can apply to expunge their records.
• Junior State's Attorney – Launched in the summer of 2015, the program introduces up to 30 promising middle school students each summer to careers in the criminal justice field.
• Community Day in Court – In an effort to rebuild trust and faith in the criminal justice system, Mosby began holding quarterly Community Days in Court, bringing the public and law enforcement quarterly together to discuss issues plaguing the city.

Controversy and allegations of law violations

Besides criticism of her case against the officers charged in Gray's death, Mosby has faced questions for her frequent speaking engagements and private businesses. Though she maintained she did nothing wrong, Mosby asked city Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming to investigate. Cumming found Mosby was out of town for 144 workdays in 2018 and 2019, did not report 15 out-of-town trips to the Board of Estimates and used LLCs she claimed to be dormant as tax write-offs. City Solicitor Jim Shea issued his own assessment, finding that administrative rules are unclear and that Mosby did nothing wrong in regards to her travel.

Days later, it was revealed that lawyers who responded to the inspector general's report on Mosby's behalf were paid by Mosby's campaign, a possible violation of state law.

Florida land records revealed Mosby bought two homes in Florida weeks before the federal investigation came to light.

In October 2020, a $45,000 tax lien was filed against the property of Marilyn and Nick Mosby for three years of unpaid federal taxes (2014, 2015, and 2016). Nick Mosby said he has been "in ongoing conversations with the IRS" about resolving this issue. That November, he said the issue was "settled".

Complaint against media outlet

In May 2021, Mosby's office filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against Baltimore television station WBFF, which had been critical of Mosby, alleging the station's coverage of her office was "blatantly slanted, dishonest, misleading, racist, and extremely dangerous". The complaint also stated that "We welcome being held accountable, and we support First Amendment freedom of speech." WBFF responded that its journalism was in the public interest, and "While we understand that it's not always popular with the individuals and institutions upon which we are shining a light, we stand by our reporting."

FCC commissioner Brendan Carr characterized Mosby's complaint as, "a chilling and direct attack on free speech and journalistic freedom".

On January 13, 2022, Mosby was indicted by a federal grand jury on a perjury charge alleging she falsely claimed COVID-19-related financial hardship in requesting one-time withdrawals of $40,000 and $50,000 of her deferred compensation funds under the CARES Act, which describes specific criteria for qualifying withdrawals, such as a reduction of income due to a COVID-related layoff or due to quarantining, whereas she reportedly had continued to draw her full salary throughout the period, and her salary had actually increased. She additionally was accused of making false statements in mortgage applications for her Florida home and condo by failing to disclose her federal tax liabilities. There are four counts in the indictment.

On February 4, 2022, Mosby pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her trial was scheduled to begin in March of 2023, but in January, her defense team of six attorneys, who had taken the case pro bono, were permitted to withdraw from the case after being accused of violating court rules, which resulted in further delay. The lawyers' withdrawals stem from the possible criminal contempt charges facing her former lead defense attorney A. Scott Bolden for his conduct, including cursing on the courthouse steps and releasing secret jury information. She has been declared indigent, and a public defender, attorney Maggie Grace was later assigned to represent her.

Mosby's perjury trial resulted in conviction on both counts on November 9, 2023. She faces five years in federal prison on each count at sentencing. On February 6, 2024, Mosby was convicted on one count of making a false statement on a mortgage application in a split verdict, which found her not guilty on a second mortgage fraud charge.

In February, 2024, Mosby defense counsel filed a motion to acquit, contending that the mortgage fraud did not happen in Maryland and claims the government brought the case in the wrong venue.

During her trial, court security officers were found to have made "inappropriate, derogatory comments" about Mosby, according to a letter from her attorneys unsealed in February 2024. The letter asked the court to provide information about whether jurors had entered the courthouse that day through the same public security check-in area.

During the cross-examination of Nick Mosby, he said his then-wife was unfairly targeted by investigators. The judge admonished Mosby and told the jury the comments are stricken from the record.

Mosby faces efforts by the Maryland Bar Counsel to suspend her law license and the confiscation of her Longboat Key property which was the subject of the criminal allegations.

Mosby faces up to 40 years of incarceration for her guilty verdict for fraud if appeals are not granted. On February 16, the judge overseeing the case, upheld Marilyn Mosby's mortgage fraud conviction —rejecting a defense motion to acquit. Mosby was ordered to surrender her passport ahead of sentencing. According to media reports, prior to the hearing, supporters arrived by bus and packed the courtroom and prayed as Mosby headed inside.

In May 2024, ahead of her sentencing, Mosby appeared for an interview on MSNBC's The ReidOut, where she declared her innocence and called on President Joe Biden to pardon her, asserting that she had been "politically targeted" and that the proceedings had broken her psychologically, professionally, spiritually, and financially.

In 2005 James married Nick Mosby, the current President of the Baltimore City Council. They have two daughters. They live in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood of Baltimore. She has used Mosby as her name professionally since then.

On July 21, 2023, the Mosbys filed for divorce.