Judge denies motion to move former Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby perjury trial

BALTIMORE -- A judge ruled in a hearing on Tuesday that the perjury and mortgage fraud trial for former Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby will remain in Baltimore despite attempts to move it.

Judge Lydia K. Griggsby denied the change of venue motion without prejudice, meaning Mosby's attorneys could try again, arguing she can't get a fair trial, after jury selection.

However, jury selection will continue in Baltimore City.

The judge also issued a "narrowly-tailored" gag order for attorneys in the case.

In November, Mosby asked the judge to move the trial out of Baltimore and to Greenbelt, where jury members would be less likely to be familiar with her case. 

Her argument centers around the pretrial publicity of her case in Baltimore City, where the high-profile case has made dozens of headlines. 

Greenbelt, the filing said, is a location where "far fewer people have heard of or formed an opinion about this case" and "far more likely to provide a fair and unbiased jury pool for the trial in this matter."

Mosby also noted Greenbelt is still geographically close to Baltimore and would remain convenient.

Her trial, which had been postponed until March 27, 2023, is expected to last three weeks.   

Mosby is accused of committing perjury to illegally obtain a withdrawal from her retirement account. The government argues she lied on forms saying she had adversely been impacted by COVID-19 allowing her to take out money without penalty while she continued to work and earn a salary of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. 

Mosby allegedly used the money she withdrew from her retirement fund to buy two vacation homes in Florida. Prosecutors allege she also lied on mortgage applications. 

Much of the remainder of the hearing dealt with Mosby's lead attorney, A. Scott Bolden, who now must defend himself too.
 The judge put him on notice of criminal contempt of court for what he said on courthouse steps in September.

Judge Griggsby said Bolden violated a number of court rules and told him his profanity and comments about the government's intent to prosecute were "hurtful to employees of this institution, to the judges, and the staff."

WJZ's Paul Gessler asked, "Do you think you can get a fair trial here?"

Mosby and Bolden were both quiet Tuesday as they left court.

Mosby said she remains confident.

Bolden has until the end of the month to show good cause as to why the court should not sanction him.