Marilyn Mosby says she's 'blessed' as jury selection for mortgage fraud trial begins

BALTIMORE -- Marilyn Mosby was back in court Wednesday as jury selection got underway in her second trial. 

Another jury convicted her of perjury two months ago. Now, she's facing two counts of mortgage fraud. 

WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren was in federal court in Greenbelt, Prince George's County where Judge Lydia K. Griggsby said she hoped to have a jury seated by the end of this week. 

Mosby has maintained her innocence. 

She appeared upbeat and told WJZ she was "blessed" as she headed into the courthouse with her public defender James Wyda.

The stakes are high for Mosby.

If found guilty of mortgage fraud, the former Baltimore City State's Attorney faces up to 60 years in prison, although defendants are rarely given the maximum sentence.

The question at the heart of this case is whether Mosby lied on mortgage applications for two vacation homes in Florida. She promised not to rent one of the properties, but prosecutors said she signed an agreement to do just that. 

They also allege she lied about having a tax lien. Marilyn Mosby has blamed her ex-husband, Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby, for that. She claimed she never knew about the lien and was "livid" when she found out.  

The moves netted her lower interest rates.

The judge will not allow some past statements including Nick Mosby saying the tax lien "is my obligation. I want to take care of it."

A divorce settlement where Nick Mosby claims responsibility for any tax liens could be part of the case, although prosecutors argued they will push to block jurors from seeing it. They said it is after the fact and not relevant.

The pool of 70 potential jurors was asked more than 50 questions.

Those questions included whether they knew anything about Marilyn Mosby's recent trials and whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of her. 

Potential jurors were also asked whether they would have a negative opinion of Mosby if she chose not to testify in her own defense. 

Prosecutors are barred from bringing up Mosby's November perjury conviction for an improper withdrawal from her retirement account unless she takes the witness stand. 

A list of possible witnesses included property managers and those who handled Mosby's Florida mortgages. The government has Mosby's communications with many of them. 

Higher-profile names of potential witnesses read to the jury pool included Joseph Haskins Junior, the former head of Harbor Bank, and Shelonda Stokes, president of the Downtown Partnership, who was the first defense witness in Mosby's perjury trial. 

She spoke about the two of them discussing creating a retreat and travel business after a trip together to Jamaica. 

"The idea was to monetize the experience we felt. We wanted to create something that was for women like us," Stokes testified at the November trial. "When we came home, she started the business without me."

In that trial, Mosby unsuccessfully argued the business, Mahogany Elite Travel, was impacted by COVID-19. 

That allowed her to withdraw money from her retirement account without penalty. She used those funds as down payments on the Florida properties. 

Mosby successfully argued to have the case separated into two separate trials and moved to Greenbelt because she did not feel she could get a fair trial in Baltimore due to the publicity surrounding the allegations. 

Mosby will not be sentenced for perjury until after this mortgage fraud case is resolved. 

Court is expected to be in session from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday until there is a verdict. 

A judge ruled that Mosby will not be sentenced for her perjury conviction until her mortgage fraud trial is complete.  

Stay with WJZ and CBS News Baltimore for continuing coverage of the proceedings.