Marilyn Mosby testifies in her own defense, talks about marriage that turned "toxic"

BALTIMORE -- Marilyn Mosby took the witness stand Wednesday in her own defense at her federal mortgage fraud trial. 

She began by describing her upbringing and her initial relationship with Nick Mosby, the Baltimore City Council President.

"I was drawn to Nick because I thought he was brilliant. He was charming. He was attractive. He was ambitious. He was really intelligent. It was alluring because he was dedicated to Baltimore."

She said he later supported her decision to run for Baltimore City State's Attorney. 

Mosby said she "disagreed" with many of her predecessor Gregg Bernstein's policies. 

"People told me I was too young, too inexperienced. It was going to kill my husband's political career," Mosby told jurors. 

"A lot of the media coverage was mysogynistic," she said.

Mosby testified some people thought Nick Mosby was running her office and that hurt her.

"I had always relied so much on Nick. I wanted to establish my own leadership," she said. 

Cracks started to develop in her marriage. 

Then, her husband decided to run for mayor. 

"I felt it wasn't a good time considering the scrutiny I was under personally. …The timing was really bad," Marilyn Mosby testified of Nick's decision to run for mayor. "It created a chasm" in our marriage. Still, she supported him publicly.

Marilyn Mosby described finding an IRS letter saying they owed thousands in taxes. "I went off! One, he had not told me we owed taxes at all, and I was finding out through the mail. …What is going on?" she asked Nick.

He told her he had it under control.

"I did trust that he was taking care of it. He showed me some sort of documentation he was in an installment agreement with the IRS," Marilyn testified about Nick. 

She found out he was behind on the mortgage and was angry. 

She called the mortgage company. 

"From that point on, I paid the mortgage myself," Marilyn Mosby said. "At that point, I was paying all the bills."

She said their marital stress continued. 

"Yes, I did consider separation. We considered separation on several occasions. …In 2019, I actually sent a separation agreement to Nick," Marilyn Mosby testified.

"In the mail, it said the tax refund we were supposed to get went to his defaulted student loan. It set me off," she said.

"The consideration was our little girls. Both of our careers that were tied together. At the end of the day, I still loved him," Marilyn says.

After losing re-election, she eventually moved out in January 2023 and filed for divorce in July. She got an "absolute divorce" in November.

Marilyn Mosby said her relationship with Nick "became toxic. …I didn't want my little girls to believe that's what love was." She said about her decision to divorce Nick. 

Mosby is charged with mortgage fraud with making false statements on mortgage documents for her Florida vacation homes. 

The false statements include that she lied about a federal tax lien.

Prosecutors say she "knowingly lied" and tried to cover it up.

Her ex-husband testified for her defense.

Mosby said their relationship continued to deteriorate. "In light of the fact my marriage was not in a great place—we can kind of remember what COVID was like, everyone was stuck at home—Nick and I who were like ships in the night passing forced to be in a confined space and it wasn't working."

She said she decided to buy property for her own financial independence. 

Mosby started working with a realtor Monique Holston Greene, who she described as being as close to her as a sister, and Greene's recommended mortgage broker Gilbert Bennett. 

"He told me it was a second home and not an investment property as long as I spent one day a year in that home," she said of Bennett.

"The forms were filled out. I didn't fill out any of the forms. I did sign off on the forms," Mosby said. "…Whenever they asked me for documents, I would provide the documents."

She said she signed documents prepared for her at closing. 

"I knew at that point, we had owed taxes. That was not the question asked on the application." 

Of the property near Disney World, Mosby said she was working and her girls were attending school in Florida. 

She said she was testifying remotely on bills in Annapolis. 

"It couldn't be my primary residence because my primary residence was in Baltimore as state's attorney," Mosby said. "That was my first home purchase. It was monumental for me. It was monumental for my girls."

"I signed a whole pile of documents they put in front of me. I didn't read them all," she continued.

She doesn't remember signing the second home rider—saying she wouldn't rent it out. 

"I didn't think I was doing anything wrong," she said. 

Mosby blamed Bennett for the gift letter, where prosecutors say Mosby inappropriately funneled $5,000 to her husband's bank account and disguised the money as a gift to help her close on one of her loans. 

She also discussed when she claimed she finally found out about the tax lien from a reporter and immediately asked Nick Mosby to call the president of Harbor Bank to get a loan. 

He never went through with that loan.

Mr. Mosby then told reporters at a press conference the lien had been taken care of. 

Marilyn Mosby testified, "I could not believe he lied about something that could be easily, publicly verified" and noted "the political ramifications for him, the political ramifications for me."

Public defender Jim Wyda then asked about her perjury conviction, which she said "she had every intention of appealing." 

Mosby said she regrets not testifying in her first trial and wants this jury to "hear her truth."

That incensed prosecutors who noted the defense was not supposed to bring up her prior trial. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Zelinsky said he was concerned about "deeply problematic lies." 

WJZ Investigator spoke to University of Maryland Carey School of Law Professor Doug Colbert, who listened to the testimony. 

"It was very compelling testimony. I think she did as well as any accused person can do on the witness stand. She spoke in human terms, explained the situation. For the jury's point of view, they understand much more now than what they did before," Colbert said. 

Asked whether it was a mistake for Mosby to take the stand, Colbert said, "I think it would have been a mistake for her not to testify. I think she would always second guess herself."

Mosby faced cross examination from Assistant U.S. Attorney Zelinsky where he asked her a series of questions about her perjury conviction. 

He also showed her the mortgage documents, which she testified she reviewed and signed under penalty of perjury. 

The exchanges turned testy at times. 

Because of lengthy negotiations about the parameters of what could be asked about her perjury conviction, the cross examination started late and will continue Thursday morning. 

The defense said they may have another witness, and the judge still must rule on a motion to acquit before closing arguments, meaning the case could stretch into next week.