Mosby wants cases tossed
State’s attorney to tell courts nearly 800 tainted by rogue cops
The Office of State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby found these cases — mostly older ones in which the defendants already have been released from prison — to be compromised by the crooked cops. Officials plan to begin vacating convictions next month.
Deputy State’s Attorney Janice Bledsoe discussed the plans Thursday during a meeting of the state courts’ rules committee.
Bledsoe has been poring over cases in which the eight indicted cops and others they implicated acted as the arresting officers, served as material witnesses or handled evidence of the crime. Initially, prosecutors estimated thousands of cases might be compromised. In many of those cases, prosecutors were able to verify the compromised officers’ work through other witnesses.
Eight former members of the Gun Trace Task Force were convicted of racketeering beginning in 2017 and sentenced to federal prison.
The sweeping corruption scandal further eroded the public’s trust in the Baltimore Police. T
Del. Erek Barron, a Prince George’s County Democrat who is a former state and federal prosecutor, sponsored a bill to empower prosecutors.
“I applaud Delegate Erek Barron and the hard work of my Policy and Legislative Affairs team for securing legislation which will allow us to finally right nearly 800 cases impacted by the wrongful and illegal acts of the Gun Trace Task Force,” Mosby said in a statement Thursday.