Baltimore’s prosecutor – Marilyn Mosby

Baltimore has the unfortunate distinction of being listed in the top ten most dangerous cities. However, at number 7 it still ranks less dangerous than Atlanta. Baltimore has been in the news more frequently following the death of 25-year old Freddie Gray while in police custody.

A relatively young female prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, made headlines by bringing charges against six officers involved in Gray’s arrest. One week from today, the first of the six trials will begin. For me this is noteworthy – Ferguson, Missouri and New York City grand juries decided not to indict police officers that had been involved in police-related deaths. Ms. Mosby has been in office for almost two years and has been tough on crime, but, it appears, not to the point of “looking the other way” if she feels police officers have conducted themselves in a possible illegal manner. She was able to get an indictment from the grand jury.

Ms. Mosby grew up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the Boson area, many members of her family are police officers, and she is married to a candidate for mayor. She has been accused of not remembering her police officer roots, “showboating” to raise her own statue, of being amateurish after some miss-steps in the legal process - to name a few.

A grand jury indictment does not mean that the officers are guilty; it allows for the case(s) to move through the legal process of determining guilt by an impartial jury. This is something that did not occur in the Ferguson or New York City cases. I commend Ms. Mosby for moving the legal process forward in an effort to determine how culpable are the officers regarding Freddie Gray’s death.