A Maryland Judge recently denied the request made by Atty. Marilyn Mosby to prohibit the defense attorneys of the Freddie Gray Case from leaking evidence to the public.
Mosby made the request for a court hearing to argue for a protective order preventing the opposition from releasing confidential evidence.
The Baltimore state attorney feared that the defense would only publicize evidence favoring the six police officers accused of second-degree murder amongst other charges— risking the chance of a fair trial.
However, Judge Barry Williams acted against the imposition of a protective order. Williams rejected the prosecutor’s request without arguments in a court hearing, believing that the state “does not suggest there is anything in discovery that warrants restricting disclosure.”
The judge added that the defense has yet to publicize their evidence since the June 26 deadline and even if they did so, “there simply is no basis in the assertions presented to the court for the broad and extraordinary relief sought in the motion.”
“The only discovery item that has become public as of this date has been information from the autopsy report, and at the time of the alleged disclosure, the report had not been turned over to Defendants,” wrote Williams.
Mosby is in charge of the prosecution of the six Baltimore officers she believed to have caused Freddie Gray’s death. Gray,25, is a black man that died because of spinal injuries sustained while in police custody.
The death caused another public outrage that heated up the issue of police maltreatment against minorities. The trial is set for October with the officers pleading not guilty.
Judge William’s ruling was not met with comments from the defense attorneys but Marilyn Mosby’s camp took the time to respond.
“We will litigate this case in the courtroom, not the media,” said Mosby spokeswoman Rochelle Ritchie vie electronic mail.