Security officer made 'inappropriate, derogatory comments' about ...

A court security officer referred to former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby as a skank multiple times to a group of law clerks near the entrance of the federal courthouse in Greenbelt and expressed his opinion about her mortgage fraud trial, a newly unsealed letter reveals.

U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby on Wednesday granted The Baltimore Banner’s motion to unseal the letter after the defense and government indicated they did not oppose the move.

In the three-page letter dated Jan. 26, Mosby’s attorneys, Federal Public Defender James Wyda and Assistant Federal Public Defenders Maggie Grace and Sedira Banan, wrote that the judge had alerted them of the “inappropriate, derogatory comments,” which the court security officer made two days prior at the security area near the entrance of U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

They asked the court to take additional steps to make sure no members of the jury were potentially influenced.

The personal opinions of the court security officer, they wrote, “stem from his connection to a former colleague from the Baltimore City Police Department who was involved in the Freddie Gray matter.”

In 2015, Mosby charged six Baltimore Police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old Black man who died from injuries he sustained in custody. None of the cases resulted in convictions.

“While we understand and appreciate that the particular Court Security Officer has been pulled from the security check-in, we request that he not be put in a position where he could have any potential contact with the jury,” they wrote. “We appreciate the Court’s attention to this important matter and welcome the opportunity to have a further conversation.”

Griggsby later stated in court that jurors would not have been able to hear the remarks. She denied a request after closing arguments to question the panel.

“I’m deeply, deeply disappointed that these statements occurred,” Griggsby said. “Frankly, was shocked that these statements occurred.”

The U.S. Marshals Service, which provides security at federal courthouses, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mosby, 44, a Democrat who served two terms as the city’s top prosecutor from 2015 to 2023, was found guilty on Tuesday of one count of making a false statement on a loan application related to her purchase of a condominium in Longboat Key, Florida. She was found not guilty of a second count.

The jury determined she lied when she submitted a letter to the mortgage company claiming her husband at the time had agreed to gift her $5,000 at closing for the condo.

In 2023, Mosby was found guilty of two counts of perjury after a jury concluded she lied to withdraw $90,000 from a retirement account under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act. She then used that money to buy two luxury vacation homes in Florida.

Sentencing is set for May 23.