Lawyers for Baltimore cops call for Marilyn Mosby to recuse herself from case

BALTIMORE, May 8 (UPI) -- Lawyers representing six Baltimore police officers charged with the death of Freddie Gray filed motions Friday to have the case dismissed and for the office of State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby to recuse itself.

The motion requested the charges be dropped alleging the statement of charges and arrest warnings on May 1 were not filed by the state's attorney's office, as they should by law, but instead from the Baltimore City's Sheriff's Office.

Additionally, the lawyers call for Mosby's removal from the case saying she and her husband, Baltimore City Council member Nick Mosby, stand to gain personally and politically by the case. Court documents also say she has personal relationships with some of the people who are likely to testify at trial as well as William Murphy, the Gray family attorney.

The documents also indicate conflicts of interest in a pending civil claim against Mosby's office and her office's role as the investigators in the case.

"Rarely in the history of any criminal case has a prosecutor so directly maintained so many conflicts of interest," the motion read. "Rarer still are instances where such clear conflicts exist and a prosecutor steadfastly refuses to recuse him or herself."

The lawyers also take issue with what they call Mosby's "message to the world" when she read the statement of charges in a news conference.

"To the people of Baltimore and the demonstrators across America, I heard your call for 'no justice no peace,'" Mosby said at the time.

Defense attorneys say this message revealed Mosby's "political and personal motivation."

All six officers face multiple charges, including second-degree assault, a misdemeanor that comes with a possible 10-year sentence. One officer, Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., 45, was charged with second-degree depraved heart murder, a felony with a possible 30-year sentence.

The others charged are Officer William G. Porter, 25; Lt. Brian W. Rice, 41; Sgt. Alicia D. White, 30; Officer Edward M. Nero, 29; and Officer Garrett E. Miller, 26. The six are expected in court on May 27.

"At best the charges levied against these officers are extraordinary prosecutorial overreaching," the motion read. "At worst, they are something far more nefarious."

Lawyers asked for Mosby to recuse herself and for an independent prosecutor to be appointed going forward in the case.

Marc Zayon, the attorney representing Nero, emailed a statement to UPI saying "the motions speak for themselves.

"I look forward to litigating them in court."