A Baltimore prosecutor cannot be charged for actions which she took as a prosecutor and which have been validated by other parties, her lawyers argue.
The defamation lawsuits filed by five police officers against a Baltimore prosecutor, who filed cases against them in connection to Freddie Gray’s case are baseless, her attorneys have argued.
Marilyn J. Mosby filed cases against six officers involved in Gray’s arrest in 2015. While being transported in a police vehicle, Gray fell into a coma and died a week later.
According to The Baltimore Sun, Mosby’s lawyers argued against the lawsuits for the first time in filings late Friday. The lawyers stressed that she can’t be sued for her actions as a prosecutor.
“A prosecutor's decision to move forward with criminal charges ... is exactly the kind of conduct that is absolutely immune from a civil claim for damages in state or federal court,” the lawyers argued.
Mosby’s lawyers also argued that her actions were validated by several parties, including judges and a grand jury.
”It is undisputed that other persons and entities within the criminal justice system repeatedly found probable cause after the filing of the lawsuits.”
The lawsuits against the prosecutor were filed while the criminal cases against the police officers were ongoing.
Officers Garrett Miller, Edward Nero and William Porter, Sgt. Alicia White and Lt. Brian Rice filed the lawsuits while Officer Caesar Goodson, the driver of the police vehicle at the time Gray was being transported, has not joined the suit.
Of the cases filed against the six police officers, one ended in a mistrial while three ended in a judge acquitting the defendants. All charges had been dropped since then.
The officers say they are the victims of lawsuits for the personal and political interest of others. They also claim to be victims of defamation.
Mosby’s lawyers are requesting U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis to dismiss the lawsuits filed against their client.
