A Maryland judge this afternoon ordered Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby to come to court and explain herself in a case involving a man that Mosby’s office has attempted to prosecute multiple times for the same crime.
Maryland Circuit Court Judge John S. Nugent imposed a gag order on both prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case of Keith Davis Jr. on June 7. But the Baltimore Sun reported that “within an hour of the order taking effect,” Mosby was on a local radio talk show answering questions about the case, prompting which Davis’ lawyers to complain. Nugent has set a hearing in August at which Mosby must appear to explain the comments.
From the Baltimore Sun
Host Tom Hall asked the state’s attorney questions on a range of topics, including the repeated prosecutions of Davis.
Mosby acknowledged that a gag order had been granted and did not refer to Davis or Jones by name. She expressed a commitment to advocating for Jones and other homicide victims in the city. Mosby mentioned that a jury deadlocked in two of Davis’ trials and referred to his two overturned convictions. She said the office was committed to pursuing the case.
“Let me just be clear, I can’t talk about the specifics of that case, but I can tell you that we are going to fight, and if a case has nothing substantively to do with the fact that we believe this is the individual who committed the offense, we’re going to fight for justice for that family, and that’s what I’ll continue to do for every family in the City of Baltimore,” Mosby said.
Mosby’s office is preparing to try Davis for the fifth time for murder in the death of Kevin Jones, a security guard who was shot and killed seven years ago while working at Baltimore’s Pimlico race track, where the famed Preakness Stakes horse race is held.
Davis was convicted once of the killing but that was overturned when a judge ruled Mosby’s office withheld information from his lawyers. Juries deadlocked in two other trials. A fourth also ended in a conviction which was again overturned.
In 2015, Davis was also tried for an armed robbery in a case in which Baltimore cops chased and cornered him, firing almost three dozen rounds at him and hitting him three times, the Sun reported. He was also acquitted in that case of every charge except a firearms possession count. Local activists have protested Mosby’s repeated attempts to make charges against Davis stick.