BALTIMORE — Former Baltimore city state's attorney Marilyn Mosby is back in court Tuesday morning for a motions hearing leading up to her federal perjury trial in March.
Mosby is accused of lying about her financial hardship to avoid paying penalties in withdrawing $90,000 from her city retirement plan, then using that money to buy two vacation homes in Florida.
In a series of competing motions filed last week, both the federal government and Mosby's defense team asked the judge to exclude two of each other's expert witnesses.
the government wants to strike witnesses Jerome Schmitt and Eric Forster from testifying on Mosby's behalf.
Prosecutors say neither one has ever been qualified as an expert in a federal criminal trial.
Schmitt reportedly plans to tell a jury that Mosby's net worth decreased by 12% between December 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020 but the prosecutors claim that the analysis is misleading.
Meanwhile, Mosby's defense team countered by asking the court to strike two of the government's witnesses, Steven Butler and Joshua Johnston.
Mosby's attorneys also argue the point that there is no legal definition of 'adverse financial consequences' that requires a total decrease of net worth as a condition necessary to take a withdrawal from her retirement account.
Mosby's lawyers also want portions of Tuesday’s motions hearing kept under seal.
Her attorneys say parts of Mosby's oral argument may involve aspects of juror questionnaires and their responses, and that disclosure of the questionnaires would be a violation of Local Rule 204, and "out of an abundance of caution" they request her argument doesn't become public record.
Meanwhile, the judge has yet to rule if Mosby's defense team would be sanctioned or held in contempt of court after prosecutors accused them of revealing sensitive information on juror questionnaires in one of their filed motions.
Mosby's trial is set for March 27th but Judge Lydia Griggsby has yet to make a decision on whether the trial will be moved to another venue and if a pre-trial gag order will be imposed.
