Most of us grew up knowing that ignorance of the law is no excuse.
But what about when a just-elected State Attorney is ignorant of the law. What happens then?
With a major – and I do mean major – nod to Andrew Branca of legalinsurrection.com, he has put together an article which makes it crystal-clear that, when it comes to the law, as it relates to the Baltimore 6 (the police charged in the apprehension, arrest and death of Freddie Gray), marilyn mosby is an ignoramus – and a loudmouthed partisan one at that .
Remember the knife? The spring-action knife that mosby first told us – due to its small size – was perfectly legal for Gray to have, then refused to show to anyone (she still is refusing to do so) and then, belatedly, told us that the knife should not have caused Gray\’s arrest because the police knew about it only after the arrest took place?
She is 100% wrong – and 100% ignorant – on all counts.
First, let\’s talk about the knife\’s legality.
Maybe Gray\’s spring-action knife is legal under state law. I don\’t know one way or the other. But I know for certain it is illegal under Baltimore law. And that is where he was arrested.
Want proof? Thanks to Mr. Branca, that is no problem at all.
Here is the statement of charges:
See the statute? 59 22?
Here is the entire text of statute 59 22:
MD (Baltimore Code) § 59-22. Switch-blade knives.
MD (Baltimore Code) § 59-22. Switch-blade knives.
State: Maryland
Baltimore City Charter & Code
§ 59-22. Switch-blade knives.
(a) Possession or sale, etc., prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, carry, or possess any knife with an automatic spring or other device for opening and/or closing the blade, commonly known as a switch-blade knife.
(b) Penalties. Any person violating the provisions of this section, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $500 or be imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both, in the discretion of the court.
You can read that statute until your eyeballs pop out of their sockets. And you will not find anything about size. If it is a switchblade knife in the city of Baltimore, it is illegal. Period, end of story.
Now let\’s talk about the arrest – which, I reiterate, marilyn mosby is just as ignorant and just as wrong about as the knife\’s legality.
In point of fact, Freddie Gray was not arrested until the knife was found in his possession.
Let me say that again, a little louder: FREDDIE GRAY WAS NOT ARRESTED UNTIL THE KNIFE WAS FOUND IN HIS POSSESSION.
Mr. Branca has the entire sequence of events leading up to Freddie Gray\’s arrest in his article. It is too long to copy here, so I will repost the link to his article here, for you to click, read it all, and see for yourself. But, in the meanwhile, here is his summary of the sequence:
(1) Gray, a known street-level drug dealer in a high-crime neighborhood flees precipitously upon observation of, and by, patrolling officers, creating reasonable suspicion.
(2) Based upon this reasonable suspicion the officers initiate a lawful “Terry stop.”
(3) During the “Terry stop” the officers handcuff Gray and conduct a visual and (I expect) physical “pat-down” search for weapons, both for the permitted reasons of public and officer safety.
(4) Visual observation reveals Gray\’s possession of the knife clipped to his pocket.
(5) The officers determine that possession of the knife is unlawful under Baltimore City Code §59-22.
(6) This unlawful possession establishes the probable cause necessary for Gray\’s actual arrest.
This sequence of events is supported explicitly by the arresting officer\’s handwritten Application for Statement of Charges, completed immediately following Gray\’s arrest and well before any of the public hubbub:
At the beginning of this blog, I asked what happens when a just-elected State Attorney is ignorant of the law.
If marilyn mosby had any shame and/or any integrity at all, she would at the very least be apologizing profusely for her ignorance and dishonesty. If she had more than the minimum amount, she would immediately recuse herself from prosecuting this case. If she had a decent amount, she would be tendering her resignation.
But she is not doing any of those things, is she?
That tells you all you need to know about marilyn mosby.
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UPDATE: To the surprise of no one (I would think) the grand jury has agreed to indictments against the Baltimore 6.
We will never know for sure how much of it was because the grand jury sincerely felt they were in order, or because if this didn\’t at the very least go to trial, there might have been even worse riots than the ones immediately following Freddie Gray\’s death.
Convicting them, however, is likely to be a very different story.
Stay tuned.
