Readers can be excused if they believe that the Associated Press might be more interested in protecting what little is left of Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby's credibility and reputation than they are in reporting the news.
Look at the vague headline about enhanced police presence in the area where Freddie Gray was arrested that Mosby herself requested at the AP story by Juliet Linderman:
(A video, presumably taken by AP itself given its location at the wire service's national site, is "no longer available." Why not? Did it mention Mosby's name too often?)
As to the headline, What's this about "Prosecutors"? Plural? The call for attention came from Mosby.
Linderman's writeup, despite objectively clear evidence, mostly treated now-known facts about Mosby's conduct as mere accusations by defense attorneys.
It took six paragraphs, but the AP reporter finally got around to acknowledging, without reference what others are "charging," that the original request to increase patrols at a key crime-infested intersection in Baltimore came from Mosby.
Lawyers for six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray demanded the removal of the city's top prosecutor from their case on Tuesday, saying she was the one who asked for "enhanced" police attention at the intersection where they encountered the young black man.
An email sent to police weeks before Gray died from the spinal injury he suffered in police custody shows State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby has a conflict of interest, the attorneys argued, because she had wanted police to target North Avenue and Mount Street, the intersection in West Baltimore where Gray ran from police on April 12.
The defense motion filed Tuesday says Mosby "is now an integral part of the story ... both as an advocate and a witness."
... Mosby charged the officers May 1 with crimes ranging from misdemeanor assault to second-degree "depraved-heart" murder. Mosby also said Gray's arrest was illegal because officers handcuffed him prior to discovering the knife that became the basis for the charges.
On March 17, Joshua Rosenblatt, division chief of Mosby's crime strategies unit, emailed Police Cmdr. Osborne Robinson, saying "Mosby asked me to look into community concerns regarding drug dealing in the area of North Ave. and Mount St."
In the email, Rosenblatt praised earlier police efforts there, and said "we'd like to build on that success by targeting that intersection for enhanced prosecutorial (and hopefully police) attention."
Mosby's contention about the arrest's illegality is utterly without basis, as the video segment below which opened "The Kelly File" on Fox News last night will show.
Kelly's report, with the help of Trace Gallagher, also makes it obvious, despite the AP's stall-ball and obfusction, that the idea of "enhanced attention" was purely Mosby's:
Transcript (first 3-1/2 minutes; bolds are mine; some paragraph breaks added for readability):
MEGYN KELLY, HOST: Breaking tonight, big news out of Baltimore. "The Kelly File" has learned that the police crackdown that led to the arrest and subsequent death of drug suspect Freddie Gray was directed by District Attorney Marilyn Mosby, the very woman now prosecuting six police officers for what they say was an attempt to comply with her orders.
Welcome to "The Kelly File" everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly.
This is a stunning development in a case that has sparked riots, protests and angry debates all the way to the White House. Recall (that) DA Marilyn Mosby had publicly said these cops had no business chasing Freddie Gray and placing him under arrest in this drug-infested area, accusing them of an unlawful arrest.
But today, "The Kelly File" got its hands on a blockbuster document. An e-mail from a staffer in the Baltimore DA's office to the Baltimore police less than a month before the Freddie Gray incident, directing the cops on behalf of the prosecutor to crack down on the exact area where Freddie Gray was arrested by quote, "enhancing their antidrug push there."
The order was then passed along to the beat cops, "Get those drug pushers and you will be forced to account for your success daily." Off went the Baltimore PD and on April 12th, they arrested Freddie Gray, on virtually the same street corner Miss Mosby wanted them to target. Gray would later die in police custody and become a new flash point in a campaign against some of America's cops.
Trace Gallagher has the very latest on what we have learned today live in our West Coast newsroom -- Trace.
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And Megyn, the reason the state's attorney asked police to target that area is because she had received a series of pictures showing various drug deals going down at that intersection. Her office then sent an e-mail to a western Baltimore Police Commander saying, quoting, "State's Attorney Mosby asked me to look into community concerns regarding drug dealing in the area of North Ave and Mount Street."
Three days later, the police commander sent an e-mail to several of his officers saying that effective immediately, quote, "You will conduct a daily narcotics initiative addressing North and Mount Streets." Now, remember, that's the exact address where Freddie Gray was arrested and one of the officers who got the e-mail was Lieutenant Brian Rice, who was involved in Freddie Gray's arrest and is now charged in his death.
Defense attorneys for the officers charged say that Marilyn Mosby was directing these officers to one of the highest crime intersections in the city of Baltimore. And legal experts says it puts Mosby in a bit of a bind, and here's why.
Initially Mosby alleged that Freddie Gray's arrest was illegal because the knife he carried was legal. Well, it turns out the city of Baltimore, the knife is illegal. So now, Mosby claims Freddie Gray's arrest was illegal because quoting again, "Mr. Gray was arrested well before the officers knew he possessed a knife." But the Supreme Court has ruled that instead of probable cause, reasonable suspicious is enough to stop an individual who flees unprovoked in a high crime area.
Now, in light of the new e-mails, it would now be difficult for the state's attorney to argue the corner of north and mount was not a high crime area. Defense attorneys are asking Mosby to recuse herself from the case because they believe she is now both prosecutor and potential witness. Mosby's office has up to now refused to step aside, calling the defense desperate -- Megyn.
KELLY: Trace, thank you.
Mosby, of all people, should know about the Supreme Court ruling just mentioned.
Mosby's indictment of the six officers looks more like a substance-free attempt to appease the anti-cop mob with each passing day.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
