Defense Attorneys Demand List Of Baltimore City Police Officers With 'Integrity' Issues; Mosby's Office Defends Transparency
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The public defender's office is demanding Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's office turn over a list of officers with credibility issues.
That list has grown to 305 officers. Mosby has described it as "fluid" and said it includes officers with both sustained and unsustained complaints.
Deputy state's attorney Janice Bledsoe, who handles police integrity in Mosby's office, defended their transparency.
"The Baltimore City State's Attorney's office has the most extensive policy concerning internal affairs in the country," Bledsoe told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "Access to police officers' internal affairs files is unfettered to the defense. All they have to do is come over and look at a file. There are two conditions: One, it cannot be an open investigation. Number two, the officer must be involved in the case."
The infamous list includes some officers who are no longer on the force—like the disgraced Gun Trace Task Force officers now serving prison time. State's Attorney Mosby has turned the list over to police brass, but defense attorneys believe they're also entitled to it—and they're going to court to get it. The hearing is scheduled for next week.
Mosby spoke about the list last December during a meeting of the Commission to Restore Trust In Policing, which was formed in the wake of the GTTF scandal to investigate police corruption.
"As states attorney, if these officers have credibility issues, I will not put them in a position to have to testify," Mosby said at the time.
Veteran defense lawyer Warren Alperstein says Mosby should turn over the list.
"That's the problem. There's a lack of transparency," he told Hellgren. "The citizens of Baltimore don't trust the states attorneys office and unfortunately, then they don't trust the police department."
If a judge forces Mosby's office to turn over the full list, Alperstein says it could be a bombshell impacting many ongoing cases.
"If an officer is not able to testify because they have an integrity issue, then they shouldn't be able to arrest people because you can't arrest people and not be able to properly prosecute them. It's going to cause problems for the state's attorneys office if they are out there on the street making arrests and it comes to light that they are on that list."
Mosby's office declined to comment on pending litigation.
It has not been disclosed how many officers on the list are currently on duty in the department.
