ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Marilyn Mosby, a high-profile prosecutor who sided with criminal justice reformers but ended her own legal troubles, lost the Democratic primary for Baltimore state attorney to Ivan Bates, a defense attorney. .
Baltimore is heavily Democratic and there is no Republican candidate in the race. Roya Hanna is an unaffiliated candidate who stood to run in the November general election.
Mosby, who served two terms, rose to national fame in 2015 when he brought criminal charges against six police officers in the deaths of gray freddy, a black man who suffered a spinal injury after police handcuffed him, chained him, and placed him upside down in a pickup truck. His death triggered riots and protests. None of the officers was convicted.
In January, a grand jury accused Mosby on two counts each of perjury and making a false statement on a loan application in the purchase of a house in Kissimmee, Florida, and a condominium on Long Boat Key, Florida. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The indictment accuses Mosby of falsely stating that the COVID-19 pandemic hurt his finances so he could withdraw $90,000 from his city retirement account. Mosby’s gross salary in 2020 exceeded $247,000 and was never reduced, according to the indictment.
Bates, managing partner of the Baltimore law firm Bates and Garcia, worked as a prosecutor in Baltimore from 1996 to 2002 before becoming a defense attorney. He campaigned on his experience, emphasizing that the city needed a change in leadership with ethical, transparent and effective prosecution.
Bates also defeated Thiru Vignarajah, a former deputy attorney general.
Violent crime has been particularly marked in Baltimore in recent years. There have been more than 300 homicides in each of the last seven years. Earlier this year, Maryland’s largest city experienced its deadliest January in nearly half a century with 36 homicides.
It took until Friday to call Bates’s Democratic primary because the margins were tighter and a larger number of mail-in ballots were cast in the race. The election was held on Tuesday. Maryland law prohibits counties from opening mail-in ballots until the Thursday after Election Day.