The Art of Advocacy

Indicting a public official is always a cause for attention. The prosecutor believes he or she is duty bound to proceed based on the facts uncovered. The defense exclaims that the case is tissue thin. The fourth estate rallies to the cry of cause célèbre. The public reads, listens and waits for the wheels of the judiciary to grind forward as they inexorable do.

In Maryland the State Prosecutor indicted the Mayor of Baltimore in a twelve-count indictment. The charges included perjury for failing to report gifts from a developer on ethics forms, theft for stealing gift cards worth more than five hundred dollars, and misconduct in office. Last week the judge assigned to the case dismissed five of the counts, leaving seven remaining, those relating to the theft. The basis of the dismissal boils down to a doctrine known as legislative immunity, or the “speech and debate” principle, which holds that an elected official’s votes, or bills she may have introduced in a legislative body, cannot be used as evidence against her. (This principle exists to prevent politically motivated prosecutions against elected officials.) In this matter, the prosecutor had presented the grand jury with such evidence in building the perjury case against Mayor Dixon, thus compelling the judge to question the integrity of the indictment and dismiss five of the counts.

The question of whether the State Prosecutor should appeal is an important one. An appeal would cause delay of the trial. Delay often works to the advantage of the accused. On the other hand, the prosecutor may be thinking of his role as public servant and seek to reverse the court's decision on theory of legislative immunity to clear the way for other cases in the future. What should the prosecutor do? Analyze the law and consider the likelihood of reversal. If he believes he has a shot, he should go for it. His responsibility may be to advocate for reversal so that he can proceed with all of the charges and, when justified, prosecute others who would hide behind the immunity. The defense, of course, must continue to battle. In doing so, they will be not only fighting of their client, but also for the need for such immunity to protect the independence of the legislative branch of government.

As an alternative to an appeal, the prosecutor could take a narrower view of the matter and attempt to re-indict Mayor Dixon for perjury and misconduct in office, this time excluding the evidence the judge deemed improper. Indeed, the judge’s opinion suggested the prosecution might take this step, and the Sun advocated for it in a recent editorial.

The trial is scheduled for September unless the special prosecutor appeals. I look forward to following the proceedings. I am familiar with the lawyers and the judge in the case and expect it to be well tried.