Judge admonishes Mosby’s ex-lawyer
But he found that criminal contempt was not warranted
Things seemed out of place Tuesday in U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett’s courtroom.
The prosecutor’s table was empty, and on the defense side, Washington, D.C.-based attorney A. Scott Bolden sat in the chair normally reserved for defendants.
“I’m in a very different space right now,” Bolden told the federal judge in Baltimore.
“This is strange grounds for me as well,” Bennett replied.
In his 20 years on the federal bench, Bennett said he could not recall a time he presided over criminal contempt of court proceedings for an attorney.
Bolden and his legal team appeared before Bennett to explain why his conduct during his defense of former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby did not warrant criminal contempt charges, and to ask Bennett to dismiss the case against him.
Ruling from the bench, Bennett admonished Bolden but found that criminal contempt was neither warranted nor permissible under the law and dismissed the case.
“You’re better than this,” Bennett said to Bolden, who was outwardly emotional during the proceedings. “A person of your experience should never find himself in this position.”
Having represented Mosby since she was federally indicted on charges of perjury and mortgage fraud in January 2022, Bolden’s zealous defense of his client created legal jeopardy for himself. U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby, who presides over Mosby’s case, determined Jan. 17 that Bolden had violated several of the court’s local rules governing attorney conduct and procedures, and ordered him to explain why his conduct did not warrant a criminal referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland.
Griggsby allowed Bolden and Mosby’s five other attorneys to withdraw from the case last month, finding the contempt proceedings likely amounted to a distraction and would potentially hamper their ability to adequately represent her going forward. Federal Public Defender James
Wyda was appointed as Mosby’s new attorney.
Bolden’s conduct — divulging confidential juror information in public legal papers; filing a motion without the signature of a Maryland attorney; using profanity to criticize the second postponement of the case and calling it “bulls—-” on the courthouse steps — violated the court’s local rules and was unwarranted, conceded his attorney, Arnold Weiner.
Bennett described Bolden’s actions, specifically the use of profanity when reacting to Griggsby’s Sept. 14 decision to postpone the case, “abhorrent.”
Bolden has apologized repeatedly for that outburst, privately to Griggsby and publicly in open court, to news reporters and in court filings.
However, Weiner said, there is no standing under the law to move forward with criminal contempt proceedings because violating local rules does not rise to the merit of criminal charges.
Had Bolden directly violated a judge’s order, like breaking the gag order Griggsby issued in the case, that would have given rise to the contempt charges, Weiner said. Bennett agreed.
“We think the judge made an absolutely correct ruling as a matter of law,” Weiner, a longtime Baltimore attorney, said afterward.
Weiner said his client was a man of “high integrity,” and that he would continue practicing law in the future “honorably.”
Renowned Baltimore attorney William “Billy” Murphy attended the hearing as a spectator, and credited Weiner’s brilliance as part of why Bolden was able to avoid further punishment. Asked about Bolden’s conduct, Murphy said he believes Bolden is an “exemplary” lawyer.
“Stuff happens,” Murphy said. “We’re all mortal beings.”
Bolden, who sounded as if he was holding back tears when addressing Bennett, said the contempt proceedings had him feeling as if he was standing at the “precipice” of his career. A lawyer for 36 years and the son of a former judge, Bolden described himself as a lawyer’s lawyer and that he wishes he could take his actions back.
Bennett said he believed going forward Bolden would not reoffend.
“You’re above that and I’m convinced of that,” he said.