PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — The assault case from North Beach’s May 2 First Friday event will proceed to trial after Judge Michelle Saunders denied the motion to disqualify the Calvert County Office of the State’s Attorney and the motion to dismiss the charges for selective enforcement of the law.
Saunders said on the first motion that the State’s Attorney’s Office has wide discretion in what cases it decides to prosecute and that she was not convinced, based on the legal argument provided by Wright’s attorneys — that the Calvert County Republican Central Committee (RCC) had been in contact with interim State’s Attorney Robert J. “Bob” Harvey about the case — that it met the criteria for moving to a new office. She acknowledged that the case had “many issues” and it would be up to the State’s Attorney’s Office to address them at trial. She added that, as someone who had worked in the State’s Attorney’s Office herself for 19 years, there’s no “perfect case,” but that doesn’t always mean it can’t go forward.
On the second motion, Wright’s attorneys argued that influence from members of the sheriff’s department and the RCC indicated collusion to accuse Wright, and that the sheriff’s department only did so because of pressure from and personal relationships with members of the RCC. Furthermore, they said the woman who originally accused Wright disliked her because of her politics, and the RCC jumped at the chance to accuse her based on those politics.
“I’ve never seen this level of bias,” attorney Mike Beach said in closing arguments. He pointed to the timeline of events that showed how officers chose to charge Wright without speaking with her, and that the State’s Attorney’s Office proceeded with the charges with weak evidence.
This, he argued, would not have been the case without political bias against Wright and the personal connections between the RCC, the State’s Attorney’s Office and the sheriff’s department.
Saunders chalked these corruption-adjacent actions up to “issues with training” and said she “really thought the people (of the RCC) were trying to help” rather than intentionally targeting Wright for her political beliefs.
Chairman of the Calvert RCC Joshua Johnson gave his testimony and spent more than 50 minutes on the stand deflecting questions.
Johnson stuck to his line of “I have no recollection” even when confronted with evidence of his communications with others. He talked around questions rather than answering with a yes or no and gave vague answers about the “community” or “taxpayers” instead of answering for himself.
For example, when asked if he had any text or email correspondence with anyone concerning the incident, Johnson began talking about social media and pointed the finger at former RCC board member Jason Scaggs. He also frequently praised the sheriff’s department and Sheriff Ricky Cox, who in August testified that he had been in contact with Johnson about the RCC’s Facebook posts related to the event. Late in the testimony, under questioning from Saunders, Johnson admitted that he had been in communication with Cox regarding Facebook posts about the incident.
Johnson attributed the social media posts and correspondence to Scaggs. He acknowledged that he spoke on the phone with Harvey about the assault.
Wright’s lawyers argued that Johnson did not sufficiently comply with the subpoena to supply communications. Johnson said he “searched Ms. Wright’s name” in his email. Wright’s lawyers argued that this was not sufficient, as it would not have turned up all correspondence with members of the RCC, the sheriff’s office or the State’s Attorney’s Office. Johnson also said repeatedly that he does not save his text messages.
With the motions to dismiss denied, the case will now head to a criminal trial where Wright will be found guilty or not guilty of committing the crime, and evidence must meet the threshold of “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Wright has maintained that she did not commit the assault and did not attend the First Friday event on May 2.
Qiana Johnson, a friend of Wright and the founder and executive director of an organization called Life After Release, where Wright volunteered, said she has known Wright for years.
“The most concerning is the way she’s being dragged through the court for something she clearly did not do. Just the amount of time, effort, money, taxpayers’ dollars, being spent to come out and be a part of this witch hunt is appalling and very troubling. To see this type of behavior happening is sad and it’s concerning.”
Johnson said she thought the judge’s decisions were very “safe.” “She saw that the case has a lot of issues, but was trying to protect the prosecutor’s office from anything that may come from this,” Johnson said.
Her organization works on prosecutorial misconduct in Prince George’s County, and they have developed a Court Watch for cases they deem concerning.
“That’s the reason Court Watch exists,” she said. “For cases we see like this.” Johnson also said she believed that this case was an example of the systemic way injustice happens, and that it can happen to anyone, regardless of beliefs, skin color or politics. No one is exempt.
The criminal trial will take place Oct. 17 at Calvert District Court in Prince Frederick.
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Ms. Wright’s first name?