‘Insufficient evidence’: Criminal charge dismissed against Baltimore Police major accused of making threats
A Baltimore District Court judge on Thursday dismissed the misdemeanor harassment charge against a Baltimore Police major who’d been accused of making threats.
Assistant State’s Attorney Patrick Brooks requested the charges be dismissed due to “insufficient evidence.” District Judge Lisa A. Phelps agreed.
The District Court matter against Baltimore Police Major Jennifer McGrath dates back to November when a woman swore out a charge against her. She wrote in a sworn application for charges that McGrath had texted her, among other things, “I could make you disappear if I wanted too” and “I am powerful, established, unlike you.”
McGrath said she was unable to comment following the hearing and was not accompanied by her attorney, Chaz Ball. He did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Brooks, the prosecutor, said Thursday outside the courtroom that there was a “pending investigation” outstanding. He added that the State’s Attorney’s Office lives in “a world of reasonable doubt,” and that if prosecutors believe they cannot prove the allegations, they don’t move forward.
Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said much the same thing when reached by phone: “We did not believe we could prove the allegations that were made beyond a reasonable doubt. My understanding is that [police] are still looking at the case to see if it reveals anything else.”
Shellenberger added that his office didn’t believe they could prove “the source of the communications.”
Ball, McGrath’s attorney, said at a hearing in the case last month that they had subpoenaed IP address information he believed would show the alleged harassment was “fabricated.”
False statements made in a sworn affidavit could open someone up to a perjury offense. Baltimore County Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether the woman who made the accusations in this case is under police investigation.
At last month’s hearing, after Ball’s remark, someone who identified herself as the victim in the case said she didn’t want to move forward with the criminal case. She said she’d been receiving death threats.
The allegations made in the affidavit drew public attention last month. The Baltimore City Police Accountability Board called it a “civilian’s worst nightmare,” and questioned how McGrath was promoted from captain to major despite the pending charges and related internal affairs investigation.
Baltimore Police said at the time that the agency was aware of the pending criminal case and that an internal investigation was ongoing.
One of the alleged messages from McGrath read, “I’ve already contacted my connections at internal affairs to let them know to throw your complaint out.”
Eldridge said last month that the probe started with a complaint filed with the Public Integrity Bureau.
This story may be updated.
