Massachusetts sets rules on GPS tracking by police
09.22.09
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that
secret GPS tracking of Massachusetts citizens is permissible under
the state constitution provided that police obtain a warrant
beforehand. The unanimous ruling written by Justice Judith Cowin
upheld the drug trafficking conviction of Everett H. Connolly, a
Cape Cod man who was tracked by State Police in 2004 after they
installed a GPS device in his mini-van.
“We hold that warrants for GPS monitoring of a vehicle may be issued,’’ Cowin wrote. “The Commonwealth must establish, before a magistrate . . . that GPS monitoring of the vehicle will produce evidence’’ that a crime has been committed or is imminent. The SJC said the devices can be installed for up to 15 days before police must show cause for further tracking. Despite the overheated portrayal of the decision in the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, (both of which hype stories to counter their dance on the edge of bankruptcy), support for the ruling was fairly widespread among law enforcement and defense investigators.
“We hold that warrants for GPS monitoring of a vehicle may be issued,’’ Cowin wrote. “The Commonwealth must establish, before a magistrate . . . that GPS monitoring of the vehicle will produce evidence’’ that a crime has been committed or is imminent. The SJC said the devices can be installed for up to 15 days before police must show cause for further tracking. Despite the overheated portrayal of the decision in the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, (both of which hype stories to counter their dance on the edge of bankruptcy), support for the ruling was fairly widespread among law enforcement and defense investigators.
$3.1 million settlement for client in Ayer wrongful conviction
09.05.09
Dennis Maher reached a $3.1 million
settlement in his civil rights case against the town of Ayer. Maher
was released from prison in April 2003 after having served 19 years
of a life sentence for rape. He was exonerated when forensic tests
revealed his genetic fingerprint did not match DNA evidence found
at the scene of an alleged 1983 Ayer rape at the Caza Manor Hotel.
Maher claimed his civil rights were violated due to the negligent
management and training of Ayer Police Department investigators,
including now-retired Officer Nancy Taylor-Harris.
Maher's civil case was based partly on evidence unearthed by private investigator John Nardizzi, who discovered that one of the alleged rape victims had faced criminal assault charges of her own during that era. These charges were dropped in exchange for her cooperation on the Maher case. Defense counsel was never told about the arrangement that Taylor and the Ayer Police had engineered with the victim/witness. The witness's criminal charge was transfered to another court and essentially disappeared from the public docket, only to be unearthed two decades later. The prosecutor who handled the Maher case later testified at his deposition: "Officer Taylor, in my opinion, engaged in misconduct by working some side arrangement with the victim not to prosecute her for a criminal case against the police department, and withheld that information from me."
Nardizzi also unearthed evidence that a key witness at trial, Richard Nichols, was well-known to Ayer Police and Nancy Taylor (who denied any memory of him in her deposition). Nichols was the son of a former police matron employed for decades at the Ayer Police Department. Moreover, Nichols had been arrested multiple times. Ayer Police were not able to produce any notes, reports, or statements from interviews with Nichols, despite the fact that a meeting between Nichols and Taylor was documented in a police log, and Nichols turned out to be the centerpiece of their case.
Maher's civil case was based partly on evidence unearthed by private investigator John Nardizzi, who discovered that one of the alleged rape victims had faced criminal assault charges of her own during that era. These charges were dropped in exchange for her cooperation on the Maher case. Defense counsel was never told about the arrangement that Taylor and the Ayer Police had engineered with the victim/witness. The witness's criminal charge was transfered to another court and essentially disappeared from the public docket, only to be unearthed two decades later. The prosecutor who handled the Maher case later testified at his deposition: "Officer Taylor, in my opinion, engaged in misconduct by working some side arrangement with the victim not to prosecute her for a criminal case against the police department, and withheld that information from me."
Nardizzi also unearthed evidence that a key witness at trial, Richard Nichols, was well-known to Ayer Police and Nancy Taylor (who denied any memory of him in her deposition). Nichols was the son of a former police matron employed for decades at the Ayer Police Department. Moreover, Nichols had been arrested multiple times. Ayer Police were not able to produce any notes, reports, or statements from interviews with Nichols, despite the fact that a meeting between Nichols and Taylor was documented in a police log, and Nichols turned out to be the centerpiece of their case.
Supreme Court orders client Michael O'Laughlin released on bail
09.04.09
After nearly 9 years in prison,
Michael O'Laughlin was release on bail last week. Attorney General
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had filed any emergency motion
with the US Supreme Court to keep Michael in prison. Associate
Justice Stephen Breyer of the Supreme Court denied the Attorney
General's motion and ordered Michael to be released with bail.
Justice Breyer wrote: "Respondent’s liberty interest in
release is particularly substantial given that it is not reasonably
likely that this Court would grant a petition for certiorari filed
by the Commonwealth."
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals had overturned a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision earlier this summer, holding that the evidence presented could not permit any rational jury to conclude that O'Laughlin was the assailant beyond a reasonable doubt.
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals had overturned a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision earlier this summer, holding that the evidence presented could not permit any rational jury to conclude that O'Laughlin was the assailant beyond a reasonable doubt.