Judge dismisses more than 100 cases amid lawyer stoppage
'This case shall be dismissed without prejudice today,' she said as she threw out the case of a man accused of domestic violence.
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The dismissal with prejudice, as was the case with all the cases thrown out on Tuesday, means the cases can be refiled. But in the meantime, any conditions of release, such as GPS monitoring and orders to stay away from alleged victims drop away along with the case.
A large number of private attorneys known as bar advocates, who typically represent most of the state's indigent defendants,
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As the number of unrepresented defendants increased, a justice from the Supreme Judicial Court ordered the implementation of an emergency procedure known as the Lavallee protocol, which is meant to address the constitutional violations. The protocol, which currently applies to district courts in Suffolk and Middlesex counties, requires judges to release people held for more than seven days without access to a lawyer, and to dismiss any cases that have gone for longer than 45 days without an attorney.
The seven-day hearings have been running for weeks and have resulted in about two dozen people released. Tuesday brought the first of the 45-day hearings. They're scheduled to continue in Boston every other Tuesday.
Sean Cotter can be reached at
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New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
90 prosecutors quit Nassau County DA's Office over claims of incumbent's ‘dictator' leadership: ‘No longer about justice'
About 90 prosecutors have quit the Nassau County District Attorney's Office since Anne Donnelly took it over in 2022, says her political challenger — who left the job herself, citing a 'dictator'-like atmosphere. Nicole Aloise, a Democrat running against the GOP incumbent Donnelly for DA, called out her opponent Friday outside the county courthouse in Mineola, LI — accusing Donnelly of fostering a toxic work culture focused more on headlines than justice. 'I left the Nassau DAs office after truly believing I would be there for life,' said Aloise, who quit there in 2023. 'I loved serving the community, ensuring that victims were heard and perpetrators were brought to justice. 6 Nicole Aloise, a Democrat running against the GOP incumbent Anne Donnelly for DA, accused Donnelly of fostering a toxic work culture. Nicole Aloise/Instagram 'Once Anne Donnelly took office — the job changed — it was no longer about justice, it was about her own agenda.' Donnelly's camp fired back by calling her political foe and the other former assistant district attorneys 'ethically challenged, soft-on-crime prosecutors like Nicole Aloise.' Aloise said she was one of the roughly 90 prosecutors in the office pushed to quit their jobs under Donnelly, claiming one of the reasons she left is because she was denied the resources she requested to try to expand a murder prosecution into a larger conspiracy case. 6 'Once Anne Donnelly took office — the job changed — it was no longer about justice, it was about her own agenda,' Aloise said. Nicole Aloise/Instagram 6 Aloise said she was one of the roughly 90 prosecutors in the office pushed to quit their jobs under Donnelly. Dennis A. Clark Some of the other former prosecutors said the alleged internal dismal culture shift under Donnelly also drove them out. They wrote to Aloise sharing similar accounts, including breakdowns in collaboration, shrinking support for long-term investigations and what they saw as a growing focus on politics over prosecution. 'You can either treat us like s–t or pay us like s–t, you can't do both — Donnelly did,' a former prosecutor told The Post under the promise of anonymity. 6 'You can either treat us like s–t or pay us like s–t, you can't do both — Donnelly did,' a former prosecutor told The Post under the promise of anonymity. Dennis A. Clark Aloise also cited a 44% spike in basic crimes during Donnelly's first two years in office — the highest level since 2013 — and attacked the DA for having the office's lowest felony conviction rate since 2014. County officials have touted a 25% drop in major crimes at the start of 2025, but Aloise argued that short-term improvements don't erase what she called a breakdown in leadership and the long-term damage to the justice system. But some local authorities blame the previous jump in crime and drop in convictions on former President Joe Biden's border policies and New York's 'soft-on-crime' laws, even going as far as previously calling Dem Gov. Kathy Hochul and her political party 'pro-criminal.' 6 Donnelly's camp called Aloise and the other former assistant district attorneys 'ethically challenged, soft-on-crime prosecutors.' Dennis A. Clark Donnelly's office contended that the prosecutors who quit their assistant district attorney posts also fit that description — and it said good riddance, framing their departures as a purge. 'The only exodus of attorneys, thankfully, have been by ethically challenged, soft-on-crime prosecutors like Nicole Aloise,' DA spokesman Mike Deery told The Post. 'Under District Attorney Anne Donnelly's watch, Nassau has been recognized as the safest community in the USA,' he said. 'The only exodus of attorneys, thankfully, has been by ethically challenged, soft-on-crime prosecutors like Nicole Aloise.' 6 According to DA spokesman Mike Deery, Donnelly is focused on rebuilding the office with prosecutors who support her tough-on-crime approach. Dennis A. Clark Deery said his boss has been focused on rebuilding the office with prosecutors who support her tough-on-crime approach and restoring public trust. He said Aloise has been previously accused of 'unethical conduct, corruption and abuse of power' after a group of law professors filed a formal ethics complaint in 2021 accusing her of prosecutorial misconduct during her time as an ADA in Queens over her father, Justice Michael Aloise. The complaint was eventually dismissed, according to a state letter obtained by The Post. Aloise's camp told The Post in a statement, 'If Anne Donnelly was a competent District Attorney and actually believed she had that many unethical employees, she'd have fired them rather than watch them flee her office en masse. 'Facts matter,' the statement said, pointing out that the stats used to determine Nassau County as the safest in the country are from 2014 and 2016 — before Donnelly took office.
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Boston Globe
Most cases dismissed because of the work stoppage by lawyers were misdemeanors. Should prosecutors reopen them?
Advertisement While the mounting number of dismissals prompted prosecutors to warn of risks to public safety, a Globe analysis of the dropped cases shows a more mundane reality: the high proportion of low-level crimes clogging the court system, particularly the district courts where the work stoppage is concentrated. About three-quarters of the 100 dismissed cases involved misdemeanors rather than felonies, closely mirroring the most recent statewide data of all charges filed in district courts. A little more than one-quarter of the cases involved assaults, including 12 that allegedly included a dangerous weapon and nine involving allegations of domestic violence. Now, as the Suffolk district attorney's office begins an effort to reopen those cases, defense attorneys say there needs to be a balance struck between public safety and due process. Advertisement The cases were dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors can recharge them. The Suffolk district attorney's office has vowed to re-prosecute the accused and the office said Friday it's already begun to file motions to reopen some cases. 'The past week saw escalating threats to public safety through additional dismissals and releases, continued disruption of our ability to secure justice for victims, and ongoing inaccessibility of Constitutionally mandated representation for indigent defendants,' Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement Friday. 'This is an unprecedented — and deeply disturbing — moment for our prosecutors and victim witness advocates, who come to work each day intent on helping victims and protecting the public from dangerous offenders.' The Committee for Public Counsel Services, the state public defender agency, said prosecutors and the courts should take a cue from the pandemic years, when the various sides worked together to reduce the number of prosecutions and people sent to jail. 'We are once again facing a crisis, and to get through this, we can't pretend that the same old processes are either effective or reasonable,' said Chief Counsel Anthony Benedetti in a statement. 'Clogging the system with cases that do not need to be there only exacerbates a crisis that we are working to remedy. When public safety is discussed, what gets lost is the fact that our clients are members of the public, and they are presumed innocent and merely accused of crimes.' He continued, 'Public safety requires due process, and it's harder to provide that when the system is full of cases that don't belong there.' The analysis of the dismissed cases illustrates a longstanding truth, lawyers said: Many people churning through the criminal justice system are facing charges involving petty offenses that carry little punishment. Advertisement 'For the most part, these folks would ultimately not serve any time,' Boston College Law professor Robert Bloom said. Before being told of the results of the Globe's analysis, Bloom predicted that simple drug possession, disorderly conduct, shoplifting, and motor vehicle charges such as driving on a suspended license would be heavily represented. Indeed, they are: The most common one was drug possession, alone accounting for 16 dismissed cases. Eight more are shoplifting alone, and eight are for allegations of motor vehicle infractions. 'The truth of the matter is, the ultimate disposition of most of these crimes will be probation, suspended sentence, continued without a finding,' he said. All of those typically don't involve jail time unless someone reoffends. The justice system is entering a third month of In total, 49 people have been released through the protocol over multiple hearings over the past month. The tensions caused by the work stoppage play out in court documents and hearings for dismissals and releases. On one hand, there's the reality that hundreds of people charged with crimes of addiction and poverty do not have access to a lawyer, and, at times, have sat in jail while the courts sought to find them one. Advertisement 'Very, very depressing,' said Edith Otero, 52, who had just been released at Lowell District Court after 12 days in custody. She was arrested for a probation violation related to a 2019 drug conviction. In jail, said Otero, who uses a wheelchair, 'I did nothing. I just waited. I just waited.' In other instances, prosecutors have stressed that a broad approach to culling cases creates a public safety risk. The public defenders office is prioritizing lawyers for the most troubling charges, which allows those cases to proceed as normal. Many serious felony cases involving sexual assault or major violence are moved to Superior Court, where court-appointed attorneys are paid a higher rate and are generally still taking cases. No cases involving allegations of sexual assault were dismissed, though one included a charge of open and gross lewdness. But allegations of violence and abuse were included among some of the dismissed cases. And once dismissed, officials cannot impose conditions intended to protect public safety, such as GPS monitoring or orders to stay away from alleged victims or witnesses. The dismissed cases include 28 alleged assaults, half of which are felonies; four involve allegations of assault and battery on a police officer. Nine cases included allegations of assault and battery by a family member, one of a Dorchester man accused of telling his pregnant girlfriend he'll 'personally do an abortion' and then punching her in the stomach. The woman could not be reached for comment about the dismissal. Advertisement In another case, a woman was accused of using cologne and a lighter to create a makeshift flamethrower to burn her nephew. She was reported to police by her mother, who did not respond to a message seeking comment about the dismissal. Sometimes the realities are complex: Prosecutors had sought to instead find a lawyer for a domestic assault and battery case in Dorchester that was up for dismissal, stressing it was a 'a very upsetting and frustrating situation.' But they couldn't, and the case was dismissed. Reached by phone Friday, the woman who was allegedly struck in the incident said: 'I'm happy that the case is dismissed. We're a happy couple. We had an argument. I didn't want it to become a big thing.' In Boston Municipal Court central division downtown, a woman anxiously awaited a hearing in her son's case. He'd been in custody for more than seven days on a probation violation, she said, and did not have a lawyer. 'Honestly, people in the public seem kind of glad about it,' she said of people remaining in jail. 'But they've gotta have due process.' Sean Cotter can be reached at
New York Post
5 days ago
- New York Post
Scotty Enoe's deserved acquittal proves it: Alvin Bragg hates citizens who dare to defend themselves
Three cheers for the Manhattan jury that quickly acquitted CVS clerk Scotty Enoe of manslaughter for defending himself and his fellow employees against a deranged serial shoplifter. This case should never have come to trial. Enoe should have been hailed as a hero instead of being charged by the execrable Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Indeed, if there was ever a clear-cut case of self-defense, this was it. Enoe was attacked from behind by Charles Brito, who began to beat him savagely. Outmatched by the brute and fearing for his life, Enoe took out a small folding knife and stabbed him in the liver. Brito staggered onto the sidewalk and later died. Enoe's co-workers, too, they were afraid of Brito, who had threatened to kill someone, yet Bragg pursued the case anyway. We saw this with Jose Alba and Daniel Penny, both charged with manslaughter by Bragg when — in self-defense — they killed people who were violent, unstable and threatening them or others nearby. Bragg dropped the charges against Alba when public pressure became too great. Penny was acquitted. Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters The problem is that the DA believes crime is caused by social ills, and the attackers are the real victims. Cases like this one — and the leniency he's shown to real criminals — send a message that law-breakers are free to pursue their wicked calling, and citizens just have to sit back and take it. There's no other way to explain why he continues to charge hard-working New Yorkers and subway passengers with serious crimes when ugly situations are thrust upon them, while allowing criminals off easy. This Enoe acquittal drives home the point yet again: Alvin Bragg needs to go — ASAP. The sooner voters ditch him at the polls, the safer this city will become.
