Most cases dismissed because of the work stoppage by lawyers were misdemeanors. Should prosecutors reopen them?
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.
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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.
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'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.
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'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.
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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
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