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Bristol County District Attorney

(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: Gil

Looking for input from law enforcement in Bristol County on who you think will be elected to the Office of District Attorney and who you would like to see in there.

It's obvious who I am voting for and my reasons are the same as my departments association, it's time for a change and there is a sever lack of support from the DA's office under the current command.


Posted by: kwflatbed

The Town of Westport PD agrees with Gil.


Posted by: Gil

Yeah the Sun Chronicle did a nice write up on how our association is backing Sutter. Just can't seem to find it. Det. Tim Cook gave a few examples of how there is no relationship with the current DA's office.

Here Det. Tim Cook provides a few examples of why we are backing Sutter....

Attleboro Police Association Press Conference


Posted by: Mitpo62

Naturally it should be Sutter, but Walsh's "war chest" may be tough to beat. Its not "official" yet, but Taunton is with Sam!


Posted by: Gil

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitpo62
Naturally it should be Sutter, but Walsh's "war chest" may be tough to beat. Its not "official" yet, but Taunton is with Sam!
The "war chest" seems to be a concern of many. I really hope the best man for the job gets in, instead of the one with the most cash.


Posted by: Gil

District attorney running ... from what?

Thumbs down for Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. for backtracking on an assurance that he was willing to take part in a series of debates with challenger Sam Sutter. In ducking an upcoming debate in Taunton, Mr. Walsh is both trying to keep his head down and avoid giving his opponent credibility as a candidate, but it's the voters who will lose. Mr. Walsh undoubtedly wants to avoid having to answer questions about how he's handled particular cases, why his office has failed to bring charges in so many New Bedford murders, and why he has avoided using wiretaps as a crime-fighting tool. However, the incumbent is running on his record, and the voters want answers. Call his campaign office at (50 985-4952 and let them know what you think.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily.../01opinion.htm


Posted by: Gil

Walsh seem to boast about the good job he his doing as the DA and to look at the DA's website and his re-election site one might actually think that is the case but it's not.

The biggest complaint with the current District Attorney besides the lack of communication is that Walsh's office plea bargains any case that is not a slam dunk winner. In the video link above Det. Cook reads a letter from retired Det. Lt. Ken Collins to Walsh's office questioning why two attempted murder cases were reduced to lesser charges, one was reduced to malicious damage to a motor vehicle? The letter went unanswered by Walsh's office.

But all you seem to hear about are the slam dunk winners....

From Walsh's site...

Quote:
Commonwealth vs. Ralph Nesbit
On March 29, 2005, Assistant District Attorney Ray Veary secured a conviction against Ralph Nesbit on charges of First Degree Murder and Armed Burglary arising from the brutal murder of Dawne Brault in the City of Attleboro on October 1, 2003. Nesbit is serving a life sentence without parole.

http://www.walsh2006.com/cases.htm#nesbit
I was the arresting officer on the above case, the victim gave a dying declaration over the 911 line after being stabbed more than 20 times "Ralph Nesbit did this to me" Nesbit was apprehended hours later with the victims blood on his clothing. This information coupled with a thorough investigation conducted by the detective unit handed Walsh's office a slam dunk conviction.

The two attempted murder cases I mentioned above were also investigated with the same thoroughness and attention to detail but because there was no "smoking gun" they were plea bargained down to lesser charges. Maybe to ensure a favorable conviction rate.


Posted by: Mitpo62

The Taunton debate is scheduled for tomorrow evening at 7pm at the Holiday Inn in Taunton. I encourage my brothers and sisters in blue from the surrounding area to attend. I am sure it will be a very informative debate......


Posted by: Gil

From SouthCoastToday
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily.../04opinion.htm

Quote:

LETTER: Police union should not endorse

Police should not endorse in race

I respond to news that two area police unions endorsed District Attorney Paul Walsh's opponent. I base my remarks on my personal knowledge, and on my growing up in New Bedford, the son of a career New Bedford police officer.

While the union's leadership has taken an anti-Walsh position, most New Bedford union members I know do not agree that the union should "endorse" either candidate, and for very good reasons. If anything, the present union leadership has showed itself, on a number of better-forgotten occasions, to be over-the-top with its tendency toward aggressiveness and even belligerence in striving for its goals.

For Westport, where I now live, I remember that the two recently unelected incumbent selectmen, Richard Tongue and Elizabeth Collins, unsuccessfully circulated a petition for criminal indictment of ELJ family members (might we change the state and federal constitutions for that to succeed?). And I recall meeting with Sgt. Jeff Majewski, the two selectmen and the assistant district attorney when the two selectmen demanded that the criminal process go forward, also voting at that time to include in ELJ's proposed punishment that its $1 million acreage of more than 40 acres be deeded to the town for free. Who was the voice of due process in that session?

Indeed, had our district attorney proceeded with a criminal case, taxpayers would have paid $50,000 for an archaeological study, and even more to advance a losing prosecution. (The independent archaeological report accepted by the town ultimately referred to several unmarked, unrecorded "probable" 250-year-old gravesites. The report itself would have undoubtedly resulted in a quick acquittal.) More such chicanery from the two ex-selectmen and the sergeant also would have prompted ELJ's filing a well-merited federal civil rights suit.

The town actually won as a result of the DA's actions, although two politicians' careers were not advanced by an ill-advised persecution of innocent people.

DA Walsh did the right thing here. His and his opponent's records should be examined with honesty, not political and vengeful spin.

PHILIP BEAUREGARD
Westport

Editor's note: Mr. Beauregard was the lawyer for ELJ, a company accused of removing gravestones from a cemetery. The DA decided to drop the case.

I disagree, How else do you let the public know what is going on at the District Attorney's Office? How else do you advise the public that their best interest are not being served?

If your union or association does not allow political endorsements for whatever reason then I would suggest that at the very least you have a vote of no confidence regarding Paul Walsh as the District Attorney for Bristol County.


Posted by: Gil

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitpo62
The Taunton debate is scheduled for tomorrow evening at 7pm at the Holiday Inn in Taunton. I encourage my brothers and sisters in blue from the surrounding area to attend. I am sure it will be a very informative debate......
Supposedly Walsh will not be attending tho, that according to his campaign manager in a letter to Sutter. Anybody planing on going?


Posted by: kwflatbed

PHILIP BEAUREGARD is a slime bag lawyer that seeks publicity all of the time, he is the one who
just got stung by the "man o war" at Horseneck Beach. The poor "man O war" probably died from stinging a lawyer.
Westport had a solid case against ELJ who are Walsh family members that is why there was no prosecution of the case.
There has also been cases of A&B on a PO that Walsh has not prosecuted from Westport.
Walsh is going to be a no show for the debate he does not have the balls to show up and face
the public that want to know the truth about his office and the way he runs things.

This is my opinion and I am not a member of the Westport PD or speaking for them,but I am a concerned citizen of Westport and I support Sam Sutter !!!!!


Posted by: Gil

I see a couple of votes for Walsh but no posts as to why you plan on voting for him. Just looking for honest discussion on this topic, your not going to get flamed for your political view point.

If you honestly feel that Paul Walsh should be re-elected I would be interested in hearing your reasons or for that matter your reasons why Sam Sutter should not be elected as the District Attorney for Bristol County.


Posted by: kwflatbed

Sutter prepares for debate sans foe

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer,
TAUNTON — Sam Sutter has rented the room, lined up a moderator and selected four newspaper reporters for the panel.
He has all the ingredients for a debate tonight at 7 at the Holiday Inn, except for an opponent: incumbent Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.
"There is absolutely no valid reason that I can think of why Paul Walsh cannot attend the debate tomorrow evening," Mr. Sutter said yesterday in a press release that followed on the heels of his campaign manager Paula Bettencourt hand-delivering a second invitation to debate.
Mr. Walsh declined the invitation to spar tonight, through his campaign coordinator Gary L. Mello, who contended that because a debate between the pair June 8 has been shown repeatedly on cable television, and was covered by newspapers, there has been a "full airing of the issues ..."
Mr. Walsh contends he has already agreed to debate Mr. Sutter again Aug. 30 in Fall River.
Mr. Sutter had suggested that the first debate take place in June, in Attleboro, with three more debates to follow in Taunton, Fall River and New Bedford.
On May 17, Mr. Walsh told The Standard-Times: "I'm going to take him up on that. He said he would be willing to debate anytime, anywhere. I accept his offer, and I'll get back to him on dates."
The Democratic primary is Sept. 19. Mr. Walsh was first elected in 1990 and is seeking a fourth term. Mr. Sutter, a lawyer with a private practice in Fall River, once worked as an assistant district attorney for Mr. Walsh.

Date of Publication: July 27, 2006 on Page A06


Posted by: Mitpo62

DA Walsh showed up at the last minute, trouncing on the stage like a wild puma. *YAWN*........


Posted by: kwflatbed

Plea bargain storm brings DA to debate

Walsh attends Taunton debate to put controversial issue 'to rest'
By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer
TAUNTON — Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. apologized last night to residents here who think he made a mistake in 2004 agreeing to a plea bargain with a former city police officer charged with raping his 10-year-old adopted daughter.
But he insisted that it was the right decision.
Mr. Walsh was late arriving to a debate he had said for weeks he would not take part in with challenger Sam Sutter, but he made his presence known quickly and dramatically.
"I am here because people I met campaigning kept asking me questions about that case," Mr. Walsh said after the roughly 90-minute-long political match at a Holiday Inn. "I was concerned that people thought I was ducking the issue, and I wanted to put that to rest. I decided to come (Wednesday) afternoon."
Indeed, Mr. Sutter, who arranged the debate — right down to selecting the local reporters and residents on the panel and handpicking a Raynham selectman as moderator — had begun his opening statement in which he criticized Mr. Walsh for not appearing when the district attorney arrived.
"This should have been a debate; there is no valid reason for Paul Walsh not to be here," Mr. Sutter said.
Mr. Walsh strode into the room, walking quickly past the 200 or so in attendance and bounded onto the stage to take his place behind a podium with a card bearing his name.
The two lawyers, both dressed in dark blue suits, white shirts and green and white striped ties, tussled over the expected topics of plea bargaining, unsolved murders, public trust, inconsistent actions, past court appearances, the benefits and disadvantage of wiretaps, political endorsements and fundraising.
"Mr. Walsh's platform in 1990 was to stop plea bargaining with drug dealers and with major traffickers," Mr. Sutter said. "The sentence for 100 grams of heroin is 10 years in a state prison, for 200 grams 15 years. Mr. Walsh's practice is to bring the 10-year sentence to seven or five years and the 15-year sentence to 10 years. That will stop immediately when I am elected. We have to send the drug traffickers a message."
Mr. Walsh responded by pulling out two disposition sheets for a pair of cases Mr. Sutter prosecuted as an assistant district attorney. Both resulted in plea bargains.
"So I guess there is a difference between what Mr. Sutter does and what Mr. Sutter says," Mr. Walsh said. "So, to you, plea bargaining is appalling when another assistant district attorney does it, but justified when you do it."
Mr. Sutter shot back: "I was working for you. It was the policy of your office."
But it was Mr. Walsh's handling of the child rape case against former police officer David Smith that the district attorney wanted most to address.
The local newspaper, The Taunton Gazette, and prominent local defense attorney Francis O'Boy had publicly said Mr. Walsh's handling of the Smith case upset the city.
"Many voters in Taunton remain incensed over the David Smith case," the newspaper editorialized this year.
"Generally, it's an albatross for Paul in Taunton," Mr. O'Boy told The Standard-Times in a profile of Mr. Walsh last month.
By showing up in Taunton, Mr. Walsh walked into the teeth of the storm, and Mr. Sutter made sure he heard some thunder and got wet.
"That was not a weak case; you had a confession," Mr. Sutter contended, his hair flying as he snapped his head toward Mr. Walsh. "That was a strong case."
Mr. Sutter accused Mr. Walsh of "a lie" when the district attorney asserted in the past that he had consulted with the state case worker about the young victim's ability to testify.
Mr. Walsh stared down the few hooters in the audience and responded in an even voice: "We had a choice in the David Smith case between a horrible decision and a bad decision. We did what we thought was right.
"My assistant district attorney said the girl couldn't handle a trial, she might freeze up on the stand. If that happened, he would have been found not guilty, gotten his job back as a police officer and that little girl would have had to move back into that house with him.
"As it ended up, he served six months in jail, lost his job and the pension he would have received pays for her welfare and support."
Mr. Walsh returned to the rape case in his closing statement as he made his case to retain the post he has held 16 years, and which Mr. Sutter, himself a onetime prosecutor for Mr. Walsh, wants to take in the Sept. 19 Democratic primary. There is no general election opponent, so the primary winner takes all.
"That case was a tough case, a troubling case, not just in Taunton, but in all of Bristol County," Mr. Walsh said to a then quiet room. "We had a hard choice and a horrible choice. ... I am not happy or satisfied with that decision. I wish we could have sent him away for 20 years."
He added: "Look, I have stumbled, failed and made mistakes. If the people of Bristol County feel I made a mistake, then I apologize for that."


Joseph R. LaPlante can be contacted
at jlaplante@s-t.com
Date of Publication: July 28, 2006 on Page A05


Posted by: Gil

Hello!

This is just a friendly reminder that our fund-raiser at the Venus DeMilo is this Thursday evening, August 3rd, from 7:00pm until 9:00pm. Tickets will be available at the door. Your checks can be made out to "The Committee to Elect Sam Sutter" with your donation of $500.00, $250.00, or $100.00.

If you have any questions or need directions please call the office: 508-677-3206.

We look forward to seeing you.

Sincerely,

Paula Bettencourt
Committee to Elect Sam Sutter


Posted by: Gil

Hello Sutter Volunteers: On Saturday, August 5th from 9 AM to 11 AM we will be holding signs in Taunton at the Taunton Green. Those wishing to car pool to Taunton, you will need to be at the Campaign Office by 8:30 AM. For directions or information, contact the Campaign office at 508-677-3206.


Posted by: kwflatbed

The Sub Standard Times Reports

DA hopeful solicited union with promises
Sutter sought backing from corrections officers
By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer
Sam Sutter made written promises to the correctional officers union last month in a bid to win the group's backing in his campaign to unseat Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.
The Standard-Times learned about the solicitation when Mr. Sutter's campaign office mistakenly faxed to the newspaper a copy of his letter to the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union. The union represents corrections officers at the Bristol County House of Correction.
Mr. Walsh said the promises made by Mr. Sutter — who has collected key police union endorsements in his primary campaign and is preparing to announce more tomorrow — raise important ethical questions.
Although Mr. Sutter insists no quid pro quo is involved in his quest for union endorsements, his July 26 letter to Joseph Guarino of the corrections officers union makes two promises: one to back legislation of interest to the membership, and the other to assign an assistant district attorney to handle cases emanating from the jail.
"I am a strong and ardent supporter of ... a new criminal law which would increase the punishment for inmates accused of assaulting a correctional officer with their fecal matter, urine, saliva or other bodily fluid," Mr. Sutter wrote. "If I am elected district attorney, I will prosecute cases involving this offense vigorously and with severity."
In the second promise, he wrote, "The value of having a prosecutor on my staff who is concentrating on and specializing in criminal cases originating from the two jails is clear and this will be done if I am elected."
Mr. Sutter said, "I was asked to address those concerns by a union member."
In 2002, Mr. Sutter said representatives from several police unions approached him when word circulated that he was thinking about running against Mr. Walsh and they encouraged him. He ultimately did not run for personal family reasons and because he was busy starting a private law practice, he said.
Officers in New Bedford, Attleboro and Westport have backed Mr. Sutter's candidacy and other endorsements are pending, he said. He is withholding the identity of the new endorsements until he announces them at a press conference planned for tomorrow on Taunton Green.
"I let it be known that I was interested in speaking to the unions and they (New Bedford and Westport police) invited me to talk to them," Mr. Sutter said yesterday. "I am interested in speaking to them because they are very, very frustrated with Paul Walsh and I wanted to tell them where I stand."
Mr. Sutter characterizes the endorsements from the three police unions as unanimous, but in New Bedford, by his own count, only "50 to 60" of more than 250 eligible officers in the union voted to endorse him.
Len Baillargeon, president of the New Bedford police union, said Mr. Sutter initially had sought to talk to individual officers and their families to seek their support. The union decided to endorse his candidacy after he spoke to the officers at the Washington Club in the city.
Promises exchanged for endorsements could leave Mr. Sutter behind the 8-ball if he wins, Mr. Walsh said yesterday.
The union members, as police officers, are all potential witnesses in future prosecutions, which could spawn ethical dilemmas in the court, Mr. Walsh contended.
"It borders on the unethical," Mr. Walsh said of soliciting police union endorsements. "There is a potential conflict of interest that can extend into the courtroom. It puts an officer in a tough spot when they are called to testify and they have endorsed one candidate for district attorney over the other. If you make promises to people, you put them on the spot on the witness stand."
While Mr. Walsh asserts that he never asked a law enforcement union for an endorsement, Len Baillargeon, president of the union that represents New Bedford police officers, recalled yesterday that a close political associate of Mr. Walsh, Jack Nobrega, who is now an employee in Mr. Walsh's office and is a well-known political operative in the city, approached the union in Mr. Walsh's first run, seeking its endorsement.
"I wrote the endorsement letter in Paul's first run when he ran against Ron Pina, and Paul used it as an advertisement in The Standard-Times," Mr. Baillargeon said.
Mr. Baillargeon said Mr. Nobrega "reached out to Joseph Moniz," a union officer who brought it to the board of directors, and "we voted to endorse him."
"Frankly, I find it not plausible that Mr. Nobrega did that on his own," Mr. Baillargeon said.
Mr. Walsh contended yesterday: "I don't know anything about that, whether Mr. Nobrega asked me or not. Mr. Baillargeon gives me too much credit if he thinks I can order Jack Nobrega around."
Mr. Nobrega, a 32-year-member of the School Committee and Mr. Walsh's former basketball coach at the former Holy Family High School, was a political ally of the late Paul F. Walsh Sr., a former member of the state Racing Commission and former Clerk-Magistrate in Wareham District Court.
Mr. Nobrega disputed Mr. Baillargeon's account that he sought the 1990 police union endorsement for Mr. Walsh.
"That is absolutely not true," Mr. Nobrega said. "I never, never asked any police department for any endorsement for Paul. In fact, Paul always had the better relationship with the police than I did.

Contact Joseph R. LaPlante
at jlaplante@s-t.com


Posted by: co2

I know a couple of officers that have been attacked. And to my knowledge none of the inmates have been prosecuted. It is a 3-5 year sentence if found guilty for attacking an officer or throwing feces and even spitting. Go SAM SUTTER


Posted by: kwflatbed

DA candidate to hold two public forums
Sam Sutter, a candidate for Bristol County District Attorney, will hold two meetings in his series of "Meet the Candidate" events. The candidate will speak in Dartmouth from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the V.F.W. Dartmouth Post, 144 Cross Road. He will speak in Acushnet, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the V.F.W. Thomas E. Tuttle Post, 28 Roosevelt St.
Mr. Sutter will speak briefly about the main issues involved in this year's district attorney race and will spend the remaining time answering questions from the audience. These events are free and all are encouraged to attend.
For further information, contact Paula Bettencourt, campaign manager, at (50 677-3206 or visit www.tellsamsutter.com


Posted by: tuffone

Did anyone else see the remarks Walsh made about the police endorsements? He said something like "some police officers don't like me because I am tough on them. They do not always come to court prepared and I insist that they prepared." I wish I could remember which article I saw it in.

How about that guys? What about his ADA's not being prepared? I know they have an unbelievable case load but how often do you go to court and find the DA not ready?

Have any of you been told by Walsh or an ADA that you are not prepared. Has Walsh or an ADA reported you to your Chief for not being prepared.

Whenever I go to court I am prepared, or at least try to be.

How about them dealing away import cases, ones that you have worked hard on, without your input? I go back to the Pina days and believe me it was much better. The ADAs would do their best to include you in any ple bargaining on important cases.

It would be great if the other Unions in the County joined our brothers in Taunton, New Bedford, Raynham, Westport, Attleboro, and Feetown (hope I did not forget someone) wouyld endorse Sam Sutter. I am working on my Dept. I hope the rest of you do the same.

Dartmouth is a big Department and an endorsement from them would impact and area where Walch is strong. If Mansfield and/or North Attleboro added their voice, it would be great for that corner of the County.


Posted by: kwflatbed

4 more unions back Sutter

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer


TAUNTON — Bristol County District Attorney primary candidate Sam Sutter collected four more endorsements from police unions yesterday, bringing to seven the number of area departments whose officers back his bid to unseat incumbent Paul F. Walsh Jr — 20 police unions are in the area.
Mr. Sutter was joined by 13 police officers — some in uniform, others in plain clothes — on Taunton Green yesterday afternoon to announce the endorsements by the Taunton Police Supervisory Personnel Association, the Taunton Police Patrolman's Association, the Raynham Patrolmen's Union and the Freetown Police Association.
"They are showing courage here," Mr. Sutter said while standing behind a portable podium beneath a small tree that gave mottled shade from the blazing late-afternoon sun. "They can't know for sure who will be elected. They are stepping up to tell the public that there is a need for change."
Mr. Sutter delivered an animated attack against the 16-year district attorney, calling Mr. Walsh hypocritical for criticizing him for asking for and receiving police union endorsements, inaccurate in his interpretation of criminal law, lacking in his office's preparation of cases and witnesses, and out of touch with the county he represents.
"People ask, 'Why is this (the endorsements to Mr. Sutter) happening?," he asked rhetorically. "The police officers know us best because they see us in the courts every day.
"They want a real partnership with the district attorney," he said. "They want input on what the sentences should be. They want a dialogue with the district attorney with him going to their stations to update them on changes in the law. Every once in a blue moon they want to see the district attorney.
"In Plymouth County, the police tell me that District Attorney Tim Cruz regularly goes to the departments to meet with them. That doesn't happen here."
His voice growing more urgent and louder to talk over the frequent interruptions of the sirens of ambulances heading to Morton Hospital,
Mr. Sutter continued his litany of the reasons that more than 250 officers, by his count, back him and will ask their families and friends to do likewise.
"They want less plea bargaining," he said. "They want more defendants held after they violate probation by committing new crimes. They want more dangerousness hearings and more bail revocations because they want to stop the revolving door."
Mr. Sutter promised to hire more prosecutors if he is elected to reduce the case load in the courts, which will enable them to bring more cases to trial and agree to fewer plea bargains.
In response to Mr. Walsh's criticism of his endorsements, Mr. Sutter characterized the comments as the "refuge of someone who knows they are in trouble."
A large blow-up of the 1990 endorsement letter of Mr. Walsh by the New Bedford Policeman's Union was used as a backdrop yesterday. Mr. Walsh used the letter in an advertisement in The Standard-Times in his first campaign.
Mr. Sutter said, "Him criticizing me for asking endorsements is like the pot calling the kettle black."


Date of Publication: August 04, 2006 on Page A03


Posted by: Mitpo62

Thats right. Yesterday morning the Taunton Green was a sea of blue!


Posted by: kwflatbed

The New Bedford Sub Standard Times View

OUR VIEW: Boozy bad idea

It's mighty tempting to have a laugh at the expense of the union representing Bristol County's police officers, which is planning a cozy soiree Monday with the candidates for district attorney and looking to get a big turnout with the promise of free beer and no news reporters.
We will resist the urge to poke fun at the assurance that no press coverage will be allowed of the event (that way, one supposes, everybody can say what he or she really thinks, as opposed to having either to lie or make it sound nicer).
But we have to wonder about the wisdom of holding a serious political discussion lubricated by free alcohol, especially at — and this is priceless — Outlaw's Bar B Que in Foxboro.
OK, OK, we won't say anything more about the choice of the restaurant, but does anyone really think it's a great idea to make these police officers drive all the way to Foxboro, then ply them with free beer before putting them back behind the wheel for the drive home?
We have real doubts that Foxboro and state police will be out in force to ensure that none of their fellow officers overindulges before driving and puts their own or someone else's life in danger. Things just don't work that way, as most civilians know. Police look out for one another, sometimes even when a law is being broken.
Given all that, we would suggest that the Massachusetts Fraternal Order of Police rethink things a little.
Having police officers question Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. and challenger C. Samuel Sutter outside the prying eyes of the press is fine. So is doing it at Outlaw's Bar B Que. But handing out free beer before putting all those police officers back in their cars for the long drive home is a bad idea.
What's wrong with coffee and doughnuts?


Posted by: kwflatbed

Two Years Later Still Getting Screwed By Walsh's Plea Bargin.

Cemetery restoration process moves slowly
By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer


ANDREW T. GALLAGHER/Standard-Times specialStones that were illegally removed from a Westport cemetery are being stored outside the Westport police station.

WESTPORT Almost a full year after a plea bargain closed the "cemetery case," the 20 grave markers at the center of the controversy remain locked up at the police station.
As part of the agreement reached by Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr., which was opposed by town officials, the defendant ELJ, Inc. of Bristol, R.I., agreed to return the stone markers to the cemetery it disturbed off Charlotte White Road and restore the site. Criminal charges were dropped in exchange.
"I just wrote a letter to the police chief telling him that ELJ wants to retrieve the so-called gravestones, because the stones need to be brought back there," Philip N. Beauregard, the company's attorney, said yesterday.
"The idea is to return them in the locations where the suspected graves are."
Mr. Beauregard wrote his letter to Police Chief Keith Pelletier on Aug.2, which confirmed "my request to you this morning," the attorney wrote.
Police Sgt. Jeff Majewski, the investigator in the case two years ago, said yesterday it is no coincidence that Mr. Beauregard wrote his letter when he did as a local weekly newspaper had recently run an update that reported the markers had yet to be returned.
"They didn't do anything until the paper ran that story," Sgt. Majewski said.
Mr. Beauregard disagrees and asserted the company has complied with the Memorandum of Agreement signed between the contractor and the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
An archaeologist's report required in the agreement, provided to The Standard-Times by Mr. Beauregard, indicated members of the Howard family were likely buried in the cemetery and "None of the stone markers that were located within the cemetery contained any inscriptions, dates, or other information that would indicate their age."
In compliance with the agreement, ELJ has established the boundaries of the cemetery, approximately 50 feet by 50 feet, which contains "eight grave shafts," according to the archaeologist.
The cemetery has two stone walls and an entire stone wall will mark off the site from the rest of the land, Mr. Beauregard said. The cemetery is part of a larger parcel of almost 40 acres on which ELJ is building new houses.
The cemetery case roiled this town for two years, from the day that Sgt. Majewski reported finding the grave markers near a stone crushing machine at ELJ's Bristol construction yard to the day last December when Mr. Walsh officially asked that felony charges against Everett J. Francis, 83, of 115 Tupelo St., Bristol, and his two adult children, Christopher Francis and Christine Matrone be dropped.
The Francises allegedly removed the gravestones from the cemetery and conspired to destroy a burial site.
Members of the Board of Selectmen and historical preservationists in town complained that the case dragged on for two years and demanded the defendants be prosecuted. To many in town, the case symbolized the negative impact that development is having on the small, coastal, farming community.
The presence of the grave markers in a large container at the police station irks Sgt. Majewski.
"I feel like the system did not work and no repercussions came out of this for the community," he said yesterday.
Sgt. Majewski wondered aloud: "It's been so long, how will they know which stones belong in what hole?"
Contact Joseph R. LaPlante
at jlaplante@s-t.com
Date of Publication: August 08, 2006 on Page A09


Posted by: kwflatbed

Sutter presses DA for budget


By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer
Primary challenger Sam Sutter asked Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. yesterday to release his office budgets since 2003, calling to mind a similar request made by Mr. Walsh in 1990 when he was the challenger in the race for DA.
"The budget decisions that have been made by Paul Walsh are a major issue in this race," Mr. Sutter said in a press release.
"We need to know, for example, how much is being spent on 'independent contractors' with the district attorney's office; how much is being spent on community outreach; how much is being spent on new technology to fight crime," Mr. Sutter said.
Walsh campaign manager Gary Mello did not respond to a request by The Standard-Times for a response yesterday.
The Democratic primary in which Mr. Sutter is challenging Mr. Walsh is Sept. 19.
In his press releases yesterday, Mr. Sutter included a photocopy of a 1990 Standard-Times story about Mr. Walsh's budget request of then-District Attorney Ronald A. Pina. Mr. Walsh said in the 1990 story that making the "complete office budget public ... was a key to accountability."
"I want to know how the finances are being handled. I think all of us have that right to know," Mr. Walsh said at the time.
In that story, Mr. Pina said he did not have time to respond to Mr. Walsh's request because he was occupied by major ongoing investigations — the highway killings were a focus of his office at the time — and that Mr. Walsh should know where to find the budgets on his own through state government agencies.
Mr. Sutter filed yesterday's request with the "Chief Financial Officer of the incumbent District Attorney, Paul F. Walsh Jr., requesting that she release the budget for the District Attorney's Office for the fiscal years 2003 through 2007."
He added that he made the request under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, which require a response in 10 days.
"These are important questions that must be answered by Mr. Walsh," Mr. Sutter said. "The people of Bristol County want to know his decisions and priorities with respect to his budget and compare them to my views about this issue."
In the 1990 story, Mr. Pina said of Mr. Walsh: a former "press secretary for former State Treasurer Robert Q. Crane ... should know where to look. ... Either he's not being honest or he doesn't remember."
Mr. Sutter also included a copy of an advertisement that Mr. Walsh ran in The Standard-Times on Aug. 23, 1990.
The ad asked, "Why does Ron Pina have his budget locked up?"
"Ron Pina says he can't find time to release his budget. We just want to see where the tax payer's (sic) money is being spent," the ad continued.
"What is he hiding besides $248,622 in rent and a $50,000 press secretary?"

Date of Publication: August 09, 2006 on Page A09


Posted by: kwflatbed

Police disappointed with Our View

Your View: Police disappointed with Our View
The membership of the Massachusetts Fraternal Order of Police and all the police officers I know were extremely disappointed and insulted by the editorial on Aug. 6, Our View: Boozy idea.
The purpose of the FOP sponsored candidates night on Aug. 7, for those running for District Attorney in Bristol County without the media being present was done purposely to insure an open and honest dialogue would take place between the police in Bristol County and the candidates seeking the office of District Attorney.
We felt with the media looking over our shoulders, it is possible the dialogue may not be as candid; and possibly some things may be taken out of context (as sometimes happens). I think we are all aware of instance where the press may have gotten it wrong!
Our view is that this slanted and negative editorial about police was written because the press was not invited to the Candidates Night, and the editorial was a little payback. We also think that the editorial's characterization of the Fraternal Order of Police sponsored Candidates Night, as, a potential booze-fueled free-for-all, was downright insulting, and more sour grapes by the newspaper.
In the editorial there was a sentence that said, "The FOP should rethink things a little." Well, we of the FOP think that, The Standard-Times should rethink their negative description of both police officers and police unions in general in their Aug. 6, editorial.
FYI: The event was successful and productive.

CHIEF GEORGE J. DIBLASI (RET.)
Attleboro
Chief DeBlasi is Director of Governmental Affairs of the
Massachusetts Fraternal Order of Police


Posted by: tuffone

Good for you George. I see you are still very active in good causes.

When DA Walsh first became DA I did go to a couple of his fund raisers. The ST should do and editorial about his free flowing booze and the fact that a good number of attendees are Defense Attornies They love him because he gives them sweet deals. They can make money and not have to work for it.

Ever see how Walsh handles large asset forfeitures? The defense attornies are always well taken care of.


Posted by: Gil

Hello Everyone,

This is just a friendly reminder that the Fund-Raiser for Sam Sutter is this evening from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at "Gaff's 3rd Base and Sandbar Pub" 316 Broadway Street in Taunton. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $20.00 per person and includes food. If you find time in your busy schedule please come and join us and make this a "GRANDSLAM EVENT FOR SAM" !!

Thank you always for your continued support.

Paula Bettencourt
Campaign Manager
Committee to Elect Sam Sutter
VOTE SEPTEMBER 19TH


Posted by: Gil

Hi Volunteers: This Saturday, August 19th from 9 AM to 11AM we will be holding Sam Sutter signs in Fairhaven. We will meet at the Shaw's Supermarket parking lot (corner of Route 6 and Alden Road) in Fairhaven. For those who need directions or a ride to the location, please contact the Campaign Office at 508-677-3206 or e-mail me. Thanks again for your participation. --Lisa Kaminski


Posted by: kwflatbed

Sutter, Walsh spar over gun violence

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer
FALL RIVER — Democratic primary candidate Sam Sutter practiced political jiujitsu yesterday, using District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.'s own words and actions to indict his crime-fighting capabilities.
"The No. 1 issue in this campaign is the gun violence that is plaguing our communities," Mr. Sutter said at a press conference at a parking lot near his law office in a converted mill. "And the response of Paul Walsh has been no new ideas, no new policies and no new initiatives."
Later in the day, Mr. Walsh responded to the criticism.
"Prosecution of gun violence is a top priority of the Bristol DA's office," Mr. Walsh said in a press release. "Every firearm case is reviewed by a specially assigned assistant district attorney."
In 2002, the office established its first gun violence liaison to the U.S. Attorney's Office, designating veteran Assistant District Attorney Raymond P. Veary Jr. as an assistant U.S. attorney.
Mr. Walsh added that for the "first time in Bristol County history, gun-toting criminals are prosecuted as 'armed career criminals' in federal court, receiving much longer sentences than in state court."
Mr. Sutter used Mr. Walsh's own quotes and released an analysis of the district attorney's handling of gun-related criminal cases.
It is "a record that demonstrates that he was either stubborn or out of touch with what was literally happening on his doorstep. Our statistics are straightforward (culled from Superior Court records) and the evidence of the district attorney's passive response," Mr. Sutter said.
His analysis showed that from 1998-2005:
36 cases involving drugs and guns ended with the gun sentences running concurrent with the drug sentence instead of consecutively, which would have added time to the convicts' incarceration.
57 gun cases were lost at trial, either by a motion to suppress or a motion to dismiss.
12 gun cases in which the victim was shot ended with the assailant sentenced to five years or less.
The charges in 49 gun cases were dismissed, filed without a change of plea or dismissed because the district attorney decided not to prosecute.
In 35 gun cases involving mandatory sentences, the district attorney went along with a plea bargain that resulted in the convicted gunman serving less jail time than the mandatory minimum sentence.
Mr. Sutter issued a five-part plan (available on his Web site, www.tellsamsutter.com) to provide "a bold new approach (that) is essential ... to attack this problem."
He proposes using wiretaps, which Mr. Walsh eschews as lacking compared to modern technology.
"Tell that to the National Security Agency, which with its counterpart in England used wiretaps to break up the recent plot to blow up airliners headed for the United States," Mr. Sutter said.
Mr. Sutter also proposes creating a special unit of prosecutors in Superior Court for gun and gang-violence cases; moving for dangerousness hearings and bail revocation hearings to hold violent criminals pending trial; toughening the sentencing practices for prosecutors in district court; and providing a "gun bring-back" program to get guns off the streets.
Mr. Walsh said his opponent announced his candidacy on the steps of Bristol County Superior Court, where the DA prosecuted Luis Bizzarro for two counts of possession of a firearm. He received a sentence of 12 to 14 years as a result of being indicted as a violent offender and drug dealer.
Mr. Walsh added that on June 19, Rodney Berberena was convicted as a violent offender and drug dealer in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 10 to 15 years.
Mr. Sutter referenced an editorial in The Standard-Times on March 31, 1997, that was blown up on posterboard and held by his paralegal, Michelle Nunes; he said it verifies Mr. Walsh's "passiveness" in the fight against crime.
"Sad to say, we're pretty much reactionary," he told the newspaper. "Based on complaints, inquiries or referrals, we'll take a look at something and that has its difficulties because we're usually behind the curve rather than ahead of it."
Mr. Sutter pounced on Mr. Walsh's words: "Because you are behind this curve, you don't deserve to be re-elected."

Contact Joseph R. LaPlante
at jlaplante@s-t.com

Date of Publication: August 18, 2006 on Page A04


Posted by: kwflatbed

Poll shows Walsh feeling the heat, challenger says

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer
The bristly Bristol County District Attorney primary race has forced incumbent Paul F. Walsh Jr. to poll voters for the first time in his four campaigns for the office.
Mr. Walsh paid prominent Cambridge pollster Harrison and Goldberg Inc. $17,500 last month to take the temperature in his heated campaign with challenger Sam Sutter.
"It is a classic political move to find out where you stand," Mr. Walsh told The Standard-Times on Wednesday when the newspaper asked him about the poll after finding it in his July report to the Office of Campaign Finance. "We weren't looking at issues, but looking for a geographic poll."
Mr. Sutter also has commissioned a poll, but the results are not in, he said.
"I am not surprised that he has polled," Mr. Sutter said. "I have gotten tremendous responses at the Madeiran Feast in New Bedford, at Fall River Celebrates America and at the Polish Picnic in Taunton. My campaign is strong. It is hot out there right now. Something is happening, and he knows it.
"That's why Paul has stepped up his advertising on radio, on cable TV and he is changing his image with those new pictures in his ads of him with his tie off and trying to look more casual."
The Walsh campaign poll was conducted on July 26, 27 and 28 — the dates sandwich a much ballyhooed debate between the pair in Taunton — when 400 likely Democratic primary voters were asked two questions, Mr. Walsh said: Who would they support if the election were held that day, and who would they support for governor?
Mr. Walsh provided results from the poll on Wednesday to The Standard-Times. Subsequently, his pollster, Irwin Harrison, later on Wednesday, after first asking what numbers his client had provided, confirmed the numbers for the newspaper.
Mr. Harrison confirmed the poll numbers provided by Mr. Walsh again yesterday morning. He rejected a request by the newspaper yesterday morning for a copy of the poll. The newspaper asked for a copy of the poll again yesterday afternoon when Mr. Walsh released his poll numbers to the media from SouthCoast to Boston. Mr. Harrison again refused.
Mr. Walsh refused to release the actual poll so the numbers he offered could be verified, contending, "I'm not going to release my game plan to the competition."
He did not explain how the two questions he asserts were asked in the poll comprise a game plan.
The Standard-Times declined to publish the numbers provided by Mr. Walsh and confirmed by Mr. Harrison because the numbers could not be documented by a reporter reviewing the actual poll report and findings.
The tale of the financial strength of the candidates heading into the last 30 days of the sprint to Sept. 19 is found in Office of Campaign and Political Finance reports; Mr. Walsh has a starting balance of $424,026 in February compared to Mr. Sutter's starting balance in February of $5,151, of which $5,000 is a loan from the candidate himself.
By his July bank report, Mr. Walsh had spent $105,571, leaving him with an ending balance of $323,571. Mr. Walsh reported $4,955 in fundraising for the period from July 16 to July 31.
Mr. Sutter's last July bank report showed expenditures of $14,688, leaving him with an ending balance of $8,172. Mr. Sutter reported $21,990 in fundraising with $15,000 coming in loans from himself.
Advertising buys for television and radio ads were stepped up in July by Mr. Walsh with a payment of $32,993 to Media Image Productions of New Bedford.
He has blanketed the airwaves and cable television with a slew of ads claiming his grasp and performance of key constituent issues: A roll call of convictions to bolster a law and order image, standing up for senior citizen issues and advocating for the three additional district courts the state opened in Bristol County after he was elected.
Mr. Sutter has been able to afford a two-week run of radio advertising, full-page newspaper ads in The Standard-Times and the Fall River daily newspaper and smaller newspaper ads in newspapers elsewhere in Bristol County tied to campaign events and Meet the Candidate nights.
With a fat wallet to support his candidacy, Mr. Walsh sought the poll after running two consecutive re-election campaigns without opposition.
"We've never polled before, although in 1990 I was the beneficiary of polling information provided by another candidate in another race," Mr. Walsh said.
He recalled that the 1990 poll did not predict the correct result in his challenge of then DA Ronald A. Pina.
"That poll said it would be a close race, but we won going away," Mr. Walsh said of his 2-to-1 win.
In this contest, Mr. Walsh said, he is feeling confident.
"We are pretty pleased. We will now kick into high gear," he said. "Next Tuesday we are going to be heavy on the street corners."
He planned to have sign holders out at Globe Four Corners in Fall River this morning and at the Crossroads in Mansfield tomorrow.
Both candidates insist they are winning over voters.
Mr. Sutter said endorsements plus the stands his is taking are eliciting a response from Mr. Walsh by forcing him to reposition and repackage himself.
Yesterday, Mr. Sutter unloaded a five-point plan to attack gun violence that included the results of 60 hours of research that showed what Mr. Sutter asserts is a evidence that Mr. Walsh "has been passive" in the administration of justice.
"He has had to come off his perch at 888 Purchase Street (the address of the DA's office in New Bedford) to come down and finally talk to the people. That's why he is doing talk radio shows now," Mr. Sutter said. "Obviously, he is concerned. This poll is why he is abandoning his Rose Garden strategy (an allusion to former President Jimmy Carter's failed re-election campaign in 1980 when he lost to former President Ronald W. Reagan)."
For his part, Mr. Sutter is holding news conferences to announce a bevy of endorsements by police labor unions, spanning the county from Attleboro to New Bedford to Taunton and Raynham and in between. Sutter has collected seven of the unions representing officers out of 20 police departments in the area.
Mr. Sutter's message: Mr. Walsh over the past 16 years lost touch, lost focus and lost support; Mr. Walsh counter-attacks that he is "a man of convictions," solving 82 percent of the murders in the county, reaching out to the community and speaking out against judges who issue light sentences to convicted criminals.
The candidates have sparred in two face-to-face debates, in Fall River and Taunton, with Mr. Walsh dramatically entering the room late in the latter after saying publicly for weeks that he would not attend.

Contact Joseph R. LaPlante
at jlaplante@s-t.com
Date of Publication: August 18, 2006 on Page A05


Posted by: kwflatbed

Sutter opens campaign office, fires at Walsh

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — Sam Sutter opened an outpost downtown yesterday in his campaign to unseat Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.
Surrounded by 30 supporters and red, white and blue campaign yard signs stacked along the walls, Mr. Sutter continued his march to the Sept. 19 primary with familiar maneuvers: new endorsements and a further assault on Mr. Walsh's practice of spending funds on public outreach workers.
"I don't know how much he is spending on community outreach, and I believe in the program of community outreach, but I think you get volunteers to do that," he said at a press conference inside the office at 244 Union St. "I can't say how much he is spending until I see his budget."
Mr. Sutter said he would use the funds now spent on community outreach to hire more prosecutors in the county's four District Courts and in Superior Court.
"I will not cut programs for seniors or for children," Mr. Walsh responded to The Standard-Times after Mr. Sutter's press conference. "It is as important to prevent crime as it is to prosecute crime after it happens.
"I make the comparison to fire safety versus hiring more firefighters. What he is saying is tantamount to saying instead of teaching fire prevention and fire safety, we are going to hire more firefighters, instead, so when the building catches fire, we'll have more firefighters to put the fire out. That is bad public policy."
Mr. Sutter also renewed his call for Mr. Walsh's office budget. On Aug. 8, he formally filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act that sought the budgets for 2003-07.
Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, Mr. Walsh was required to respond in 10 business days. Yesterday was Day 10.
On Monday, Day 9, Mr. Walsh responded by forwarding Mr. Sutter's request to the Office of the Comptroller of Massachusetts. Another 10-day wait could ensue.
"I am forwarding this request under the Freedom of Information Act to your attention for your response. We have no objection to the request but, due to the fact that it is political in nature and comes weeks before an election, it would be best if the request were handled by an independent party such as the Comptroller's Office," Mr. Walsh wrote.
At his press conference yesterday, Mr. Sutter had yet to receive the copy of the letter from Mr. Walsh, so he criticized Mr. Walsh for not responding.
Mr. Sutter recalled that in 1990, when Mr. Walsh first ran for DA, he criticized the sitting DA at the time, Ronald A. Pina, for not releasing his budget.
Afterward, when he received a copy of Mr. Walsh's letter, Mr. Sutter recognized that he could face another 10 business-day delay to Sept. 6, with the primary 13 days later on Sept. 19.
"He is doing to me the same thing that Ron Pina did to him," Mr. Sutter said.
"We need to know, for example, how much is being spent on independent contractors, how much is being spent on rent for office space for the community outreach program, how much is being spent on community outreach; how much is being spent on new technology to fight crime," Mr. Sutter said.
One of the new endorsements Mr. Sutter received yesterday came with sharp elbows.
Marlene Pollock, an organizer for the 1,000-member Coalition for Social Justice, accused Mr. Walsh of using the community outreach program, which sends DA employees to schools and neighborhoods, "to give jobs to his friends and buddies."
Mr. Sutter and Ms. Pollock declined to characterize Mr. Walsh's hiring of friends as cronyism.
"I don't like that word," Mr. Sutter said in response to a reporter's question.
He said he knows about half of the DA's prosecutors and some employees in community outreach "and I have great respect for them."
When Mr. Sutter was a prosecutor working for Mr. Walsh, he often volunteered to visit schools and programs.
"I was never paid anything extra for that and I didn't want to be paid for it," he said.
In addition to the coalition's endorsement, Mr. Sutter received backing from the 4,800-member Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union and the 4,500-member Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 3, Eastern Massachusetts.

Joseph R. LaPlante can be contacted at
jlaplante@s-t.com
Date of Publication: August 23, 2006 on Page A04


Posted by: kwflatbed

Westport gravestone case back from the dead
By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer
WESTPORT — The case of the purloined gravestones may not be dead after all.
A local lawyer contends Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. acted outside his jurisdiction last year in dropping criminal charges against the Rhode Island developer who allegedly stole 20 markers from a small family cemetery off Charlotte White Road two years ago.
Instead, state law gives jurisdiction over "ancient burial grounds" to the Board of Selectmen, said Carlton Lees, the town's former lawyer.
"... Further, if anyone violates the provisions of (state law), they are subject to imprisonment for not more than six months or fined not more than $500, or both," Mr. Lees told selectmen Monday night.
Mr. Walsh agreed to drop criminal charges against the developer, ELJ of Bristol, R.I., in exchange for the company reaching an agreement with the Massachusetts Historical Commission to conduct an archaeological survey, return the stones and restore the cemetery.
Mr. Walsh was puzzled yesterday afternoon by what is being sought by Mr. Lees and what the selectmen might do.
"I don't get the point. I wasn't there. Are they thinking about a civil suit?" Mr. Walsh asked. "Because they bring that."
If not, "Are they talking about a private prosecution? We don't have that in this country, as far as I know," he added. "And, if they want to prosecute it again, who is he suggesting would lead that prosecution?" Presumably, the district attorney would.
The selectmen passed along a letter, which cites General Law Chapter 114, sections 17, 18 and 31, from Mr. Lees, and several written questions that he submitted, to the town's counsel for review and comment.
The so-called "Cemetery Case," in which ELJ Inc. of Bristol, R.I., allegedly removed grave markers from the plot as it was clearing land for a housing development, boiled into a full-blown controversy that reflected the growing resentment of some local residents toward out-of-town developers.
The state law referenced by Mr. Lees says, in part:
A burial ground is "any tract of land which has been for more than 100 years used as a burial place."
"Any town having within its limits an abandoned or neglected burying ground may take charge of the same and keep it in good order, and may appropriate money therefor."
The cemetery had been abandoned, and the developer had said at one point that he thought it was a horse burial ground. The archaeological survey found it contains eight grave shafts.
ELJ's lawyer, Philip Beauregard of New Bedford, was pleased yesterday with the prospect of the town taking control of the cemetery.
"ELJ welcomes the idea that the town of Westport 'take charge' and keep 'good order' the suspected burial ground," Mr. Beauregard said in a written response to questions from The Standard-Times, which provided him with a copy of Mr. Lees' letter. "While ELJ has volunteered to pay the expense for caring for the 'neglected burying ground,' certainly the town can appropriate money for this purpose.
"In all other respects, ELJ agrees that the town should make a public record of the existence of this suspected burial ground, a record that unfortunately had not been kept by past town cemetery superintendents.
"ELJ encourages and authorizes full communication on this subject, and the archaeological study that was done at ELJ's expense, among PAL (the Pawtucket, R.I., company that performed the study), the Massachusetts Historic(al) Commission and the Board of Selectmen, and Attorney Lees if he wishes."
Mr. Walsh on three separate court dates, over the course of 18 months, continued the arraignment of criminal charges against Everett J. Francis, 83, of 115 Tupelo St., Bristol, R.I., and his two adult children, Christopher Francis and Christine Matrone, angering selectmen, preservationists and some residents.
The developer was never arraigned, and as a consequence, double jeopardy did not attach. (Double jeopardy attaches to a defendant after conviction or acquittal on a charge, according to Black's Law Dictionary.)
Last September, the developer signed a memorandum of agreement with the Massachusetts Historical Commission in which he agreed to hire an archaeologist to "perform an intensive investigation" and a survey of the cemetery. Mr. Walsh dismissed the case three days before Christmas 2005.
At the time, Mr. Walsh stated that bringing criminal charges against the developer might not have accomplished his goals of preserving the cemetery and protecting it in the future.
But the affidavit submitted to the court by the district attorney noted that "review of the police reports indicates that the Westport Police Department had probable cause to charge the developers."
Westport police said they found the gravestones stacked in front of a stone-crushing machine at ELJ's Bristol construction yard. The stones are now being stored in a storage locker behind the police station.

Contact Joseph R. LaPlante
at jlaplante@s-t.com
Date of Publication: August 23, 2006 on Page A05


Posted by: kwflatbed

Walsh, Sutter to debate at GNB Voc-Tech

By Joseph R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. and Democratic primary challenger Sam Sutter will participate in a debate on Sept. 6, their fourth of this election season.
The debate, to be held at the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, 1121 Ashley Blvd., is co-sponsored by The Standard-Times and several community organizations.
Miriam Miquelon-Weismann, a professor at Southern New England School of Law, will monitor the debate, which is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m.
"We are glad that the two candidates agreed to take part in this debate, which should be an important moment in this critical Bristol County race. The debate format will be a little different, and we hope that it will help the voters make a choice that's in the best interest of everyone," said Bob Unger, editor of The Standard-Times.
New Bedford ACTS, The Women's Fund of the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts, Greater New Bedford Chamber of Commerce, Neighborhoods United, and the League of Women Voters are co-sponsoring the event with the newspaper.
The format of the debate will engage the candidates in parry and riposte, said Ms. Miquelon-Weismann, a former federal prosecutor in New York and Illinois who now teaches the subjects of criminal law, tax law and evidence.
The moderator will pose a question to one of the principals.
He will then have three minutes to answer.
The opposing candidate will then have one minute to frame a question related to the principal candidate's response. The principal will have two minutes to respond.
The opposing candidate will then have a three-minute rebuttal.
Four rounds of that format will ensue, with each principal receiving two questions.
Then, each candidate will have one minute to ask a question of the opposing candidate. The questioned candidate will be given three minutes to answer. No rebuttal will be allowed.
Each candidate will be offered three minutes for summation.
Mr. Sutter and Mr. Walsh have previously debated in Attleboro and Taunton and will debate tomorrow in Fall River.
Voters will cast their ballots in the state primary on Sept. 19.

Contact Joseph LaPlante at jlaplante@s-t.com

Date of Publication: August 29, 2006 on Page A07


Posted by: kwflatbed

District attorney used workers in 'man on street' ads
By JOAO FERREIRA, Standard-Times staff writer

Bristol County District Attorney Paul Walsh Jr. has used employees on what he calls unscripted "man on the street" ads with real people to express views about him, challenger Sam Sutter has charged.
"It is time for Paul Walsh to stop trying to fool people," Mr. Sutter said. "He says on his Web site about the advertisement that: 'The spot is interesting because it is unscripted and because it gives real people a chance to express their thoughts about the district attorney.' What an extreme deception."
Mr. Sutter has charged that at least seven of the 13 people on the television spot are people on Mr. Walsh's payroll.
The spot, available on Mr. Walsh's campaign Web site at walsh2006.com, shows 13 people in quick succession shooting one-liners on why they are voting for Paul Walsh.
"This pattern of deception and misrepresentation has continued through this campaign," Mr. Sutter said, adding that Mr. Walsh has been deceiving voters since his first campaign in 1990.
Mr. Walsh has called Mr. Sutter a "whiner" and defended the ad.
"If we said these are total strangers, then that would be deceptive," Walsh said. "These are real people who do vote in Bristol County. So how is that deceptive?"
A description of the ad on the campaign Web site reads, "People just said what came to their minds when asked what they thought about the DA. The spot is interesting because it is unscripted and because it gives real people a chance to express their thoughts about the district attorney."
Sutter, who was an assistant district attorney under Walsh in the late 1990s, said three of the people interviewed are or were secretaries for Walsh. The others were identified as a prosecutor, a receptionist and at least three victim-witness advocates.
"My employees are entitled to express their opinions," Walsh said. "Their words are heartfelt and meaningful. I am proud of the support I have both in and out of this office."
Sutter said, "Paid employees do not represent the man on the street."

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Date of Publication: August 31, 2006 on Page A09


Posted by: kwflatbed

No question, DA debate is lively affair

By JOAO FERREIRA, Standard-Times staff writer

FALL RIVER — The third debate between Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. and his opponent Samuel Sutter could easily have gone without a panel of questioners.
Instead of simply answering questions before a full house at the Our Lady of Light Band, the candidates continuously traded jabs on the issue of the district attorney's community outreach program, and brought back old debate issues such as guns, plea bargaining and electronic surveillance.
When asked about what he would do to make neighborhoods safer, Mr. Walsh immediately jumped on the defense of his expensive community outreach program, which recently came under fire from Mr. Sutter.
"I believe in community outreach," said Mr. Walsh, a 16-year incumbent. "It is easier to keep a kid out of a gang at 13 than it is go get him out of a gang when he is 19."
Mr. Sutter, a Fall River resident fighting on home turf, fired back.
"I'm not going to cut one community outreach program. We can do better with community outreach programs then we're doing right now," he said.
Mr. Sutter has suggested using volunteer assistant district attorneys to run the program and using some of the money to hire more prosecutors.
The issue would come back again and again.
"Just how effective is your community program, Mr. Walsh?" Mr. Sutter asked when answering a question about outreach in schools and pointing to growing drugs, guns and gang cases.
"Can you measure it? I don't know. But it's still worth doing it anyway," Mr. Walsh said. "I am for community outreach. You're not."
On a question about increased shooting incidents, Mr. Walsh brought the issue back again.
Mr. Walsh said increased violence can be partly attributed to the children of former criminals who didn't benefit from outreach programs; children that grew "motherless, fatherless, jobless and hopelessness."
"I'm not going to cut those programs," Mr. Walsh insisted. "I would rather go down in favor of these kids ... than win this election."
"How many times do I need to say, I'm not going to cut one program," Mr. Sutter retorted, also asking the district attorney why he cut an electronic surveillance program in 1991 that could be used to track gang leaders.
"Answer why," Mr. Sutter said.
"Because this is a wireless phone," Mr. Walsh said, lifting his cell phone. "There are no wires attached to this phone, Mr. Sutter. Gang members are carrying cell phones."
Mr. Sutter said he was talking about "electronic surveillance, not wiretapping."
Mr. Sutter later said community outreach needed to be improved with not only assistant district attorneys volunteering time, but also former convicts providing testimony to young children.
The candidates wouldn't stop at that issue alone, taking on every chance to undermine each other, handily turning specific panelist questions into suggestions for incisive queries.
Mr. Sutter continuously criticized Mr. Walsh for plea bargaining; Mr. Walsh said Mr. Sutter plea-bargained 13 drug cases when working as an assistant district attorney for him.
"There is a huge difference ... between what he says and what he does," Mr. Walsh said, saying the term "plea bargaining" is the most useless term in criminal justice.
"I was simply executing his policy, as you know," Mr. Sutter fired back. "It was simply enforcing what the DA wanted done."
Mr. Sutter said Mr. Walsh's emphasis has always been on moving cases, rather than working them.
"He criticizes me for his policy," he said.
Mr. Walsh defended himself, saying he has used "creative" and "innovative" ways to obtain convictions, such as a shooting in Fall River where no witnesses would step forward but the testimony of a police expert on gang activity earned a conviction.
At another point point, Mr. Walsh listed a roll of convictions in several serious cases.
When asked to cite his biggest accomplishment, Mr. Sutter said it was winning 16 of 18 trials in Superior Court.
"Man, you are beautiful," Mr. Walsh said. "All the success in the office goes to you. All the times that you caved in ... it goes to me."
The contest will be decided during the Sept. 19 Democratic primary. There is no general election opponent, so the primary winner takes all.

Contact Joao Ferreira
at jferreira@s-t.com


Date of Publication: August 31, 2006 on Page A09


Posted by: kwflatbed

Walsh ad includes convicted felon's comments

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. features a convicted felon in a new television advertisement that also relies on several of his employees posing for what are purported as "man-on-the-street-style" interviews that praise Mr. Walsh.
Daniel A. Fernandes, 64, has a 40-year criminal record, including a 1998 conviction for assault and battery of a Fairhaven woman.
District attorney challenger Sam Sutter thought Mr. Fernandes looked familiar when he saw the ad.
"He looked very familiar to me, and I thought, 'That looks like Danny Fernandes,' " Mr. Sutter said yesterday, recalling the first time he saw the ad, which is running on cable television and is featured on Mr. Walsh's Web site.
When Mr. Walsh this week confirmed Mr. Fernandes' identity, Mr. Sutter recalled that he prosecuted Mr. Fernandes in the 1998 case when he worked as an assistant district attorney for Mr. Walsh.
Mr. Fernandes said yesterday he holds bitter feelings toward Mr. Sutter's prosecution.
"Sam Sutter threatened me that if I didn't take a one-year jail sentence, he would make sure I got five years in state prison," Mr. Fernandes said. "I've been in court over 100 times (mostly on charges for assault, drunk driving and driving without a license) and I never asked Paul Walsh for anything."
He ended up in the ad. "When I was standing on Ashley Boulevard by the 6th Bristol (District) Social Club when a guy with a camera came up to me and asked what I thought of Paul Walsh."
In the ad, Mr. Fernandes says, "A very good man for senior citizens like myself."
Mr. Walsh's Web site, walsh2006.com, offers the ad for viewing. An introductory paragraph says, in part, "The spot is interesting because it is unscripted and because it gives real people a chance to express their thoughts about the district attorney."
Mr. Walsh said yesterday he has "not thought about" whether he will pull the ad or edit out Mr. Fernandes.
He saw no problem with his employees participating in the ad.
"These are people I know and I don't think it is inappropriate to have them in an ad. They are the people who know me best, and I am proud to have their support."
The ad includes the following employees from the district attorney's office:
Thomas McHenry, who made $18,365 last year as a victim-witness worker: "He is tough on criminals."
Olivia Botelho, who made $32,269 last year as support staff: "He cares about seniors."
Joanne Soares, who made $43,237 last year as a victim-witness worker: "I'm voting for Paul because he does so much for the community."
Norma Sylvia, who made $23,000 last year as support staff: "Because he is a fighter."
Assistant District Attorney Kevin Connelly, who made $67,724 last year: "I'm voting for Paul Walsh because he is tough on judges."
Carmen Alphonse, who made $39,269 last year as support staff: "He has a great community outreach program."
"It is time for Paul Walsh to stop trying to fool people," Mr. Sutter said.
"He says the spot 'is unscripted.' ... What an extreme deception."

Contact Joseph R. LaPlante at
jlaplante@s-t.com
Date of Publication: September 01, 2006 on Page A04


Posted by: Opie

The Mansfield Regular Police Officers Association has Officially Endorsed Sam Sutter for District Attorney!


Posted by: kwflatbed

DA foes spar on highway killings

Walsh declined help in case, Sutter claims

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer



NEW BEDFORD — Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. rejected an offer to have the entire evidence accumulated in the infamous highway killings case of 1988-89 re-examined by state police using modern DNA and fiber-analysis technology funded by a federal grant, primary challenger Sam Sutter charged yesterday.
"Despite the promises he made when he ran in 1990 to do everything he could to solve the highway killings, he inexplicably turned this down," Mr. Sutter said yesterday in a gravel parking lot in Weld Square, the section of the city where 11 women, some prostitutes and all drug users, were last seen in the spring and summer of 1988.
The remains of nine of the women were recovered along the Interstate 195 corridor and on Route 140 in Freetown. Two of the women remain missing.
No one has been charged in the murders.
Mr. Walsh last night denied that the state police ever offered money from a federal grant to pay for forensic testing.
"That never happened," he said. "I checked with the first assistant DA, the head of homicide, the trial counsel and the head at District Court and no one remembers a grant.
"Why would I want to turn money away?" Mr. Walsh asked. "I was joking today (after Mr. Sutter's allegation reached him), we haven't turned down money for anything in this office."
Mr. Walsh recalled, "We were just doing something with that a few years back," regarding evidence from the highway killings. The evidence was re-examined with new DNA technology and other new forensic science in 2002, Mr. Walsh said.
The state police, however, did provide funds for that expressed purpose twice, in 2001 and 2003, said Sgt. Scott Range, public affairs spokesman for the agency. On both occasions, state police records show that the Bristol County district attorney did provide evidence from unsolved murder cases.
The State Police Crime Lab received federal funding for a grant entitled "No Suspect Backlog Reduction" in 2001. Federal funding for a grant entitled "No Suspect Backlog Reduction" was available in 2003.
In both instances, each of the state's 12 district attorneys was notified by State Police Crime Lab personnel of the cases they selected for testing, based on technology and methodology.
In 2001, the Crime Lab identified and sent out 47 cases from Bristol County to be tested under that federal grant.
In 2003, the Crime Lab identified and sent out 29 cases from Bristol County under that federal grant.
The state police would not specifically say what the cases tested in 2001 and 2003 included.
"As we do in all media inquiries regarding death investigations, we need to refer you to the Bristol District Attorney's Office for all further media inquiries so that we do not hinder or impede any ongoing death investigation or any potential prosecution," Sgt. Range said.
Mr. Sutter said at the press conference in Weld Square: "Mr. Walsh had an opportunity, a golden opportunity to have the evidence re-examined at federal expense, he turned it down. That reason alone says he shouldn't be re-elected.
"According to my sources in the state police, Mr. Walsh was presented with the opportunity to have the State Police Crime Lab use the most advanced scientific technology to retest and re-analyze DNA, hair and other fibers without any cost to the District Attorney's Office because the federal government would pay for it."
Mr. Walsh, in turn, criticized Mr. Sutter for culling the information from state troopers.
"Mr. Sutter alludes to information he has received from 'state police' officers formerly assigned to the state police homicide unit," Mr. Walsh said. "The surreptitious funneling of information from law enforcement to a criminal defense attorney and the use of that information for political purposes is an outrage. Mr. Sutter should be ashamed of himself."
The Democratic primary is Sept. 19. Mr. Walsh and Mr. Sutter will debate tonight at 7 at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School, where the issue is expected to be a major point of contention between the two.
Mr. Sutter called yesterday's press conference to draw attention to the number of unsolved murders in Bristol County from the day Mr. Walsh was first sworn in, Jan. 2, 1991, until Dec. 31, 2005.
Between those dates, 183 murders were investigated by police and the District Attorney's Office, Mr. Sutter said.
"Of these, Mr. Walsh has sought indictments in 104. That leaves 79 unsolved," Mr. Sutter said. "Including 2006, there are at least two more unsolved murders for a total 181.
Mr. Walsh released a chart that recorded 80 percent of homicide cases since 1991 as solved. He said his office has handled 211 homicides, solved 169, has 42 unsolved and made 253 arrests.

Contact Joseph R. LaPlante at jlaplante@s-t.com

Challenger Sam Sutter criticizes DA Paul Walsh's position on electronic surveillance. Hear the clip at

http://www.SouthCoastToday.com/multi...0905sutter.wma
Date of Publication: September 06, 2006 on Page A06


Posted by: kwflatbed

DA candidates turn it down a notch at forum

By JOAO FERREIRA, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. tried to speak Portuguese; his opponent Samuel Sutter proudly announced his wife is Portuguese.
The two were talking to a mostly Portuguese audience during a candidates night event at Mount Carmel church last night.
Instead of the previous lively exchanges, both candidates were asked by organizers to answer five questions directly, in English only, and not address each other.
"I don't know how when I visit Mount Carmel I'm not allowed to speak Portuguese," Mr. Walsh complained.
Asked about recurring drug troubles in the neighborhood, Mr. Sutter pulled from his oft-repeated campaign platform: Stop plea bargaining, push for tougher sentences on drug cases, reinstitute electronic surveillance of gang leaders and develop closer partnerships with police.
Mr. Walsh gave an example of what he has done, saying now is not the time to experiment with public safety: the dismantling of the Ruth Street gang allegedly led by Brandin Gonsalves.
He said electronic surveillance "broke the back of that gang."
"This is what we need to do. This is what we have been doing," he said.
Mr. Sutter later reminded the crowd that the electronic surveillance was conducted by federal authorities, not Mr. Walsh's office.
Mr. Sutter called for the use of the dangerousness statutes and bail revocations to stop what is known as a "revolving-door" system.
Mr. Walsh called for a change of courthouse culture and the way judges conduct cases.
"If they can't see the light, DA Walsh is going to make them feel the heat," he said. "This is not about new technology; this is not about five-point plans."
Mr. Walsh said he is working on legislation that would ensure serious repeat offenders be held automatically, no matter how minor the subsequent offense.
Other questions ranged from the infamous accelerated deportation program terminated in 2001 to campaign contributions.
"I think the accelerated deportation program was a dreadful mistake. I think my opponent should accept that," Mr. Sutter said. "The DA should never have started that program."
Mr. Walsh continued to defend the former federally funded program, which immigrant advocates have said contributed to some of the hundreds of deportations from Bristol County to Portugal since tougher laws were enacted in 1996.
"I think individuals who come to this country just to commit crime ... forfeit the right to be here," he said, bringing up the case of a Dominican drug dealer and saying the program targeted "dope dealers."
Helena S. Marques of the Immigrants' Assistance Center, which co-organized the event, then asked the candidates if there was an alternative to deportation and the separation of families for individuals being deported as a result of domestic violence cases.
"We should have a third system to deal with individuals who have difficulties in their marriage," Mr. Walsh said. "We need to resolve these issues in a way that respects the family."
Mr. Sutter took a tougher stance, calling for ways to ensure the victims of domestic violence don't ask for charges to be dismissed when a case ultimately goes to trial.
During last night's forum, an issue from the first debate also came back regarding the acceptance of contributions from defense attorneys.
"I accept contributions from any good person," Mr. Walsh said, adding that Mr. Sutter continues to take such contributions as well but hasn't clearly responded to the issue before.
Then he looked directly at Mr. Sutter, waiting for an answer.
"I believe it is important for people to believe that the DA cannot be swayed by anything," Mr. Sutter said.
He then said he would take contributions up to $100, which he said he didn't think would sway anyone.

Contact Joao Ferreira
at jferreira@s-t.com

Date of Publication: September 06, 2006 on Page A06


Posted by: kwflatbed

DA race sizzles in final debate

Walsh, Sutter take last blows before primary
By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — Sam Sutter used to work for District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. Now he wants his old boss' job. During the debate between the pair last night, it looked like it's getting personal.
Mr. Walsh and primary challenger Mr. Sutter argued about the same issues in their fourth debate as they did three times before, but with the virulence that only familiarity and a nearing election bring.
The two lawyers sharpened their attacks on each other on familiar topics — plea bargaining, use of electronic surveillance, each other's experience, the number of unsolved murders and endorsements — at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School before a standing-room crowd of more than 500.
The primary is Sept. 19, and last night may have been the last time the pair meets on the same stage before ballots are cast.
Everything was at stake for the well-financed, politically powerful, 16-year incumbent and time is running out for the feisty, modestly funded challenger.
Moderator Miriam Weismann, a law professor at Southern New England School of Law, directed a Lincoln/Douglas-style debate by asking two questions of each candidate, and opened by shortchanging Mr. Sutter's public service background in her first question, when she asked how he could do the job with a lack of public-service experience.
Mr. Sutter, now a defense attorney in Fall River, asserted he worked as an assistant district attorney for six years and prosecuted between 500 and 1,000 trials over 21/2 years in the 1990s alone under the old two-trial system in District Court.
"It is more of a record than my opponent has," he said
Mr. Walsh at several points in the debate said the job of DA calls for "hard decisions" and "being able to take the heat," and, he asserted, "being willing to fight with the criminals, fight with the judges, and, yes, being willing to fight with the police" is a job requirement.
Ms. Weismann opened the door to the ongoing wiretap debate between the pair when she asked Mr. Walsh why his prosecutors are not provided with the tools they need to succeed and why he doesn't use electronic surveillance.
"I don't accept the premise the prosecutors are denied the tools they need. I don't accept it," Mr. Walsh said, sounding peeved. He asserted that the James Kater murder case of the 1990s, the longest murder trial in the state's history, was won by using "computer animation and digital technology."
As for wiretaps, he alluded to Mr. Sutter's promise to use all manner of eavesdropping devices to intercept cell phone calls and other means of communication employed by drug dealers and violent criminals.
"It makes no sense at all to tell the public and the bad guys" what prosecutors and police plan, he said. He dismissed wiretaps as outmoded technology and chided Mr. Sutter "to keep up with technology."
"I'm just glad Mr. Sutter wasn't a general on D-Day; he would have told the Germans where we were going to land and what weapons we were going to use," Mr. Walsh said. "You not only have to be tough as a DA, but you have to be smart, too."
Mr. Sutter replied with a machine burst of loud, sharp-edged questions: "Why did you pull the plug on a successful wiretap program in 1991, right after you took office?"
"Why did you never get a court order for a wiretap in the 1990s when wiretaps were still a current technology?"
"Why have you never gotten a court order for electronic surveillance in the 21st century? Why not?"
Mr. Walsh answered, "I thought this debate was going to be conducted on a somewhat higher plane."
Mr. Sutter continued his criticism of what he contends is the preference of Mr. Walsh to plea bargain cases, rather than go to trial.
"When I worked there, the assistant DAs were ranked by the number of cases moved, not by whether they won at trial," Mr. Sutter said. "I thought the emphasis should be on winning trials."
Mr. Sutter said he left the office after his first stint because he thought he wasn't being advanced as quickly as he deserved.
Mr. Walsh asked, "Did you ever object to the policy of the office when you worked there? Did you ever criticize the way prosecutions were handled?"
Mr. Walsh read the resignation letters Mr. Sutter wrote to him on the two occasions he quit. The letters thanked Mr. Walsh for the opportunities he provided Mr. Sutter to work as a trial attorney.
"Does that sound like dissatisfaction to you?" Mr. Walsh asked. Then he employed his oft-stated admonition of Mr. Sutter: "Sam, there is a big difference between what you say and what you do."
Mr. Sutter said he registered his complaints with Mr. Walsh.
The issue of the number of murders Mr. Walsh as DA has solved was raised by Ms. Weismann. Mr. Sutter asserts Mr. Walsh has solved 60 percent of those since he took office in 1991, but 42 remain unsolved in New Bedford.
Mr. Walsh said his office has solved 80 percent, but he differentiated between "solving" a case and "charging" a case.

Joseph R. LaPlante can be
contacted at jlaplante@s-t.com
Date of Publication: September 07, 2006 on Page A09


Posted by: kwflatbed

District attorney defends actions in face of criticism

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante,
Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. mishandled $915,000 in funds seized in drug trafficking arrests that were being held for possible forfeiture, exposing the money to fraud and misuse, according to a 2003 examination by the Office of the State Auditor.
By 2002, Mr. Walsh, who is seeking re-election in the Sept. 19 Democratic primary against challenger Sam Sutter, had accumulated $645,000 in actual forfeited funds taken after the cases were won, according to the same audit, the most recent examination available.
"There are inadequate control(s) for the segregation of duties, including receiving, recording, withdrawing, reconciling and conducting periodic inventories of safe deposit boxes to limit risk of fraud or misuse of funds," said the audit, which found problems in four other DA offices, including Plymouth County.
The Standard-Times obtained a copy of the audit from the Office of the State Auditor yesterday. The state's 11 district attorneys are required to file an annual accounting of both the forfeited funds that have been seized in trafficking cases and also the seized funds that potentially could be forfeited with the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees.
The state auditor criticized Mr. Walsh for keeping the $915,000 in five separate safe deposit boxes instead of in a bank, for co-mingling funds seized in federal operations with state seizures, and for exceeding the limit for spending forfeited funds in 2001 on drug rehabilitation, drug education and other anti-drug or neighborhood crime-watch programs.
Mr. Walsh defended the overspending during a meeting with the editorial board of The Standard-Times on Thursday.
"We disagree over the language of the statute," Mr. Walsh said.
"The statute says we 'may spend up to 10 percent of forfeited funds' for drug education, rehabilitation and neighborhood crime-watch programs. They interpret that as 'shall,' limiting it to 10 percent. I still think it is a guideline, and that is how we are approaching it."
The audit reported in fiscal 2001 that Mr. Walsh spent $69,544, or 14 percent of the $503,112 in forfeited funds on the allowed programs, when only $50,311 was permitted by the statute.
Mr. Walsh, however, did not disclose the other seemingly more critical findings of the audit during his meeting with editors and the publisher at which he sought the newspaper's endorsement on Thursday. The newspaper only learned about the serious criticisms when it obtained the document from the auditor to verify Mr. Walsh's comments about the spending limit.
"At the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, a staff member listed on the bank signature cards for accessing the safe deposit boxes is also the one who receives funds from local law-enforcement agencies at the time of arrests, and is solely responsible for all accounting functions, including periodic inventories of the contents of the safe-deposit boxes," the audit said.
Mr. Walsh said yesterday he assumes that his office's chief financial officer, Heidi Sirois, complied with the recommendations of the auditor to improve the handling of the seized funds.
"The consideration has always been ruining the seized money as evidence if it is not segregated from other seized money and it is mingled together — it could be polluted," Mr. Walsh said.
Mr. Walsh asserted: "We have gotten a clean bill of health. I believe we have adopted the measures that the auditor wanted."
Contacted at his campaign headquarters in Fall River yesterday, Mr. Sutter said, "The information that I have received today from The Standard Times is very troubling — $915,000 should not be kept in five safety-deposit boxes with no organized system for review. For 16 years, Mr. Walsh has kept from the public an accounting of the money he is receiving from drug forfeitures and what he is doing with it."
Mr. Sutter said Mr. Walsh similarly has been "ignoring my request for an accounting of his budget. And by passing it off to the comptroller, he is once again keeping from the public an open and full review of what he has been doing with their money.
"He will be receiving on Monday morning at 9 a.m. another letter from me, demanding a clear and comprehensive accounting of his budget of over $6 million and his drug forfeiture money."
Mr. Sutter added: "If I am elected district attorney, I will release every year to the public and the media a comprehensive accounting of the money I receive from the state and from drug forfeitures and what I have done with it. This is what Mr. Walsh should have been doing for the past 16 years."
Bristol County was not alone in its mishandling of the seized money, although it held the most money by a substantial margin in the safe-deposit boxes. Plymouth County was criticized for holding $500,059 in safe-deposit boxes and Berkshire County for doing likewise with $17,246, the audit said.
"At the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office, in the beginning of each fiscal year, an inventory listing of the contents of the safe-deposit boxes is prepared, but no actual cash count is performed."
No one was available to address the issue for Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz yesterday afternoon, said a spokesperson.

Contact Joseph R. LaPlante at jlaplante@s-t.com

Date of Publication: September 09, 2006 on Page A05


Posted by: 94c

Let me see...should I keep my money in the bank or 5 seperated safe-deposit boxes?

Decisions...Decisions.


Posted by: kwflatbed

Judge still on bench despite Walsh's claims

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante,
Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — The Superior Court judge whom District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. brags he ran out of Bristol County courtrooms and off criminal trials has been handling criminal matters in courts throughout Massachusetts for four years, court records show.
Mr. Walsh's boasts do not identify the judge by name in a radio ad, called "Revolving Door," on the airwaves since early July. On Thursday, however, during a meeting with the editors and publisher of The Standard-Times, Mr. Walsh named the jurist.
"Ernie Murphy," Mr. Walsh said in response to a question asking who the judge is in the campaign ad Mr. Walsh is running. "They took him off the criminal bench, and they took him out of Bristol County."
Since 2002, when Associate Superior Court Justice Murphy, 63, last sat in Bristol County, has sat on the bench for criminal matters in Worcester and Barnstable counties, while also handling civil cases, and he was assigned to hear criminal matters in Middlesex and Suffolk Counties, according to court administration records.
Judge Murphy was criticized by Mr. Walsh and prosecutors in his office in 2002 over his handling of a rape case. His assignment to the Bristol County Superior Court ended roughly at about the same time as Mr. Walsh's criticism.
Judge Murphy was assigned to civil cases for about one month after leaving Bristol County and then resumed trying criminal cases and processing criminal matters elsewhere is Massachusetts.
Attorney Edward Ryan, chairman of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Committee on Judicial Independence, listened to Mr. Walsh's advertisement via the Internet in his office in Fitchburg yesterday and was informed by The Standard-Times about Mr. Walsh's comments last Thursday.
"It is patently false," Mr. Ryan said. "There is nothing that Paul Walsh has done that has led to anyone in judicial administration with authority over Judge Murphy to restrict him in any way in his judicial office."
Judge Murphy did not return telephone calls seeking his comments for this story.
His attorney, Howard Cooper of Boston, won a $2.1 million libel suit against The Boston Herald in 2005 in Judge Murphy's favor over comments that were attributed to him by prosecutors in Mr. Walsh's office. The Herald has appealed the jury verdict once and lost and is pursuing a second appeal.
"Mr. Walsh knows as both a lawyer and as a district attorney that he should have his facts straight before he makes statements about a judge not sitting in criminal session," Mr. Cooper said. "One would think a district attorney would have the knowledge to look at a judge's calendar and determine from that whether one is sitting in a criminal session."
Mr. Walsh did not return a telephone call yesterday seeking response.
Judge Murphy claimed Herald reporter David Wedge misquoted him as telling lawyers involved in the case about a teenage rape victim: "Tell her to get over it."
The quote was included in a February 2002 series of Herald articles that said Murphy had been criticized by prosecutors for lenient sentences, including probation for the 17-year-old boy who raped the 14-year-old victim in the case that Judge Murphy presided over.
Mr. Walsh's testimony in the libel trial that he wanted to send a "shot across the bow" to Judge Murphy was critical evidence in proving the case, Mr. Cooper said at the time.
As for the advertisement, Mr. Walsh says, in part, "What that judge did was outrageous. That judge hasn't sat on a single criminal case in Bristol County since I put him on the hot seat."
Mr. Walsh did not indicate that he was referring only to Bristol County cases when he met with editors, implying that Judge Murphy was no longer hearing criminal cases anywhere.
Mr. Cooper, said, "Indeed, one would have to question the judgment of any lawyer who would brag about chasing a jurist off the bench anywhere."
Mr. Walsh is seeking his fifth term as Bristol County district attorney. He is being challenged by Sam Sutter, a Fall River attorney and a former assistant district attorney to Mr. Walsh.

Contact Joseph R. LaPlante at jlaplante@s-t.com
Date of Publication: September 12, 2006 on Page A03


Posted by: kwflatbed

Candidates forum to be held tomorrow

Candidates forum
to be held tomorrow

SOMERSET — The Bristol County Democratic League is hosting a candidates forum for countywide office seekers at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Somerset Middle School, 1141 Brayton Ave.
"I encourage the citizens of Bristol County to attend this forum," said Will Flanagan, chairman. "The evening presents the candidates with a chance to share their positions with the voters of Bristol County."
The candidates who have been invited to attend the forum are Clerk of Courts Marc J. Santos; Registrar of Deeds-Fall River District incumbent B.J. McDonald; Registrar of Deeds-New Bedford District Mark Treadup; Board of County Commissioner candidates Gregory DeMelo and Perry Long and incumbent Commissioner Maria Lopes; and
__________________________________________________ ____

District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. and challenger Sam Sutter.
__________________________________________________ __

Each candidate will be given five minutes to share his or her platform with the audience.


Posted by: kwflatbed

Sutter, Walsh spar over policy
Plea bargains under each candidate objects of scrutiny

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante,
Standard-Times staff writer

ATTLEBORO — Bristol district attorney primary candidate Sam Sutter criticized incumbent Paul F. Walsh Jr.'s use of plea bargains in major drug trafficking cases yesterday and unveiled a plan to replace "a failed policy."
"If elected ... I will stop the practice of plea bargaining with major drug dealers as soon as I take office," Mr. Sutter, a former prosecutor and now a defense lawyer, said at a press conference outside the city's police station.
"This message needs to go forward from the District Attorney's Office loudly and clearly: If you are arrested and charged with a crime that involves 'major drug dealing,'... you will serve the mandatory sentence or you can take your case to trial."
Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Walsh responded: "Actions speak louder than words. Mr. Sutter's performance as an assistant district attorney contradict what he says as a candidate for district attorney."
Mr. Walsh, who was Mr. Sutter's boss for nearly seven years over the challengers' two stints in the office, said: "Sam Sutter talks of never negotiating a drug trafficking case involving 100 or more grams of cocaine. As an assistant district attorney, Mr. Sutter never, ever handled a case of that magnitude."
Mr. Sutter defined major drug dealers as those charged with selling or possessing with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of cocaine, selling or possessing with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, and selling or possessing with intent to distribute 2,000 pounds or more of marijuana.
Mr. Sutter contended that from 2002 to 2005, the following occurred:
Mr. Walsh prosecuted 18 drug trafficking cases with the weight of cocaine or heroin from 100 to 199.9 grams.
Eight cases were plea bargained.
Seven cases were lost by a motion to suppress, by a motion to dismiss or by a not-guilty verdict.
Mr. Walsh prosecuted 11 cases where the weight of the cocaine or heroin was 200 grams or more.
Seven cases were plea bargained.
Three were lost by a motion to suppress, a motion to dismiss or by a not guilty verdict.
Mr. Walsh answered, "As an assistant district attorney, Mr. Sutter plea bargained 17 of 18 drug cases, almost never going to trial on major drug cases."
He added: "Mr. Sutter reduced a minimum mandatory drug dealing case (Commonwealth v. Nunez) ... in New Bedford Superior Court (in) 1996 before going to trial so, in his exact words, the 'judge could sentence any way he saw fit.' (He) got a sentence of only probation on the case, when a mandatory sentence was available."
Mr. Walsh contended, "Mr. Sutter neglected to mention that the policy of the Bristol District Attorney's Office is to recommend jail time on the vast majority of drug dealing cases."
Mr. Sutter plans to utilize electronic surveillance, or wiretaps, which he contends Mr. Walsh has abandoned; assign five Superior Court prosecutors to a special unit on gangs and drugs; employ dangerousness hearings and bail revocations more often to keep arrested drug dealers in jail until trial; and create a gang and drug-dealing database in close partnership with the police.

Contact Joseph R. LaPlante
at jlaplante@s-t.com
Date of Publication: September 13, 2006 on Page A13


Posted by: kwflatbed

Sutter funds own campaign out of his pocket

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante,
Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — Bristol District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. started his re-election campaign on Jan. 1 with $565,902 in his pocket and not one dollar of it from his own wallet, according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
Challenger Sam Sutter opened his campaign against Mr. Walsh on Feb. 8 with $5,000 and every cent of it came from him, the office reports.
Mr. Walsh has $137,621, according to office records with the primary coming on Sept. 19. He spent $110,300 during the last two weeks of August on his campaign, expenditure records show.
Mr. Sutter loaned his campaign $77,500 over the course of seven months with the latest infusion coming on Sept. 13 with another $5,000 loan. He ended August with a balance of $25,302.
With no opponent to test his electability in the campaigns of 1994, 1998, and 2002, Mr. Walsh stashed his cash like a squirrel hoarding for a hard winter.
Mr. Sutter has foraged the political landscape for union endorsements and contributions. He has received 24 individual contributions of $300 or more this year.
Mr. Walsh has collected more than twice the number of $300 plus contributions as Mr. Sutter, with 50 over the past 20 months.
Employees in the District Attorney's office were especially generous, according to campaign finance records;
Lewis A. Armistead Jr., an assistant district attorney, $500 on Aug. 17, 2005 and $500 on March 15, 2006.
Cynthia M. Brackett, an assistant district attorney, $500 on March 15, 2006.
Kevin Connelly, an assistant district attorney, $500 as an asst. D.A. and $500 as a professor at South New England School of Law.
Mr. Connelly's wife, Maria G. Connelly, a New Bedford Public Librarian $500.
Renee Dupuis, first assistant district attorney to Mr. Walsh, $500 on Feb. 10, 2005, and $500 on Feb. 8, 2006.

Joseph R. LaPlante can be contacted at jlaplante@s-t.com

Date of Publication: September 15, 2006 on Page A03


Posted by: kwflatbed

My Comment it must be nice to have all of the deep pockets lined up.
Harry


Walsh staff includes campaign contributors

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante,

Standard-Times staff writer


NEW BEDFORD — Bristol District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. built a staff of lawyers and personnel over 16 years that is a Who's Who of political names.
The Standard-Times obtained the D.A's payroll and budget from the Office of the State Comptroller through a request under the Freedom of information Act. Political contributions were tallied in two places: the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance and the New Bedford Board of Canvassers.
As state employees, his staff receives a benefits package worth thousands of dollars per employee.
Mr. Walsh declined to be interviewed and issued a written statement: "Sitting for an interview, even a critical one in an election time, comes with the territory. But sitting for an interview that will personally attack the quality and integrity of the people that work in my office is something that I will never, ever do as District Attorney of Bristol County. I am proud of all the people, including Mr. Sutter, who worked in this office and I will not be party to that kind of stuff."
Challenger Sam Sutter said, "It tells me what I already know: Politics plays too big a role under Paul Walsh. We need to take the politics out of crime fighting."
Those who contributed to the Walsh campaign include:
Joaquim "Jack" Nobrega, School Committee member — a onetime colleague on that panel with Mr. Walsh's late father — and Mr. Walsh's former basketball coach at the now closed Holy Family High School. He is listed on the payroll as "other staff," and earned $26,998 in 2005. On March 14, 2005, $100 to Walsh. On April 19, 2005, $100.
Barbara Nobrega, Mr. Nobrega's wife, who on Aug. 18, 2005, contributed $60.
Ryan Phelan, the press officer for Mr. Walsh, earned $25,077 in 2005. He contributed $150 to Mr. Walsh in two separate payments in August and March.
Kevin J. Phelan, Ryan's father, a Walsh high school teammate and now his landlord as the president of Archer Building Corp., is the owner of the office building occupied by the district attorney's office at 38 Rock St. Fall River. Mr. Phelan, an assistant district attorney, earned $24,000 in 2005. He did not contribute.
Gerald T. FitzGerald, former managing editor of The Standard-Times, an assistant district attorney who earned $93,910 in 2005. He contributed $500 in March 2005 and March 2006.
Douglas MacLean, son of former Sen. William Q. "Biff" MacLean, an assistant district attorney, earned $42,579 in 2005. The former senator contributed $500 in March 2005 and March 2006.
Former State Rep. Joseph B. McIntyre, an assistant district attorney, earned $24,000 in 2005. He contributed $450 to Mr. Walsh in separate payments in March and July of 2005 and April 2006.
Ann O'Neil-Souza, a former Fall River City Councilor, hired after Mr. Sutter, a Fall River lawyer, announced his candidacy for D.A., a manager, had earned $15,601 through August. She contributed $140 in August.
Christopher M. Markey, son of former New Bedford mayor and retired District Court Judge John A. Markey, an assistant district attorney who earned $79,884 in 2005. He contributed $60 in August, 2005, $100 in March, 2006 and $60 last month.
Muriel R. Foster, wife of Sen. MacLean's nephew, a victim witness worker, earned $28,038 in 2005. She contributed $25 that year.
Mr. Walsh formerly employed two New Bedford politicians and officeholders: School Committee member Eric Pope and Ward 3 City Councilor Jose DeMedeiros.
Mr. Pope, as support staff earned $25,564 in 2005. Mr. Pope has no record of contributing money to Mr. Walsh.
Mr. DeMedeiros, who was a spokesman for Mr. Walsh and left to take a job at UMass-Dartmouth as director of alumni affairs at $64,000 per year, a significant hike from $41,538 in 2005. The Committee to Elect Joe DeMedeiros contributed $100 to Mr. Walsh in March and he contributed $100 in March, 2006.
Not everyone employed by Mr. Walsh contributed to his campaign. They included:
n Diane Saunders, daughter of New Bedford City Councilor John Saunders, is support staff, and earned $27,269 in 2005. nothing
Fall River City Councilor Joseph Camara, support staff, hired this year during the county wide re-election campaign, and had earned $13,888 by the third week of August.
Wilfred Driscoll III, grandson of former Fall River Mayor Wilfred Driscoll and the son of Wilfred Driscoll Jr., works as other staff, and earned $30,539 in 2005.


Joseph R. LaPlante can be contacted at jlaplante@s-t.com
Date of Publication: September 15, 2006 on Page A03


Posted by: kwflatbed

Sutter seeks positive signs along roadways

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante,
Standard-Times staff writer

SOUTH ATTLEBORO — Sam Sutter's campaign for Bristol District Attorney deployed north from Fall River yesterday morning with 40 volunteers on a yellow school bus.
They were fortified in spirit by the memory of dozens of passing motorists honking their car horns in approval a day earlier in the South End of New Bedford where they held aloft banners proclaiming police endorsements and waved red, white and blue Sutter signs.
Logistics in the closing days of the campaign against incumbent Paul F. Walsh Jr. called for more sign-holding, and some hand-waving yesterday, this time in the northern end of Bristol County to draw voters to tomorrow's Democratic primary.
"I'm so nervous with it so close," said Dottie Sutter, the candidate's wife, as volunteers milled, waiting to board the bus outside his law office, which doubles as campaign headquarters in a converted mill off Plymouth Avenue in Fall River.
The volunteers were fortified in body yesterday by several dozen chourico and green pepper sandwiches prepared by Angie Medeiros, Mrs. Sutter's aunt, in the wee hours yesterday morning while three loaves of banana bread baked in her kitchen. She also brought along potato chips, pickles and watermelon slices to staunch the slightest sign of hunger during the long day ahead.
"I did this last week, too," Mrs. Medeiros said after pulling up in front of Sutter campaign headquarters shortly before 10 a.m. "He's worth it. I wish I could do more. He is wonderful person."
By noon, Mr. Sutter, his wife and a small army of volunteers had alighted along the four corners of the intersection of Routes 1 and 123 in South Attleboro.
Don Kinder of Dartmouth was there holding the end of a banner proclaiming the endorsement of Mr. Sutter by the Raynham Police union. He said he joined the Sutter campaign to get "justice" for his son, Timothy Evans Kinder, 33, a correctional officer, who died in a car crash in New Bedford on Jan. 7, 1999. The other driver made a plea bargain that resulted in the OUI charge being dropped, but lost his driver's license for 10 years and was ordered to perform community service.
The day of the plea bargain, Mr. Kinder left the courthouse and drove to South Dartmouth Cemetery, where his son lays at rest.
"I got on my knees and said, 'You got partial justice today. Someday you'll get full justice,' " Mr. Kinder said. "I believe he will get full justice on Tuesday," Election Day.
While Mr. Kinder and the others waved their signs and held their banners, Mr. Sutter worked the waiting lines of cars at the red lights at the four corners, leaning his thin frame to eye level and, quickly assessing interest, saying: "Hi, I'm Sam Sutter. I'd like to be your next D.A."
Later, Mr. Sutter said, "You can tell pretty quick if they want you to talk to them or not. Maybe they smile or nod, maybe give a little wave."
With nearl