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Patrick asked to clarify rape case opinion

Candidate quoted on rapist’s Web site

By Matthew Bruun TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Benjamin LaGuer


Is he going to advocate for him? These are important questions.

Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella,





LEOMINSTER— Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella wants to talk to gubernatorial hopeful Deval L. Patrick about remarks attributed to the candidate regarding the case of Benjamin LaGuer.

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'Mr. LaGuer was convicted in 1984 of aggravated rape and other charges in connection with a brutal attack on his former neighbor in July 1983. Mr. LaGuer has maintained his innocence since his arrest, and the case attracted widespread publicity.

Mr. LaGuer’s Web site quotes Mr. Patrick in a page called “testimonials.”

“I therefore have serious misgivings about the integrity of the criminal justice system in this case, as I believe any citizen would,” Mr. Patrick is quoted as saying. The testimonial identifies him as former U.S. assistant attorney general for civil rights.

The comment is not dated, and there is no further context for the remark. It was posted on the site before Mr. Patrick’s gubernatorial run.

Campaign workers for Mr. Patrick have said the candidate no longer follows the case closely. Calls to the campaign for comment on Mr. Mazzarella’s request for a meeting were not immediately returned yesterday afternoon.

Mr. Mazzarella has followed the case for years. He was the first police officer through the door of the 59-year-old victim’s apartment the morning of July 13, 1983. He had been on the force just two months.

“This was a real heinous, awful thing,” Mr. Mazzarella said yesterday. “It left scars.”

He has no doubt Mr. LaGuer is guilty.

The victim, who died in 1999, identified Mr. LaGuer in court as her attacker. Mr. Mazzarella said he was so disturbed by the case that he told the police chief at the time he wanted to quit the force.

“I said, ‘How can a human being do this to another human being?’ ” Mr. Mazzarella recalled yesterday. He stayed on the force until taking a leave of absence after being elected mayor a decade later.

The mayor said he planned to call Mr. Patrick to discuss the issue.

“I want to make sure I understand it from his end,” Mr. Mazzarella said.

Mr. LaGuer, 43, is serving a life sentence at the maximum security Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley. He has twice been denied parole, in part because he has refused to take responsibility for the crime.

He sought DNA testing of the evidence several years ago, but the results published in March 2002 further implicated him. Since then, he has contacted DNA experts seeking to have them bolster his claims the genetic material had been contaminated before testing.

Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte’s office has stood by the conviction, challenging each of Mr. LaGuer’s attempts to win a new trial and opposing his bids for early release from prison. All of Mr. LaGuer’s previous bids for new trials have failed.

Mr. LaGuer has had other high-profile backers, including former Boston University President John Silber, who testified on Mr. LaGuer’s behalf before the Parole Board. In his latest bid for a new trial, Mr. LaGuer is being represented by James C. Rehnquist, son of the late Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.

The state Supreme Judicial Court has agreed to hear Mr. LaGuer’s latest argument for a new trial, this one centering on a potentially exculpatory fingerprint report that was not shared with the defense until 18 years after the crime. Oral arguments are tentatively scheduled for December.

That report, dated the day after Mr. LaGuer’s arrest, said four sets of fingerprints collected from the base of a telephone in the victim’s apartment did not match Mr. LaGuer. It also notes the detective was notified of the results by phone.

The victim’s hands had been bound by the telephone’s cord.

At the trial in 1984, the Leominster police detective assigned to the case said only one partial print was recovered, and no results could be gleaned from it.

Mr. Mazzarella said he wants to discuss the issue with Mr. Patrick to get a sense of the candidate’s understanding of the case.

“Time and time again this guy (LaGuer) has challenged the evidence and the witness’ testimony,” Mr. Mazzarella said.

If Mr. Patrick is elected governor, Mr. Mazzarella added, then he could have some influence on the case.

“Is he going to advocate for him?” Mr. Mazzarella asked. “These are important questions.”

An unenrolled voter who backed Mitt Romney in 2002, Mr. Mazzarella said he had not thrown his support to any candidate in the general election this year.

“I actually voted for (Democrat Christopher) Gabrieli in the primary,” he said.

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