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Posted by: Gil

Drunken drive charges dropped against pols’ pal
By Dave Wedge

Boston Herald Chief Enterprise Reporter

Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - Updated: 04:25 AM EST

A politically wired campaign fund-raiser with ties to Gov.-elect Deval Patrick and former President Clinton has been cleared of drunken driving charges, despite allegedly failing sobriety tests and blowing over the legal limit on a Breathalyzer.

Suzanne Magaziner, a Patrick campaign organizer married to ex-Clinton adviser Ira Magaziner, was busted April 4 in Mansfield after a trucker spotted her swerving on Interstate 95, the Sun Chronicle of Attleboro reported.

State police who pulled over Magaziner, 54, said she had bloodshot eyes, alcohol on her breath and failed sobriety tests. She also reportedly blew a .12 on a breath-alcohol test, which is above the state’s legal limit of .08.

But the case was tossed out of Attleboro District Court on Friday at the request of a prosecutor from Bristol District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.’s Office. The prosecutor, Roger Ferris, told the Sun Chronicle the case was dismissed at the request of his superiors.

Neither Ferris nor officials from Walsh’s office returned calls.

Reached last night, Magaziner denied she had been drinking behind the wheel. Asked if her influential husband had intervened in the case, she replied “Oh my God, no.”

Ira Magaziner was an adviser to Clinton on health care and Internet issues while Patrick served in Clinton’s Justice Department.

The Magaziners have donated $2,000 to Patrick’s campaign over the past two years while family members have given another $2,500. The family also gave $2,000 to Patrick’s running mate, Lt. Gov.-elect Tim Murray, records show.

Patrick spokeswoman Cyndi Roy said the Magaziners are “friends” of the governor-elect but said, “Deval did absolutely nothing to intervene in the case.”

The Magaziners have also donated $12,000 to the campaigns of Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), and $1,000 to state Attorney General-elect Martha Coakley.

Suzanne Magaziner helped organize a 400-person fund-raiser for Patrick at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston, along with former Gov. Michael Dukakis’ wife, Kitty, Patrick’s wife, Diane, and Thaleia Tsongas Schlesinger, sister of former Sen. Paul Tsongas (D-Lowell).

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Posted by: MSP75

"Together we can" beat the charges!

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Posted by: KozmoKramer

I would have said "unbelievable", but who am I kidding.
Donate to the hacks and receive a get out of jail free card.

Quote:

Neither Ferris nor officials from Walsh’s office returned calls.

I hope the reporters crawl up their asses about this. Get their answer on the record.

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Posted by: kwflatbed

And we have four more years of this crap to look foward to.

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Posted by: OCKS

In the words of Arty Johnson from "Laugh In" Veeery Interesting

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Posted by: USMCTrooper



Mitt's only got this much more time left before I take over......and FREE 'EM ALL!

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Posted by: alphadog1

It's only the beginning...

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Posted by: KozmoKramer

USMCTrooper

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Posted by: fscpd907

A few more fun facts:

According to state trooper Brian McKenna’s report, Magaziner was “swerving” and admitted she drank “two glasses of wine” at a Providence restaurant about two hours before she was pulled over about 11:30 p.m. on Interstate 95 in Mansfield.

She failed the ‘Touch the Tip of the Pen’ Test: “Failed to touch the tip of the pen with index finger as instructed. Repeatedly reached out to touch the tip of the pen before being told to do so.”

She failed the ‘Horizontal Gaze’ Test: “Failed to keep head still numerous times as instructed.”

She failed the ‘Nine Step Walk and Turn’ Test: “Failed to touch heal to toe on all 9 steps out and 4 of 9 steps back”; “Stopped while walking”; “Stepped off the line”; “Used arms for balance”

She failed the ‘One Leg Stand’ Test: “Put foot down on count of 3 on first attempt” and second attempt; “Failed to complete the test”

She registered .12 on two breath tests


McKenna reported she was slurring, had an “odor of alcoholic beverage,” and had “bloodshot and glassy” eyes.

She was also “uncooperative,” refusing five times to allow him to handcuff her.

On the ride from Mansfield to the Foxboro barracks, she asked McKenna “approximately 20 times” if he could “just give her a warning,” the report states.

At the barracks, Magaziner refused to empty her pockets and repeatedly refused to enter a cell. After she was bailed out a few hours after the arrest, she reportedly berated the officer.

“Magaziner took it upon herself to begin lecturing me about abuse of power and made comments regarding my children,” McKenna wrote. Magaziner did not return calls.

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Posted by: Gil

Paul Walsh your interview with the Sun was complete bullshit! Had this been any other John Q Citizen you would not have thought twice about the "waste of judicial time, money and resources"


Walsh: It wasn't political

BY DAVID LINTON/SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
THURSDAY DECEMBER 21, 2006

ATTLEBORO - Bristol County District Attorney Paul Walsh Jr. flatly denies dropping a drunken driving case involving the wife of a former aide to President Bill Clinton because of her political connections.

Walsh maintained in an interview with The Sun Chronicle Wednesday that the case was dropped for legal reasons, saying the evidence was "pretty thin."

Prosecutors dropped the case against Suzanne Magaziner in Attleboro District Court last Friday, even before a hearing during which evidence would have been heard by a judge.

Typically, judges are asked to rule on defense motions to dismiss a criminal case.

Mrs. Magaziner, 54, of Bristol, R.I., is the wife of Ira Magaziner, a college friend of Clinton and his advisor on health care and the Internet during his presidency.

The couple is also friendly with Governor-elect Deval Patrick. Mrs. Magaziner helped organize a fundraiser for Patrick during his gubernatorial campaign.

Both donated $2,000 to Patrick's campaign, but a spokesman said Patrick did not intervene in the case. The Magaziners have also donated to the campaigns of President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY.

When told of the perception by some that the case was dropped because of the Magaziners' political ties, Walsh responded he did not know Mrs. Magaziner or her husband.

When asked whether he was asked to drop the case, Walsh responded, "I did not get a call from Bill Clinton. I did not get a call from Deval Patrick, and I didn't vote for either one of them."

Walsh said breath-test results indicating Mrs. Magaziner was intoxicated would have been thrown out before trial because state police could not produce maintenance records on the breath-testing machine kept by the state Office of Alcohol Testing.

Prosecutors were required to produce the records at the request of Mrs. Magaziner's lawyer, who asked the court to either throw out the breath-test results or dismiss the case.

"They were trying to get these records," Walsh said, adding that he was not faulting state police.

Prosecutors routinely bring drunken driving cases to trial without breath-test results, but Walsh still maintained evidence in the case was "pretty thin," with only observations of the trooper and a motorist driving behind Mrs. Magaziner, who called police.

When asked why prosecutors dropped the case before a judge had a chance to hear testimony and arguments, Walsh responded it would have been a "waste of judicial time, money and resources" to proceed with a case he felt could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Walsh said he made the decision after consulting with Roger Ferris, the local prosecutor on the case. Ferris said earlier he was "directed" to drop the case, but declined to say by whom. He did not say his superiors told him to drop the case as reported in Tuesday's Sun Chronicle.

Mrs. Magaziner was arrested just before midnight on April 4 on Interstate 95 in Mansfield after another motorist reported a vehicle in front of him was driving erratically.

He called state police on his cell phone, and a dispatcher told him to continue following the suspect vehicle until a state trooper could intercept it.

Trooper Brian McKenna then followed Mrs. Magaziner's Chevrolet Suburban and stopped it, allegedly after seeing the vehicle weaving on the highway, according to his police report.

Mrs. Magaziner admitted to having two glasses of wine earlier in the evening, but denied being drunk. She allegedly failed a field sobriety test and took a breath-alcohol test which indicated she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12 percent. The legal limit for intoxication is 0.08 percent.

Although Walsh said it was not rare to drop a case before a judge has a chance to hear defense motions, a lawyer who has represented the 2,200-member state police union said it was unusual.

"Obviously you have the independent observations of a motorist, which is beneficial to the case," said Timothy M. Burke, who now represents troopers in private cases.

Burke noted that the arresting officer also made his own observations before pulling over Mrs. Magaziner's vehicle.

"Certainly in this case, a judge or a jury should have had the opportunity to determine her guilt or innocence," Burke said.

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Posted by: 4ransom

Welcome to the "I'm Deval Patrick and what i say goes" era

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Posted by: Deuce

Quote:

Originally Posted by USMCTrooper Mitt's only got this much more time left before I take over......and FREE 'EM ALL!

He's showing everyone the size of his.. well, you know...

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Posted by: irish937

Now I'm no Republican or Democrat, but this goes on with BOTH sides. I feel for the trooper who did his job and got shit on because of it. I love how some people THINK they are above the law. "Don't you know who I am???" or, my favorite, "I'll have your badge in the morning!!" I could go on and on........lol

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Posted by: dcs2244

The best part is how all the lemmings reading the article in the paper will automatically blame the "stupid cops" for messing-up DA Walsh's case... </IMG>

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Posted by: Delta784

Melanie's Law, my ass.

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Posted by: Deuce

Loozer politicians are the biggest drunks out there. You don't really think they're gonna make tougher OUI laws do ya?

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Posted by: PBC FL Cop

I know I've have been out of Mass for a while, but isn't a .12 prima facia evidence that one is operating under the influence of alcohol??

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Posted by: Gil

Quote:

Originally Posted by PBC FL Cop I know I've have been out of Mass for a while, but isn't a .12 prima facia evidence that one is operating under the influence of alcohol??

Yes, the whole dismissal issue is pure bullshit! Walsh is an idiot that was looking to make sure the right people are happy considering he will be job hunting in the near future...

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Posted by: OutOfManyOne

Don't kid yourselves, shit like this happens all the time if you got the dime.

The way they dismiss theses now, is try to show the stop was no good and everything after that was no good.

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Posted by: New Hire

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gil Yes, the whole dismissal issue is pure bullshit! Walsh is an idiot that was looking to make sure the right people are happy considering he will be job hunting in the near future...

Who? Judge Walsh??

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Posted by: irish937

The way I read this there was still clear evidence of an OUI even without the BT. Talk about a slap in the face to citizen and the trooper. Apparently, the word of a defendant was more believable. "The case was pretty thin, with only the observations of a trooper and a motorist driving behind Mrs. Magaziner." Hey, whatever gets you to sleep at night Mr. Walsh. Maybe it would have been different if she hit your wife and kids and killed them. Oh well. I hope this is this the outgoing DA in Bristol County. What he says doesn't even make sense. What an absolute piece of garbage.

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Posted by: bbelichick

Quote:

Prosecutors routinely bring drunken driving cases to trial without breath-test results, but Walsh still maintained evidence in the case was "pretty thin," with only observations of the trooper and a motorist driving behind Mrs. Magaziner, who called police.

I've seen plenty of convictions with the testimony of the Officer alone...add in a motorist and you've got a pretty damn good case.

For a long time, NOBODY took the BT and I didn't see any dismissals...but then, none of those poor souls worked for the Governor.

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Quote:

Originally Posted by New Hire Who? Judge Walsh??

yup and Free Them Duval

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Posted by: Barbrady

Quote:

Originally Posted by fscpd907 and admitted she drank “two glasses of wine”

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Posted by: Gil

Gee, I had one the other night, observed driving, crossing the double yellow twice. Failed alphabet, finger to nose, one leg stand and the nine step. She blew .15 on the test. Admitted to having only one drink (don't they all). Let's see if Walsh tosses this one too because of thin evidence.

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Did she donate to Patrick ?????

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Posted by: alphadog1

Most of the state legislators are defense attorneys, who yield influence in their district, in particular the district court house. Remember when they attempted to kill Melanie's law? Then came the public outcry and the threat of losing millions of Federal highway funds to force the legislators to pass it into law.

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Posted by: Unregistered

Walsh was famous for telling his young ADAs to go ahead and try the hard cases. I guess this one was too easy a conviction.

If Sam Sutter, former MADD prosecutor of the year, has any balls he'll refile the case immediately after he takes office as Bristol County DA next week.

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Posted by: alphadog1

The new prosecutor absolutely should indict her when he takes office.

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Posted by: SOT

Hey maybe there's a RICO case in this...bring it to the FEDS!

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Posted by: Gil

LETTER: Sutter can file Magaziner case

Sutter can file Magaziner case

District Attorney Sam Sutter's predecessor, Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr., made a number of political gifts to criminal defendants in the last days of his administration.

Some, like the case of 18-year-old former New Bedford High School basketball star Brian Rudolph, who got a three-year continuance without a finding with no jail time after admitting he stabbed 19-year-old Jose Raposo in the back, are over.

The drunken-driving case against politically connected Suzanne Magaziner is not.

As many Bristol County residents know, Ms. Magaziner is the wife of a nationally renowned Democratic fundraiser and former Clinton aide, Ira Magaziner.

Ms. Magaziner was arrested late at night on April 4, 2006, on Interstate 95 in Mansfield after another motorist saw her driving erratically and called the state police.

The arresting officer, Trooper Brian McKenna, also saw that she was operating erratically before he stopped her.

Ms. Magaziner admitted she had been drinking, failed a field sobriety test and took a breath test that indicated she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12 percent. The legal limit for intoxication is 0.08 percent.

About a week before Christmas, Mr. Walsh directed one of his assistants in Attleboro District Court to drop the case.

As an experienced criminal lawyer and recipient of a Prosecutor of the Year award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Mr. Sutter is well aware that this is a strong case for the prosecution, and that Mr. Walsh's explanations to the press are, to say the least, not believable.

A case that is dismissed by the prosecution before trial can be filed again by the district attorney.

In his inaugural speech on Jan. 3, Mr. Sutter promised the people of Bristol County that his office will aggressively pursue crime, and that there will be no deals for the politically connected in his administration.

Here is his chance to show the people of Bristol County that he meant what he said.

CHRIS WENZLER
Dartmouth

Date of Publication: January 10, 2007 on Page A13

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Posted by: Jeepy

I hope Sutter pursues this and I'd love to see Walsh charged with "obstruction of justice."

I voted for Healey, not Deval. I'm worried, like a lot of you here are, that the Deval Patrick Era will be a long and painful one for us.

Meanwhile, I applaud the person who called in the drunk driver (I've done it myself in the past) and I applaud everyone involved who's done the right thing so far. I truly hope that Walsh pays for obstructing this case and Sutter proceeds with the prosecution against the drunken broad.

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