Related: Massachusetts Justice: FBI Sweeps Up Stoughton
"Former Stoughton detective is guilty"
"Corruption conviction overturned for ex-Stoughton officer"
I can't breathe, readers.
"Retry ex-cop, but follow law
IT WAS a very costly mistake. Last week the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned the 2007 corruption conviction of former Stoughton police officer David M. Cohen, ruling that Cohen’s right to a public trial was violated because officers at Norfolk Superior Court closed the courtroom for three days of jury selection. As a result, taxpayer money was wasted, and a former police officer accused of severely abusing his badge is now free....
That's Massachusetts for you!
Related: Massachusetts Justice: Wrongful Convictions
And what would government know about Constitutions?
They never obey 'em!
"Former detective now a defendant; 30-year member of Stoughton police charged in federal corruption probe" by Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | January 14, 2010
He is a recently retired Stoughton police detective and a member of the School Committee, but federal authorities say 60-year-old Anthony Bickerton led a double life.
In a series of conversations secretly taped in 2008 by a convicted criminal wearing an FBI wire, the detective arranged delivery of, and purchased at reduced prices, four high-definition televisions for individuals ranging from his daughter to two fellow officers, according to authorities.
The FBI always chooses the most savory of characters, ever notice that?
Bickerton thought the televisions and a power washer he wanted were stolen, but they were provided by the FBI, authorities said. In another conversation secretly videotaped inside Stoughton police headquarters, authorities said, Bickerton gave the cooperating witness confidential records from the Registry of Motor Vehicles that the man told him he intended to use to fraudulently obtain credit cards.
Yesterday, Bickerton, a smallish, balding man, was escorted into US District Court in Boston with his hands cuffed behind his back. Clad in blue jeans, a pullover jacket, and black loafers, he had been arrested at his home the night before and charged with lying to the FBI on July, 15, 2009, about obtaining the ostensibly stolen items from the witness and about providing the motor vehicle records.
Although Bickerton looked composed and smiled at his wife, Rose, seated in the gallery, he broke down and covered his face after Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler asked him for brief biographical information, specifically the ages of his three children.
“OK, sit down for a second and just collect yourself,’’ Bowler said, as Bickerton sobbed and his lawyer, Kevin Reddington of Brockton, patted his back. “Take a deep breath.’’
Yeah, the tyrannical thieves are the WORST BABIES!
Reddingon said last night that he has known Bickerton for his entire police career and was quite surprised by his arrest. “Tony has always been a solid member of the Stoughton Police Department, well respected in the courts and in the department,’’ Reddington said. He said he had not discussed with Bickerton whether to resign from the school board but added, “That’s something he will certainly give serious consideration to.’’
Eric D. Milgroom, chairman of the School Committee, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Bickerton’s arrest. Bickerton was released after Bowler ordered him to post a $50,000 secured bond, surrender a shotgun he owns, stay away from the two former Stoughton police officers allegedly involved in the scheme with him, and confine his travel to New England.... The cooperating witness told the FBI he has served as an informant for Bickerton for more than a decade and provided him with more than $30,000 in stolen electronics, according to an affidavit by an FBI agent, David S. Bell.
Related: FBI Case File: The New Informant
Bickerton served 30 years on the force before resigning Sept. 11, after FBI agents showed up at a Portuguese social club in Stoughton and allegedly recovered two of the flat-screen televisions that the cooperating witness had provided to one of Bickerton’s fellow officers, a member of the club.... Bickerton’s arrest marked the latest blow for a police department roiled by scandals in recent years, including the conviction of a chief and a sergeant in an attempted extortion scheme. (The Supreme Judicial Court reversed the sergeant’s conviction last week.)
Stoughton’s acting police chief, Thomas Murphy, said he welcomed yesterday’s development because federal authorities finally detailed an alleged corruption scheme that had dogged and distracted the department.... Murphy said he was saddened that Bickerton allegedly used his position for personal gain, but added, “You cannot blanket [the department] and make everybody else responsible for someone else’s actions.’’
Yeah, unless they are Muslim.
Bickerton’s wife was charged with larceny last June in the alleged theft of $3,500 from Kohl’s while working in the store’s cash office. She agreed to make restitution, and a Dedham District Court judge sentenced her to six months of probation.
So it is a matrimonial enterprise, 'eh?
Another place the FBI has to help out:
The FBI has launched a preliminary investigation into allegations that a white Springfield police officer beat a black suspect with a flashlight, city officials said. Officer Jeffery Asher was seen on video shot by a bystander repeatedly hitting Melvin Jones with the flashlight during the Nov. 27 traffic stop. Jones was charged with drug possession and resisting arrest. His family says he suffered fractured bones in his face and an eye injury. Springfield’s police union has defended Asher, saying force was used during Jones’s arrest “because he resisted, not because he is black.’’ (AP)."
