As recorded by the Globe:
"Retired judge charged with hitting officer
A retired judge has been accused of striking a police officer in Northampton. W. Michael Ryan, who retired in 2008 after 18 years on the bench, is scheduled to be arraigned today on charges of disorderly conduct and assault and battery on an officer. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported that Ryan was arrested Friday night after an officer on patrol saw him and another man changing a tire in a parking lot. The officer determined the men were intoxicated and told them not to drive. Police said Ryan, 64, refused to show identification and slapped the officer’s hand. Ryan was Northwestern district attorney from 1983 to 1988."
"Ex-judge pleads not guilty to hitting officer
A retired judge and former district attorney accused of striking a police officer has pleaded not guilty and been released on personal recognizance. W. Michael Ryan, 64, was arraigned yesterday in Northampton District Court, where he was once presiding justice, on charges of disorderly conduct and assault and battery on an officer.
Now standing in his own court -- the very definition of irony.
So how many decisions did he render when he was blasted behind the bench?
And you thought he was sipping water or coffee.
Police say Ryan and another person were in a parking lot Friday night trying to change a tire when an officer approached and, suspecting they were intoxicated, told them not to drive. Police allege that Ryan became “argumentative and belligerent’’ and struck the officer’s wrist. Ryan said he expects to be vindicated."
What does the OTHER WITNESS SAY?
"March trial likely in statutory rape case
A teenager charged with having sexual contact with a bullying victim who later killed herself is expected to stand trial in March. Austin Renaud, 18, appeared yesterday in Hampshire Superior Court, where he is charged with the statutory rape of Phoebe Prince. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said he had unspecified sexual contact last year with Prince, a fellow South Hadley High student. She was 15 when she hanged herself in January after being relentlessly bullied by Renaud’s former girlfriend and four other students. Renaud is not charged with bullying Prince. His attorney says that they were friends and that Renaud tried in vain to help her as the bullying problems escalated before her suicide."
Related: The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: She's No Princess
Oh, the poster girl was a bully herself, huh?
