In too many ways, court observers say, it was a prosecutor’s nightmare: a morally reprehensible key witness, a possible misstep by police, and too little else to make up for the shortcomings, resulting in the implosion Thursday of the state’s case against the accused killers of four people in Mattapan.
A jury’s decision to acquit Edward Washington and its failure to reach a verdict for his codefendant, Dwayne Moore, sent shockwaves through the legal community, which had closely watched the case.
Jake Wark, a spokesman for Conley, said the mood was somber in his office after the announcement of the jury’s findings, “as it is after every homicide trial, no matter what the verdict might be.’’
Thursday, Conley vowed to retry Moore, with a new trial date expected to be scheduled next week. But the opportunity to prosecute Washington is over, because authorities are legally prohibited from retrying someone who has been found not guilty, leaving only questions about what might have been done differently.
In interviews, criminal defense lawyers and former prosecutors said Conley might have waited to bring the case to trial. There is no statute of limitations for murder, meaning there was no official deadline against which he was working. With additional time, new witnesses might have come forward, evidence might have been unearthed, or scientific investigative techniques might have been discovered. But waiting carried risks of faded memories, lawyers said. Conley also faced heavy pressure to bring the high-profile case to trial quickly so that victims’ families could see justice done.
Most problematic for the prosecution was its reliance on Kimani Washington as a crucial witness, observers said. The 36-year-old career criminal admitted that he participated in the robbery, but said he left before the shootings began.
“The pivotal witness was clearly seen by the jury as being at minimum not credible and at maximum menacing,’’ said Martin Weinberg, a criminal defense lawyer.
During cross-examination by defense lawyers, Kimani Washington admitted that he abided by the street code of lying to police and acknowledged that he had agreed to testify against Washington, his cousin, and Moore, in exchange for a reduced sentence of 16 to 18 years in prison.
As if lying were only told in the street when I've got a newspaper full of 'em.
The witness admitted he had changed his story several times during interviews with police. He was also questioned about his five children by different women, his drinking and his work as a pimp, the latter was likely to be particularly troubling for jurors as they assessed his credibility as a witness, observers said.
“When you’re on the stand and admit to being a pimp, that turns everyone off,’’ said Bob Griffin, a criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor. “With a drug dealer or a drug addict, they lie, but you can usually squeeze the truth out of them. But someone who is as cold-blooded as a pimp is not someone you want to believe in.’’
Equally challenging for jurors was Kimani Washington’s deal with prosecutors, observers said.
“One has to wonder whether the jury struggled over the credibility and motivations of Kimani Washington and if the Commonwealth made too much of a deal with the so-called devil,’’ said Brad Bailey, a criminal defense lawyer who previously worked as a state and federal prosecutor.
Yet, flawed as Washington may have been, observers said prosecutors probably had little choice but to put him on the stand.
“There’s an old theory on the prosecution side that it takes a rat to catch a rat,’’ Bailey said. “You take what you can get, and in this instance, they felt the tradeoff of 16 years for Kimani Washington, who was facing life in prison, was a deal they had to make.’’
Observers said prosecutors also grappled with a police omission, namely that investigators did not test Kimani Washington’s hands for gunshot residue when they took him in for questioning in the early hours of Sept. 28, 2010.
Police did not directly respond to questions about the gunshot residue testing, referring instead to a statement released byPolice Commissioner Edward Davis saying, “We continue to extend our compassion and sorrow to the family and friends of the victims, as well as express our steadfast dedication to pursue the prosecution of Dwayne Moore.’’
Some observers said the decisions rendered by the jury should be viewed not as a loss for the prosecution, but as justice served.
“Probably nothing went wrong; what went right is a jury took a good hard look at sketchy evidence,’’ said Jeffrey Denner, a criminal defense lawyer.
One thing it proves is that Americans no longer trust authorities. Must be the never-ending lying.
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Related: I Missed the Mattapan Trial
"Acquittal and a mistrial in Mattapan murder case; Courtroom jolted; accused shooter to be tried again" by Maria Cramer | Globe Staff, March 22, 2012
One of the most horrifying murder cases in the city’s recent history, a quadruple killing that took the life of a 2-year-old boy and led to outraged cries for justice, ended Thursday with the acquittal of one defendant and a mistrial for the other.
A Suffolk jury stunned a packed courtroom of victims’ relatives who had been waiting for resolution for nearly 18 months and through seven days of deliberations. Some wept, yelled, and cursed as the jury foreman said codefendant Edward Washington was not guilty of all nine charges against him.
One woman, an aunt of the little boy, lunged toward the defense table, screaming, and had to be dragged from the courtroom by court officers who had assembled for the verdict.
“None of the victims got justice,’’ Ebony Flonory, the child’s aunt, said outside Suffolk Superior Court. The defendants “are free,’’ she said. “They can breathe. . . . My nephew was only 2. He never made it to kindergarten.’’
Flonory and other relatives had endured five weeks of trial, with graphic testimony about the killings, including photographs of bloodied victims in the street, and said they were convinced of the defendants’ guilt. Many waited near the courtroom during deliberations, even as jurors said they could not reach a unanimous decision, anxious for guilty verdicts.
Jurors said Thursday that they remained deadlocked on nine charges against Dwayne Moore, 34, who was accused of being the triggerman. He was acquitted of one charge, cocaine trafficking. A juror who requested anonymity said the jury was 11 to 1 in favor of convicting Moore on the nine other charges against him, including the slayings of 21-year-old Simba Martin; his girlfriend, Eyanna Flonory; her son, Amanihotep Smith; and Martin’s friend, Levaughn Washum-Garrison. A fifth victim, Marcus Hurd, was shot in the head, but survived. He is now paralyzed from the shoulders down.
The juror said the evidence against Washington was not strong enough for conviction.
Another juror, who also asked not to be named, confirmed that the majority of the jury wanted to convict Moore of the murder charges.
“The jury had a hard time getting everyone to agree on the testimony, and I would have liked to see him do time,’’ the second juror said. “It made me feel sad that I wasn’t able to vote the way I wanted to and see justice for the families. I feel like justice wasn’t served.’’
The decision reverberated throughout the city, which was stunned in September 2010 by the killings.
Nowhere was it more keenly felt than on Mattapan’s Woolson Street, the scene of the crime, and police officers flooded the area Thursday to watch for any tension that might erupt. City health workers prepared to fan out around the neighborhood to offer counseling services to those traumatized by the verdict. Mayor Thomas M. Menino called the outcome tragic and urged those outraged by the verdict to remain calm.
“I encourage all those who are grieving to seek the guidance of trusted friends or spiritual advisers and not act on raw emotion during this difficult time,’’ said Menino. “Our city needs to heal. We need to be good to one another and take care of our neighbors to stop the cycle of violence and prevent another tragedy like this heinous one.’’
Minutes after the verdict, a furious Delorise Flonory, the grandmother and adoptive mother of Eyanna Flonory, strode to the State House nearby, hoping to voice her outrage to Governor Deval Patrick.
Patrick was not there. Instead, she and other relatives met with his chief of staff, Mo Cowan, who said he could give them little recourse except a promise that the governor would contact them.
Late Thursday afternoon, Patrick, spoke to reporters on Boston Common and called the verdict unbelievable....
John Cunha, who defended Washington, called on elected leaders to not criticize the decision of the jurors, whom he called “heroes.’’
Elected officials “weren’t there and they didn’t hear the evidence,’’ Cunha said. “They had citizens who were there for six weeks, six weeks of their lives, conscientiously hearing the evidence.’’
*********************************
From the start, the case was difficult, hinging on the word of Kimani Washington. Prosecutors had no physical evidence tying either Moore or Edward Washington to the crime, an armed home invasion for drugs and cash....
WHAT?
Timothy Burke, a Needham defense attorney and former Suffolk prosecutor, said police and prosecutors had no choice but to rely on Kimani Washington.
“They cannot manufacture evidence that doesn’t exist,’’ said Burke, who used to prosecute homicide cases. “The only way they’re going to obtain a potential conviction is through the use of informants, as despicable as they might be.’’
Actually, they can because the FBI does it all the time.
The defense lawyers were just as aggressive in their questioning of the lead homicide detective in the case, who acknowledged police did not follow other potential investigative leads....
Yeah, they NEVER DO! It is all about GETTING the CONVICTION at ANY COST no matter what the truth!
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"In fury, families of the victims cry ‘No justice’" by Brian R. Ballou | Globe Staff, March 23, 2012
Amid the sudden wailing, she simply stood and walked out.
In the hallway, with not-guilty verdicts still being read in the courtroom, she heard sobs and angry cries of the other victims’ families streaming out. “They’ll get theirs!’’ someone shouted.
But it wasn’t until Inez Smith was outside the courthouse in the hard-lit day that she let out her own rage-stricken shriek.
And then Smith - grandmother of the 2-year-old boy shot to death in the quadruple slaying that has become known as the Mattapan Massacre - began to chant. She thrust her forefinger at the air, as though at someone she could blame, at someone who would take responsibility for her grandson’s death, and for letting the only suspects in the case go.
“No justice, no peace,’’ she chanted, as other relatives did the same. “No justice, no peace.’’ Nearby, some screamed at defense lawyers being interviewed by reporters. “Baby killer! Baby killer!’’ they said.
The trial that ended Thursday with an acquittal for Edward Washington and a mistrial for Dwayne Moore ignited fury among the family members of the four victims. Many of them believed the accused to be guilty and had looked to a verdict for closure.
Most had come to the courthouse every day of the five-week trial, witnessing the brutality of the crime through sometimes grisly testimony that included photographs of bloodied victims laying naked in the street. As the jury deliberated for seven days, some had stayed close by, fearing they would miss the verdict if they left.
But as the verdicts were being read Thursday, Ebony Flonory, the sister of the slain Eyanna Flonory, began screaming, cursing at the outcome. She lunged at the defendants’ table and had to be restrained by court officers who dragged her out.
Several minutes later, a stream of family members came out of the courthouse. Filled with shock and unresolved grief, some marched to the State House and demanded to see the governor.
Outside the courthouse, relatives huddled on the steps, some sobbing and consoling one another.
“You put a murderer back on the streets, other people can be become murderers, you understand what I’m saying?’’ Smith said. “What are we going to do? We are going to pray, we’re going to church.’’
Avis Springette, the 2-year-old victim’s aunt, said “We have to swallow this pill. It doesn’t matter how much water we drink, we can never swallow that pill.’’
Springette said she lost faith Thursday in the judicial system....
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Related: Editorial: For families, justice has to wait for retrial
"Another shock on Woolson Street; Residents feeling victimized again" by Akilah Johnson | Globe Staff, March 23, 2012
Word of the verdicts in the notorious quadruple slaying spread through the Mattapan neighborhood where the crime happened via phone calls and text messages, over porch banisters, and from the police, stationed at nearly every block along Woolson Street.
Children just home from school approached officers and a throng of reporters asking, “What happened?’’ They saw squad cars and news trucks and thought foul play had again lay siege to their neighborhood, as it did in 2010, when a toddler and three adults were slain.
Upon learning that a Suffolk Superior Court jury failed to reach a verdict on the murder charges against the alleged triggerman while acquitting the man accused of being the killer’s getaway driver, many residents said treachery was again afoot....
Boston police officers, ministers, and health workers walked up and down Woolson Street, where the slayings occurred, hoping their presence would allay fears, calm nerves, and prevent violence. But residents’ anger simmered from their porches, not in the street. The exception: a young man who police said was related to one of the victims. He stormed past a television cameraman, shoving the photographer before climbing into a sport utility vehicle.
“They should have let everybody who lived on this street be on the jury,’’ fumed Felicita Cruz, as her children played on the porch. “Who’s going to be the next baby killed and no justice?’’
Her neighbor Myriam Pierre was dismayed no one had been found guilty of the crime that “happened right over there,’’ she said, pointing to the area where the four victims were found naked and slain....
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"Mattapan jurors recount discord; Say holdout didn’t explain her stance" by Brian Ballou and Maria Cramer | Globe Staff, March 23, 2012
“We were never given a chance,’’ one of the jurors said. “She hijacked this jury. All she would say is, ‘I think, I feel, I believe.’ That was her mantra.’’
Being the lone holdout is incredibly isolating, said Linda Cox, 72, of Beacon Hill, who served on a Boston jury in 1988 and was the only juror who refused to convict a young immigrant on drug charges.
“It was terrible,’’ Cox said of the experience. “It’s really awful to have to stand up against 11 people, to be totally alone [and] to have to really rely on trusting yourself.’’
Related: 12 Angry Men
She said that in her case she did not believe the officer who testified against the immigrant. But fellow jurors told her she was being emotional or felt sorry for the defendant.
“They thought I was crazy,’’ Cox said. “I know I personally could not have voted guilty and lived with my own conscience.’’
The defendant was retried and convicted by a later jury. The conviction was overturned after Cox persuaded a former prosecutor to take the immigrant’s case.
But 20 years later, Cox said, she remembers clearly how the other jurors vilified her.
“It’s like torture,’’ said Cox, who wrote a memoir, “Lone Holdout,’’ about the experience. “It’s hard to know what’s going through this person’s mind, but I have so much empathy and sympathy for her. It’s really a tough position to be in.’’
Delorise Flonory, the adoptive mother and grandmother of victim Eyanna Flonory, who died cradling her young son, said she was “very disappointed’’ in the holdout juror, whose decision sparked the mistrial.
Flonory said she cannot bear the idea of having to sit through another trial and confront the same gruesome testimony of how her daughter and the child, Amanihotep Smith, were killed.
“I don’t think I can go through it again,’’ Flonory said. “I really don’t. It’s too much to go through the same thing again.’’
As they prepared to file into the courtroom Thursday to deliver the verdict, some of the jurors turned to the lone dissenter.
“This is what you wanted,’’ one of the jurors recalled hearing. “And you got it.’’
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