"Defense faces tight time limit in Probation Dept. trial" by Milton J. Valencia | Globe Staff May 08, 2014
They call it the roadmap of a trial, a story to keep jurors engaged, a defining moment for a lawyer to connect with a panel of strangers. Opening statements are the very essence of courtroom drama that translates into must-see television.
But in a real-life scenario in federal court in Boston — where there are no cameras, no scripts — defense lawyers in the trial involving the Probation Department scandal will face this ultimate challenge: Can you do it in 15 minutes?
That’s all the time that veteran US District Court Judge William G. Young will allow for each of the three defendants when the high-profile trial starts Thursday morning. The government will get 45 minutes in total, less than it usually gets, and Young scoffed when they asked for more.
“An hour and a half openings is almost inevitably boring,” the judge, known for being sensitive to jurors’ needs, told lawyers and prosecutors during a pretrial status conference last month.
Young selected 9 women and 7 men Wednesday to serve on the jury.
By many accounts, the trial entails the most complex criminal legal theory prosecutors have proposed in recent time....
So what makes an effective opening statement; what is its purpose? What helps it, or undoes it?
Keeping me awake might help.
--more--"
Call your first witness:
Ex-Probation supervisor testifies that O’Brien controlled hiring
Power, patronage are put on trial
O’Brien dictated hires, former probation lawyer testifies
"John J. O’Brien, the former commissioner, and top aides Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III are charged with racketeering and mail fraud for allegedly running their department like a criminal enterprise, selling jobs to the friends and family members of state legislators. In exchange, prosecutors alleged, the legislators significantly boosted the department’s budget. Defense lawyers have argued their clients did nothing illegal, even if it was political patronage."
Just because it was lawful(?) doesn't make it right, scum.
Top judge questioned hiring, ex-Probation official says
Victims’ families back juvenile parole measure
Family court judge testifies probation officials manipulated hiring process
On probation, at a turning point
It is for me.
"Therese Murray asked about Probation hire, aide testifies" by Milton Valencia | Globe staff May 16, 2014
A legislative aide for state Senate President Therese Murray told a federal jury Friday that she helped guide a politically connected job applicant toward a position with the Probation Department on Murray’s behalf, an applicant other witnesses have described as woefully underqualified.
It was the first testimony connecting a high-ranking legislator to the alleged corrupt hiring practices at the Probation Department.
Francine Gannon, Murray’s constituent services coordinator for seven years, testified that Murray’s friend and former campaign manager Kevin O’Reilly first lobbied her in February 2008 for a job for Patrick Lawton, whose father and grandfather were judges.
Murray herself, Gannon said, also asked her at one point, “How are we doing on him?” referring to Lawton’s hiring.
By May 2, 2008, Gannon was notified by a liaison for the Probation Department that Lawton would be offered a job the following Monday, though he had not yet been told. Murray decided she would contact Lawton’s mother, a friend, to tell her the news, Gannon testified.
“He should be all set,” Gannon said in a May 29, 2008, memo to Murray.
Two years later, Lawton, who a judge on Thursday testified was inadequate in the job and should never have been hired, resigned after he was arrested on a charge of possessing heroin.
Gannon was the sixth witness to testify in the federal trial alleging a corrupt hiring process in the Probation Department, and prosecutors sought to use her testimony to show the influence of legislators in the department’s hiring.
An aide for Murray said the Senate president would not comment on an ongoing trial. Murray has said before that she did nothing wrong in sponsoring Probation Department candidates. Defense lawyers have said they may call her to testify that patronage was a common practice on Beacon Hill.
The former probation commissioner, John J. O’Brien, and top aides Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III are charged with racketeering and mail fraud for allegedly running their department like a criminal enterprise, by directing jobs to the friends and family members of state legislators. In exchange, prosecutors alleged, the legislators significantly boosted the department’s budget, helping probation officials to build their political power, using jobs as “political currency.”
Defense lawyers have argued that their clients did nothing illegal, even if they were engaged in political patronage. In a legal victory for the defense Friday, US District Court Judge William G. Young said he will allow the lawyers to present documents showing Gannon helped people get other jobs within the trial court system, specifically as court officers, and that top officials including Robert Mulligan, then chief justice for administration of the trial courts and O’Brien’s supervisor, knew that patronage hiring was a common practice.
A judge on the Plymouth Probate and Family Court who served on a Probation Department hiring panel told jurors Thursday that she opposed the hiring of Lawton, whose appointment was one of the 40 examples of corrupt hiring that prosecutors have listed in a sweeping indictment.
Judge Catherine Sabaitis said she watched in disappointment as probation officials manipulated the hiring process on Lawton’s behalf. Sabaitis said she was told that the commissioner’s office wanted Lawton appointed.
During cross-examination Friday morning, Sabaitis agreed that she has sought the support of politicians when seeking jobs, including her judgeship. And she acknowledged that she has previously hired people who did not receive the top ranking in an interview.
“[Did] the federal government ever come down and indict you for that?” Stellio Sinnis, a lawyer for O’Brien, asked pointedly.
Gannon, a Boston native, said she had worked for former US representatives John Joseph Moakley and House speaker Thomas P. O’Neill Jr., as well as former state Senate president Robert Travaglini, before working for Murray as constituent services coordinator.
She said she would record her work, including her attempts to direct people to jobs, on a “case sheet,” and she outlined for Assistant US Attorney Karin Bell her efforts to secure a job for Lawton.
Initially, he had requested a job as a hearing officer for the Registry of Motor Vehicles, or, failing that, a position in the Department of Public Safety.
Later, Lawton’s father, Mark, a retired judge and state representative, wrote Gannon asking her to consider his son for a job as a probation officer at the Plymouth courthouse.
“I know that Jack O’Brien takes very seriously calls from your office where there is a strong interest on the part of the Senate president,” Mark Lawton wrote.
The next day, Gannon wrote the father back, saying, “The Senate president will do all she can to be of assistance.”
By mid-May, Lawton had been hired. He brought a bouquet of flowers to Gannon.
--more--"
Related: Murray aide testifies she guided people to Probation jobs
"Ex-Probation worker says ties led to job; Family’s effort called networking" by Milton J. Valencia | Globe Staff May 20, 2014
A former Probation officer from the Brockton area told a federal jury Tuesday that he used his family’s political connections to legislators such as Senate President Therese Murray to get his job in state government, saying he was getting married and was looking to make more money.
“I was hustling, to try to find a job,” said Patrick Lawton, 34, who at the time had been laid off from his job at W.B. Mason and had resigned from the Plymouth district attorney’s office after a scandal. He had been under investigation for using his work computer to circulate an e-mail about his aunt, who had been running for political office. Two years after he was hired, Lawton resigned from the Probation Department after he was arrested on charges of possessing heroin.
He denied having a drug addiction when he was hired, saying at the time he was a “weekend” drug user....
Out-frikkin'-rageous!
“Being in state government for the entirety of your career, you know how the system works, and you exploited it for you and your son’s benefit,” Assistant US Attorney Fred M. Wyshak Jr. asked Lawton’s father, Mark Lawton, a former state representative and state judge whose father was a judge and whose wife is politically connected, in what at times turned into hostile exchanges between the prosecutor and the witness....
--more--"
Good kid, huh?
Also see:
Ex-state senator spars with prosecutor in Probation trial
Judge testifies about patronage in Probation trial
"Probation officer cites link to politics; At O’Brien trial, says state senator urged her to apply" by Milton J. Valencia | Globe staff May 31, 2014
A state probation officer told a jury in the federal Probation Department corruption trial that her former boyfriend, state Senator Mark Montigny, had encouraged her to apply for the job in late 2007.
Months later she was hired, even though prosecutors and other witness have said she had few qualifications for the position.
“He could open the door for me, and I had to go through the application process, the interview process,” Kelly Manchester said Montigny, an influential Democrat from New Bedford, had told her.
But then, she said, “it was up to me.” Manchester, who was 24 when she was hired, said Montigny never told her she would be guaranteed a job.
In what escalated into a fiery exchange with prosecutors, she recanted testimony she had earlier provided to a grand jury, when she said that Montigny told her he would contact John J. O’Brien, the state Probation Department commissioner, on her behalf.
“I made an assumption [to] the grand jury; I don’t know if I answered what you want to hear from me,” Manchester told Assistant US Attorney Fred M. Wyshak in US District Court Friday, repeating that she did not recall the conversation.
Wyshak described her as a hostile witness who had been shaping testimony for the defense team.
“Every question [defense lawyer Christine DeMaso] asked you, you had an answer for,” he said.
“If she had asked me the same question [you had], I wouldn’t have remembered,” Manchester responded.
Manchester, who had worked as a substitute teacher previously and had just started as an administrative assistant in a probation program for juveniles, told DeMaso that she felt she was qualified for the job.
She had also applied for a Housing Court job earlier at Montigny’s direction, but was not hired.
“He never told me I was guaranteed to get the job,” she said.
The hiring of Manchester, in early 2004, is one of the corrupt hires prosecutors say O’Brien carried out when he served as commissioner, from 1998 to 2010.
Prosecutors say O’Brien and his top deputies Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III ran their department like a criminal enterprise, by hiring the family members and friends of state legislators over more qualified candidates.
In exchange, prosecutors contend, the state legislators routinely boosted O’Brien’s budget, helping him to build political clout as head of an agency where legislators could have their friends hired.
Defense lawyers argue their clients did nothing illegal, even if they did make political patronage hires. But prosecutors allege they committed fraud by violating the department’s policies and then creating a scheme to cover up nepotism from the judges who oversaw appointments....
--more--"
"Probation prosecutors trim their case; Will not pursue two suspect hires" by Milton J. Valencia | Globe staff June 02, 2014
Prosecutors in the federal trial alleging a corrupt hiring process in the state Probation Department said Monday that they would skip over two of the allegedly bogus hires they had initially charged in an indictment.
Assistant US Attorney Fred M. Wyshak Jr., head of his office’s public corruption unit, said prosecutors were only looking to streamline and quicken the trial. He said the charges would not be dismissed, but that prosecutors would not look to prove them....
Prosecutors say the defendants ran their department like a criminal enterprise, hiring the friends and family members of state legislators over more qualified candidates. In exchange, the legislators routinely boosted the department budget, helping O’Brien to build his political clout while using jobs as “political currency,” prosecutors said.
The defendants say they did nothing wrong, even if it was political patronage. But prosecutors allege they committed fraud by violating the department’s written policy and then creating a scheme to cover up the bogus hires from the judges who oversaw appointments....
--more--"
Related:
Two detail how they got probation jobs
Witness recalls favoritism in Probation hiring
Ex-judge says Probation hiring panel was a ‘sham’" by Milton J. Valencia | Globe staff June 07, 2014
A former judge told a federal jury Friday that she was so disgusted with the hiring process within the state Probation Department that she told her superiors she no longer wanted to participate.
“I felt totally disrespected as a judge to be part of this panel,” said Gail Garinger, a former Middlesex Juvenile Court judge who has since worked as the state’s child advocate.
She told the jury in the federal trial alleging a corrupt hiring process in the Probation Department that the process would fail to produce good-quality probation officers for the juvenile court, and she watched her top candidate, who had wowed her in the interview process, be passed over for six other people for jobs.
Four of those people had already been favored by top probation superiors in Boston, according to earlier testimony Friday, and prosecutors allege the candidates were preselected because they were politically connected.
Garinger did not know it at the time, and she testified that she told her chief justice that the process was a “sham.”
“There’s no point of having a judge sit on that panel,” she said. “I felt at best it was a waste of my two days. . . . I wanted the role to be a meaningful one for me, as a judge.”
Garinger was the fourth judge to testify about the hiring process in the state Probation Department, and prosecutors have sought to establish a theme: that the judges were unaware that probation officials who sat on hiring panels with them had already received the names of preferred candidates....
In exchange, according to prosecutors, the legislators routinely boosted the department’s budget. The jobs were called political currency....
And now you know why Massachusetts has so many stupid laws. It's a way of employing family and friends with cushy state jobs at taxpayer expense!
Related: Lawmaker says he sought help to get job for friend
I wish I had a friend that could guarantee me a job.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Former top aide to O’Brien testifies
Like a $ucker I $till purcha$ed one.
Related: Murray aide testifies she guided people to Probation jobs
"Ex-Probation worker says ties led to job; Family’s effort called networking" by Milton J. Valencia | Globe Staff May 20, 2014
A former Probation officer from the Brockton area told a federal jury Tuesday that he used his family’s political connections to legislators such as Senate President Therese Murray to get his job in state government, saying he was getting married and was looking to make more money.
“I was hustling, to try to find a job,” said Patrick Lawton, 34, who at the time had been laid off from his job at W.B. Mason and had resigned from the Plymouth district attorney’s office after a scandal. He had been under investigation for using his work computer to circulate an e-mail about his aunt, who had been running for political office. Two years after he was hired, Lawton resigned from the Probation Department after he was arrested on charges of possessing heroin.
He denied having a drug addiction when he was hired, saying at the time he was a “weekend” drug user....
Out-frikkin'-rageous!
“Being in state government for the entirety of your career, you know how the system works, and you exploited it for you and your son’s benefit,” Assistant US Attorney Fred M. Wyshak Jr. asked Lawton’s father, Mark Lawton, a former state representative and state judge whose father was a judge and whose wife is politically connected, in what at times turned into hostile exchanges between the prosecutor and the witness....
--more--"
Good kid, huh?
Also see:
Ex-state senator spars with prosecutor in Probation trial
Judge testifies about patronage in Probation trial
"Probation officer cites link to politics; At O’Brien trial, says state senator urged her to apply" by Milton J. Valencia | Globe staff May 31, 2014
A state probation officer told a jury in the federal Probation Department corruption trial that her former boyfriend, state Senator Mark Montigny, had encouraged her to apply for the job in late 2007.
Months later she was hired, even though prosecutors and other witness have said she had few qualifications for the position.
“He could open the door for me, and I had to go through the application process, the interview process,” Kelly Manchester said Montigny, an influential Democrat from New Bedford, had told her.
But then, she said, “it was up to me.” Manchester, who was 24 when she was hired, said Montigny never told her she would be guaranteed a job.
In what escalated into a fiery exchange with prosecutors, she recanted testimony she had earlier provided to a grand jury, when she said that Montigny told her he would contact John J. O’Brien, the state Probation Department commissioner, on her behalf.
“I made an assumption [to] the grand jury; I don’t know if I answered what you want to hear from me,” Manchester told Assistant US Attorney Fred M. Wyshak in US District Court Friday, repeating that she did not recall the conversation.
Wyshak described her as a hostile witness who had been shaping testimony for the defense team.
“Every question [defense lawyer Christine DeMaso] asked you, you had an answer for,” he said.
“If she had asked me the same question [you had], I wouldn’t have remembered,” Manchester responded.
Manchester, who had worked as a substitute teacher previously and had just started as an administrative assistant in a probation program for juveniles, told DeMaso that she felt she was qualified for the job.
She had also applied for a Housing Court job earlier at Montigny’s direction, but was not hired.
“He never told me I was guaranteed to get the job,” she said.
The hiring of Manchester, in early 2004, is one of the corrupt hires prosecutors say O’Brien carried out when he served as commissioner, from 1998 to 2010.
Prosecutors say O’Brien and his top deputies Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III ran their department like a criminal enterprise, by hiring the family members and friends of state legislators over more qualified candidates.
In exchange, prosecutors contend, the state legislators routinely boosted O’Brien’s budget, helping him to build political clout as head of an agency where legislators could have their friends hired.
Defense lawyers argue their clients did nothing illegal, even if they did make political patronage hires. But prosecutors allege they committed fraud by violating the department’s policies and then creating a scheme to cover up nepotism from the judges who oversaw appointments....
--more--"
"Probation prosecutors trim their case; Will not pursue two suspect hires" by Milton J. Valencia | Globe staff June 02, 2014
Prosecutors in the federal trial alleging a corrupt hiring process in the state Probation Department said Monday that they would skip over two of the allegedly bogus hires they had initially charged in an indictment.
Assistant US Attorney Fred M. Wyshak Jr., head of his office’s public corruption unit, said prosecutors were only looking to streamline and quicken the trial. He said the charges would not be dismissed, but that prosecutors would not look to prove them....
Prosecutors say the defendants ran their department like a criminal enterprise, hiring the friends and family members of state legislators over more qualified candidates. In exchange, the legislators routinely boosted the department budget, helping O’Brien to build his political clout while using jobs as “political currency,” prosecutors said.
The defendants say they did nothing wrong, even if it was political patronage. But prosecutors allege they committed fraud by violating the department’s written policy and then creating a scheme to cover up the bogus hires from the judges who oversaw appointments....
--more--"
Related:
Two detail how they got probation jobs
Witness recalls favoritism in Probation hiring
Ex-judge says Probation hiring panel was a ‘sham’" by Milton J. Valencia | Globe staff June 07, 2014
A former judge told a federal jury Friday that she was so disgusted with the hiring process within the state Probation Department that she told her superiors she no longer wanted to participate.
“I felt totally disrespected as a judge to be part of this panel,” said Gail Garinger, a former Middlesex Juvenile Court judge who has since worked as the state’s child advocate.
She told the jury in the federal trial alleging a corrupt hiring process in the Probation Department that the process would fail to produce good-quality probation officers for the juvenile court, and she watched her top candidate, who had wowed her in the interview process, be passed over for six other people for jobs.
Four of those people had already been favored by top probation superiors in Boston, according to earlier testimony Friday, and prosecutors allege the candidates were preselected because they were politically connected.
Garinger did not know it at the time, and she testified that she told her chief justice that the process was a “sham.”
“There’s no point of having a judge sit on that panel,” she said. “I felt at best it was a waste of my two days. . . . I wanted the role to be a meaningful one for me, as a judge.”
Garinger was the fourth judge to testify about the hiring process in the state Probation Department, and prosecutors have sought to establish a theme: that the judges were unaware that probation officials who sat on hiring panels with them had already received the names of preferred candidates....
In exchange, according to prosecutors, the legislators routinely boosted the department’s budget. The jobs were called political currency....
And now you know why Massachusetts has so many stupid laws. It's a way of employing family and friends with cushy state jobs at taxpayer expense!
--more--"
Related: Lawmaker says he sought help to get job for friend
I wish I had a friend that could guarantee me a job.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Former top aide to O’Brien testifies
Like a $ucker I $till purcha$ed one.
