The Freedom Bulletin

Here is the latest news in a couple of trials that the Freedom Bulletin has been following:

Catherine Greig, girlfriend of reputed South Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, may plead guilty. Captured in California with Bulger after 16 years on the lam, she is facing trial on May 7 of one charge of conspiracy to harbor a fugitive. Relatives of Bulger’s alleged victims say that they are scheduled to meet with the U.S. Attorney’s Office tomorrow to discuss the possible plea. However, according to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, even if she pleads guilty, Greig is still unlikely to testify against Bulger. Her lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said that she would never do this, at least as long as he is representing her, and federal prosecutors would be unable to force her to do so because it would violate her Fifth Amendment rights. In any case, there does not seem to be a plea deal in place. Greig faces up to 5 years in prison on the conspiracy charge, but federal sentencing guidelines suggest 33 to 41 months, and her lawyer will likely ask for a lesser sentence. Last year, prosecutors mentioned the possibility of filing additional charges against Greig, but they haven’t yet done so. More details will certainly come out on Wednesday, when she is scheduled to be in court for a pretrial hearing.

Bill St. Croix, whose sister was allegedly killed by Bulger, said, ”I imagine she’s old school…and is going to keep her mouth shut and take one for the team. I don’t think she would cooperate against Jimmy unless Jimmy and her had discussed this prior.”

Thomas Mortimer, the Winchester, MA man accused of murdering his wife, two children, and mother-in-law, was in court last week as lawyers argued about whether his medical and psychiatric records should be turned over to prosecutors. According to the Winchester Star, his defense team did notify the court on February 3 that he may plan to use an insanity defense. (Defense attorney Denise Regan filed, but then withdrew, a motion to impound this notice, hence the press only just found out about it.) The records that prosecutors are trying to access include notes taken by a social worker who Mortimer and his wife, Laura, went to, as well as records from Bridgewater State Hospital, where Mortimer spent 30 days after his arrest.

3/12 update: It’s official: Greig is pleading guilty. According to the Boston Globe, she filed a document today agreeing to plead guilty to conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud, and conspiracy to commit identity fraud. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, which a judge could order her to serve either concurrently or consecutively. (She could, of course, get less time.) There is no plea deal, meaning that there is no agreement between Greig’s defense team and the U.S. Attorney’s Office about her sentence. Federal prosecutors have not said what sentence they will seek, but according to relatives of Bulger’s alleged victims, who met with them today, Greig will not have to testify against her boyfriend, and she will not have to forfeit her Quincy home. She admitted today in a signed statement, ”I engaged in conduct that was intended to help Bulger avoid detection from law enforcement and to provide him with support and assistance during his flight from law enforcement.” She also admitted obtaining false drivers’ licenses and Social Security cards and using these to pick up medicines and receive medical and dental services for herself and Bulger. But she denied ever using these fake identities to defraud anyone of money or property.

This was a good week for defendants in three completely different and unrelated criminal cases:

First, on Thursday, Gabe Watson, who was accused of drowning his wife, Tina Thomas Watson, during a scuba diving trip in 2003, was acquitted by a judge. Before jurors got to deliberate, Judge Thomas Nail granted the defense’s motion for acquittal, stating that the evidence was “sorely lacking” and that it was impossible to tell what had actually happened. Previously, Watson pleaded guilty to manslaughter by negligence in Australia, where the ill-fated diving trip took place, and served 18 months in prison there. After returning home to Alabama, he faced a murder case which, had he been convicted, could have resulted in life in prison.

On Friday, charges were dismissed, due to a lack of evidence, against two Swedish businessmen who were accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in a New York hotel. Niklas Adalberth and Jens Satlin are executives at a high-tech startup called Klarma, and they are lucky enough to have been welcomed back by their company, which issued a statement saying that its employees had done nothing wrong. In this respect, they are much more fortunate than a certain former chief of the International Monetary Fund who was accused of sexual assault, but also had the charges dismissed, by the same district attorney’s office. On a similar note, Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance and his office earlier declined to charge Greg Kelley, a news anchor and the son of New York police chief Ray Kelly, in a rape investigation last month. Maybe, after dismissing the very high-profile charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the D.A.’s office is afraid of appearing inconsistent. Or maybe they have simply decided to thoughtfully consider the strength of each case before going to trial. Given how severe a punishment it is to even face a criminal trial, especially for an accusation as serious as rape, this would by no means be a bad thing.

On Saturday, former Italian president Silvio Berlusconi was let off the hook in a bribery trial. He was accused of bribing his former lawyer to provide false testimony in two previous trials, but a judge ruled that the statute of limitations had run out. The previous trials took place in the 1990s, and the statute of limitations is 10 years, but the clock stopped when he served as prime minister, from 1994-1995, 2001-2006, and 2008-2011. In case this isn’t confusing enough, Berlusconi still has three other trials ahead of him, involving corruption, tax fraud, illegally leaking information, patronizing an underage prostitute, and abusing his power by getting her out of jail in a theft case. But Berlusconi was not necessarily happy about this most recent ruling. One political ally, Osvaldo Napoli, said, ”Timing out does not give justice to an innocent man like Silvio Berlusconi.” Berlusconi himself expressed similar thoughts before the verdict, saying that in total he had attended 2600 court hearings before 900 magistrates, been visited 588 times by various police organizations, and spent 400 million euros in legal fees, which he called ”a record for the universe and the entire solar system.”

Are these acquittals the right decision, or are they examples of guilty people getting away with crimes? Most likely we will never know. But it is always better to err on the side of giving a guilty person the benefit of the doubt than on the side of too zealously prosecuting an innocent person.

Thomas Mortimer IV has had several court hearings dealing with his finances and how much he should have to pay towards his court-appointed defense attorney, Denise Regan. But the problem is still not resolved. According to the Boston Herald, the case will be going to the Supreme Judicial Court, the highest court in Massachusetts.

Mortimer, of course, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of his son, Thomas “Finn” Mortimer V (age 4), daughter, Charlotte Mortimer (age 2), wife, Laura Stone Mortimer, and mother-in-law, Ellen Stone, in their Winchester home in June 2010.

The state of Massachusetts has, in a way, put Mortimer in a conundrum, according to court papers filed by his defense team. Shortly after his arraignment, a judge told him that as long as he paid $40,000 toward his defense, taxpayers would pick up the rest. He was expected to get the $40,000 by cashing in a $25,000 college fund for his children, a $13,000 IRA, a $1,000 checking account, and two cars. But at least some of these assets are in Laura’s name or both of their names, and according to a state law called the Massachusetts Slayer Statute, accused killers are not allowed to benefit from the assets of their alleged victims. So, because of a law passed by the legislative branch, Mortimer can’t get the money that the judicial branch ordered him to pay.

It also emerged today that Mortimer, according to the Herald, ”remains on a suicide watch in a windowless administrative-segregation cell at the Middlesex Jail in Cambridge, naked but for a green canvas Velcro-fastened tunic. A correction officer stays seated 4 feet from him 24 hours a day.” I have to say, I think this is excessive and is on the verge of amounting to psychological torture. It’s important to prevent inmate suicides, but not at such a huge cost in privacy and dignity, especially for someone who has yet to be proven guilty of any crime.

If they plan to use an insanity defense, Mortimer’s team had to file a notice of mental health by January 20. It is unknown whether they did so. The case is likely to go before the SJC sometime in March.

On Wednesday, Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, AKA Clark Rockefeller, learned that he will face a murder trial for the death of his landlord’s son in California. A preliminary hearing took place over five days last week and the week before in Alhambra Superior Court, CA, during which prosecutors presented their case and successfully convinced a judge that there was enough evidence to send Rockefeller to trial.

The young German immigrant, whose legal name was Christian Gerhartsreiter but who at the time went by Christopher Chichester, lived in a guesthouse owned by an older lady named Didi Sohus in San Marino, CA. Her son, John Sohus, and his wife, Linda Sohus, went missing in 1985. His remains were discovered on the property in 1994, cut up wrapped in plastic bags, and stuffed in a box; hers have yet to be found. Meanwhile, Chichester moved from place to place, taking on new names, creating increasingly elaborate and prestigious background stories for himself, and getting by either on the generosity of others or by doing the best he could at various jobs, given that he possessed few of the qualifications he claimed to have. This life unraveled in 2008, when, known as Clark Rockefeller and living in Boston, he was arrested for kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter, Reigh, after a bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife, Sandra Boss. After being convicted of kidnapping and beginning his sentence in a Massachusetts jail, he was indicted in the old murder case and sent to California.

Confused yet? Here is a recap of what we learned during the preliminary hearing:

Wednesday, January 18: Jose Perez, who was digging a pool at the former Sohus property in 1994, testified that his father uncovered a bag of bones, which he initially thought was the remains of a dog. Judith Day of the coroner’s office described how the bones, still clothed, were all separately wrapped in plastic. And Medical examiner Dr. Frank Sheridan said that Sohus’s death was caused by fractures on the right and front sides of the head, made by three blows with a rounded object such as a baseball bat.

Thursday, January 19: San Marino patrolman Thomas LeVeque testified that Didi Sohus believed her son and daughter-in-law were in Paris on a top-secret mission and would not tell investigators anything more, saying that doing so could put them in danger. As time went on and Chichester mysteriously moved away, Didi became more worried and even began drinking, according to her friend, Marianne Kent. She received a postcard that was supposed to be from Linda in Paris, but Lili Hasdell, another former police officer, testified that the handwriting did not match. And Judge William Stewart, who was an attorney and friend of Chichester, testified that he lent him a chainsaw. However, defense lawyers raised the possibility of another suspect, a real estate agent who helped Didi Sohus to sell her house and also did grocery shopping for her, drove her around, and spent a lot of time with her.

Friday, January 20: According to forensic scientist Lynne Herold, four bloodstains were found on the floor of the guesthouse where Chichester lived. The blood showed “wiping patterns,” but it was impossible to determine, with the technology available at the time, whose it was. Additionally, a t-shirt found with John Sohus’s remains had cuts that appeared to have been made by a sharp object.

Monday, January 23: John’s friend, Patrick Rayermann, testified that during a conversation shortly before his disappearance, John spoke of tensions with his mother, and feeling torn between staying with her and moving out with Linda. He also described John as “faultlessly reliable and said that neither he or Linda spoke of any definite plans to go off on their own. Lydia Marano, the owner of the bookstore where Linda worked, said that their relationship “made the rest of us smile” and called her “the most trustworthy person I had working for me.” Harry Sherwood, Didi Sohus’s grandson, said that he found John and Linda’s belongings strewn about, not consistent with a couple who were making a planned, long-term move. An acquaintance, Robert Brown, said that Gerhartsreiter asked him where to dispose of drums of toxic chemicals, saying he used them for his job at USC film school. And other witnesses said that he tried to sell them an oriental rug with a bloodstain on it.

Tuesday, January 24: Mihoko Manabe, who was Rockefeller’s girlfriend for 7 years in New York, when he went by the name Christopher Crowe, testified that he became paranoid after a detective called in 1988, looking for him. He grew a beard, had her die his hair, insisted on not walking with her in public, and planned to leave the country with her, telling her to stop communicating with friends and family and to receive mail at P.O. boxes.  He began to use the name Clark Rockefeller after discovering how respectfully he was treated when he used it. After he lost his job as a bond salesman due to his fake identity being discovered, Manabe supported him and got him a credit card under his new name. She described him as someone with “a temper, but not in a physically violent way…He could be very mean.” On the same day, his next-door neighbor in San Marino, Mary Cologne, said that she saw black smoke coming from his chimney one day, which smelled “terrible.” He said he was burning carpet.

The Boston Globe also has an interesting account of Rockefeller’s interview with the FBI after he was arrested in the kidnapping case.

With Sohus’s death taking place so long ago, some witnesses seem to have fuzzy memories, and it is doubtful there will be a lot of forensic evidence in this case. It will be interesting to see whether the circumstantial evidence, which was determined to be enough to establish probable cause, will be enough to convince a jury of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Middlesex County D.A.’s office filed their brief in the appeal of Neil Entwistle, the British man convicted of killing his wife and baby daughter in 2008. They tried to refute the claims that Entwistle made in his appellate brief, arguing that police acted reasonably by entering his Hopkinton, MA home without a warrant and that pretrial publicity did not bias the jury selection process.

The Boston Herald has the full text of the prosecution’s brief here.

You can read more from the Herald and the MetroWest Daily News.

Yesterday, final arguments took place on Thomas Mortimer’s suppression motion. Mortimer, the Winchester man accused of murdering his mother-in-law Ellen, wife Laura, and children Finn and Charlotte, is trying to get the court to throw out evidence that police seized from his home after entering without a warrant to perform a well-being check.

I couldn’t be in court for yesterday’s hearing because it was the first day of my new job, but according to news reports, Judge Leila Kern indicated that she will probably deny the motion. ”It’s very hard for the court to find that there was no ample evidence that either the entry was OK at the time or there was an inevitability of discovery,” she said, adding that Laura’s concerned sister would have eventually broken into the house and discovered the bodies anyway.

Mortimer’s attorney, Denise Regan, argued that the police and firefighters “had no bad intentions, but they did enter the home. For that reason, their misconduct is severe.” But prosecutor Adrienne Lynch said, ”It would contradict the response of an emergency if they were to do a full investigation before entering the home.”

The judge won’t make her decision official until January 13.

Sources: Winchester Patch and Winchester Star

I just realized I never blogged about the Amanda Knox case…probably because I never followed the trial too closely. Even though it’s been a little while since she won her appeal and returned home to America, I figured I would post my thoughts after reading up on the case.

Knox, an American exchange student, and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering Knox’s roommate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia, Italy. A drifter and drug dealer, Rudy Guede, was also convicted of playing a part in her death; he says he was there but Knox and Sollecito did it.There appeared to be DNA evidence linking Knox and Sollecito to the crime, but it turned out to be contaminated and unreliable. Knox also looked suspicious when she tried to pin the murder on her employer, Patrick Lumumba, who ended up not being at the scene of the crime. And it didn’t help when she initially told police she was present in the apartment when Meredith was killed, but later said she wasn’t. But due to the unreliability of the evidence, an appellate judge and jury overturned the convictions of Knox and Sollecito and set them free.

Andrea Peyser at the New York Post compared Knox to Casey Anthony, saying that both young women were “too pretty to convict.” These two cases do have similarities, the main one in my opinion being that while both defendants lied to investigators and behaved suspiciously in some ways, there just isn’t quite enough evidence to be sure they are guilty. Peyser, who sure seems to be anti-Knox, even admits, ”the truth is murkier than a Florida swamp,” and writes, “it’s never been clear that Guede acted alone.”

Perhaps, but it’s never been clear that Guede didn’t act alone, either. If the truth could go either way, then the legal system needs to err on the side of giving the defendant the benefit of the doubt. Knox was convicted of defamation for her statements about Guede, for which she received credit for time served, just as Anthony was sentenced to time served for misleading investigators about what happened to her daughter, Caylee. They were both freed not for their looks but because there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I was happy to see Knox and Sollecito regain their freedom – especially after reading about how horribly Amanda was treated in jail – for the simple reason that no one should have their freedom taken away when there is a pretty good chance they are innocent.