The Freedom Bulletin

In 1987, the body of 37-year-old Peggy Hettrick was found in a field in Fort Collins, Colorado. Investigators, led by Lt. Jim Broderick, suspected a 15-year-old boy named Tim Masters because he lived near the field and created violent artwork and writing which seemed, to some people, to match the injuries to Hettrick’s body. There was not enough evidence to charge Masters, and little happened in the investigation until 1997, when Broderick decided to have Masters’ art and writing analyzed by a forensic psychologist, who supported Broderick’s theory. Masters was then charged with murder and was convicted in 1999, at the age of 27, and sentenced to life in prison, even though there was no physical evidence against him. In 2008, DNA testing excluded his DNA from the crime scene and he was cleared and released from prison.

Now, Broderick has finally been charged with eight counts of perjury for his role in Masters’s wrongful conviction. He allegedly made false statements during the investigation, preliminary hearing, and trial and faces up to 6 years in prison plus a $500,o00 fine for each count.

I think it is about time that those responsible for Masters’s imprisonment be held responsible. He spent nine years in prison, even though the evidence shows that he is most likely completely innocent. Masters’s rights were violated, and whenever someone’s rights are violated, someone is responsible for that violation and ought to be punished. In this case, the people responsible are the law enforcement personnel who tried to pin the crime on Masters despite the lack of evidence against him. The evidence so far suggests that Broderick is chief among those people, and it’s time for Tim Masters to see justice.

If you need another reason not to vote for Martha Coakley for U.S. Senate tomorrow, in addition to her political views and the fact that she called Curt Schilling a Yankees fan, she has also put clearly innocent people in jail on at least two occasions.

According to this article by Ann Coulter, in 2001, when Coakley was Middlesex County District Attorney, Gerald Amirault, who had been convicted of child molestation in 1986 despite there being no evidence to support the charges, was granted clemency by the Massachusetts parole board. Governor Jane Swift was going to go along with their recommendation, but Coakley enthusiastically lobbied Swift to keep Amirault in prison, and she agreed. Because of Coakley, Amirault remained in prison for three more years.

Additionally, in 2003, Harvard grad student Alexander Pring-Wilson was walking down the street when he was attacked by two drug dealers, both with criminal records. In the ensuing struggle, Pring-Wilson fatally stabbed one of his attackers with the utility knife that he always carried. Middlesex D.A. Coakley charged Pring-Wilson with first-degree murder for his act of self-defense. He was held without bail and convicted of voluntary manslaughter, but then was awarded a new trial and eventually pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Even if you think that Pring-Wilson acted wrongly, which I don’t, it is inappropriate to charge someone with first-degree murder for a non-premeditated death that occurred in the middle of a fight.

So, there you have it – two examples of people unjustly put in prison by Coakley. Contrary to the opinion of the Coakley supporter that I encountered at yesterday’s rally, a D.A.’s job is not to put innocent people in jail.