The ball is now in Sandra Hautanen’s court. Ben LaGuer’s team of pro bono lawyers headed by James C. Rehnquist filed their brief in the Supreme Judicial Court yesterday. It is posted as a PDF file to BenLaGuer.com. Go there to read it in full. The brief is focused on the fingerprint issue and has some pointed thing to say about the Appeals Court ruling it is seeking to reverse. For instance, Rehnquist asserts that the precedent it sets would:
… eviscerate defendants’ constitutional right to a fair trial.
In another development, attorney Debra S. Krupp filed an appearance on behalf of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, a state agency which intends to submit an amicus brief in support of LaGuer.
Sandra Hautanen, by the way, is the assistant district attorney who will be arguing the case for the Commonwealth. She now has until October 11 to file her brief. There will be much more on her in subsequent posts.
I think most people would say there is reasonable doubt as to whether Ben LaGuer committed that crime. Thanks for the post and link, Speaking Out.
Thanks for your comment JP. I’ve been reading the brief through again this evening and am equally impressed.
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It is also significant that the Committee for Public Counsel Services has signed on to file an amicus. I wouldn’t be surprised if other groups do as well. Think about it. Would any defense lawyer anywhere (regardless of what they think about LaGuer) want to see a precedent stand that says it’s a-okay for police and prosecutors to withhold and possibly destroy key exculpatory evidence and then when they get caught 18 years later in effect say, “oops, but it wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.”?
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I think not. And that’s one of the several reasons this case is going to get a lot of well-deserved attention when it gets into court in December.
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And don’t forget, Worcester will have a new District Attorney elect by then and (unless something very unforeseen happens) his name will be Joe Early Jr.. He seems like a good guy and from what I can tell he gets it on the LaGuer case.
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That is good news indeed. But focusing some roots (net and otherwise) attention on the end game, which will come after the elections, will be very important. So I appreciate your taking the time to read the brief all the more.
I’m not sure what the algorithms are that move posts up to the recommended list at various times. But I’m grateful this post made it here during this mega-high traffic time. This is going to be a great case to watch.