Less than a day after he said he did not know enough about the Ben LaGuer case to make an informed opinion, newly installed District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. boned up enough on the particulars to make it crystal clear that he supported his predecessor’s handling of the case as well as its outcome.
OK. Maybe Mr. Early’s position shouldn’t come as a surprise. He is, after all, taking over an office in which many of the stalwarts of the previous administration still hold sway.
Still, you have to admit that even Evelyn Wood, the guru of speed reading, would have been impressed with Mr. Early’s quick grasp of the case files and briefs in the LaGuer case, a case which has spanned some 23 years and eight new-trial motions. Keep in mind that one brief is usually some 50-odd pages long.
This is the same Mr. Early who on Tuesday of last week said he had not read any of the files or briefs in the case, and was waiting until after he had been sworn in to delve into the matter.
He was sworn in the following day, a day that was rightly solemn and celebratory, with lots of handshakes and light talk, but no heavy lifting, one would imagine.
Wrong. Apparently, Mr. Early found ample time among the swearing-in, the congratulations and the light introductory talks to get the measure of the Ben LaGuer case. He did this, he said, by huddling with the lawyers, including the lead attorney working the case.
He learned enough to issue the following statement later that night through his spokesman, Timothy J. Connolly: “The new district attorney shares the opinion of the previous district attorney that justice was done in this case and that the right person was convicted.”
The state might or might not have convicted the right person, but what is not debatable is the absolutely sloppy way in which the case was prosecuted. There are several instances of questionable moves by the prosecution, but the one that stands out most clearly at the moment is of the state withholding a fingerprint report from the LaGuer defense lawyers during the trial….
….Those who were hoping the district attorney’s office under Mr. Early would be different must have felt a chilling sense of déjÀ vu when he so quickly chose to endorse the former district attorney’s handling of the LaGuer case. What was the rush?
“I am concerned about the chain of custody, but I am convinced that it (fingerprint report) did not change the cumulative evidence in this case,” Mr. Early said. “The evidence was compelling and overwhelming.”
Mr. Early admitted yesterday that he was not a complete novice (he had read newspaper and magazines stories) on the LaGuer case.
“I believe everyone, whether they are black or white, rich or poor, has a right to a fair trial,” he said
“I am who I am. I have developed a good reputation in the legal community. My word is my bond. I will be tough on crime, while making sure everyone has a fair trial.”
I believe Mr. Early to be an honorable man. I believe he is being honest when he says he believes in the rights of even a guilty man to get a fair trial.
But I also believe he missed a golden opportunity to convince others of this by his failure to take a more measured look at the LaGuer case, and to at least launch an investigation into how the district attorney’s office and the state police lab managed to keep possible exculpatory evidence from a defendant for more than 18 years.
The old Worcester way just isn’t going to work any more.
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Good for Clive for taking New DA Joseph Early to task on this approach. If DA Early thinks he can just go back to the good old boy days with forced political donations and dumb, deaf and blind constituents stand by, he had better look again.
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Worcester needs new leadership; Early’s review of LaGuers’s case by not looking at facts but by stories of Conte employees is weak at best and not acceptable.
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Strike one for Joe, The new DA needs to understand the old boy way in Worcester is dead and if he can not change the “IMPRESSION” of the Worcester DA’s office, incompetence and failed prosecution no doubt it will be a very short four year tenure and out the door.