Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

What’s at Issue in Today’s (WEB-CASTED) SJC LaGuer Hearing

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This November 2001 report by Dan Rea encapsulated what tomorrow’s today’s hearing IS about. The hearing will be Web cast by Suffolk University Law School.

In other words, it is about our fundamental right to a fair trial. No more and no less.

This is what it is NOT about:

  • Whether or not LaGuer is innocent or guilty. Though there is much evidence, including the exculpatory fingerprint report, that someone else commited this crime.
  • Whether a 2002 DNA test proves that, fingerprints aside, LaGuer did it. In fact, four highly regarded DNA experts have concluded that the test was botched and fatally flawed due to contamination.
  • Whether a litany of distortions, distractions, and “misstatements of the factual record,” as LaGuer’s attorney called it, make it seem that the original case against LaGuer was overwhelming. In reality, the case against LaGuer was decidedly underwhelming. As I have documented, the prosecutor flat out lied to the justices of the Appeals Court last year.

    These tactics are not only outrageous, but they undermine the very core of our judicial system. If you at all can, please come to the court house, or watch the Web cast. We can’t let the prosecutor continue to get away with these shenanigans.

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    • Comments

    1. Can this be for real? NO ONE has commented on this yet?!!!

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      This should be the front page of every paper, and front paged by BMG! This guy has been in jail for 23 years on a crime he did not commit, and no one cares?!

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      p>
      I guess now I can see how the gay marriage ban could have progressed. Massachusetts must not be as great as I admired it to be. It has lost it’s heart.

    3. LaGuer’s guilt or innocence is not part of the procedure we call “criminal justice.”  Police and prosecutors are required to make arrests and win cases.  Courts are there to process cases.  Nowhere is there a watchdog devoted to ensuring that justice, or even law, is a part of the procedure.  Go to a trial sometime, not a big one, just a little case.  You will quickly get the sense of the proceeding.  Hang around too long and a court officer will ask you to leave.  They don’t want witnesses. 

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      This has been going on for many years.  With many defendants.  Now, because a new Massachusetts governor is involved, it becomes a cause célèbre. If this fellow is found innocent it won’t be because of the facts of the case, but the political waves made.

    4. That is why no one has commented. Were you expecting Deval to mention him in his inagural address today?

      • I don’t know whether LeGuer is guilty, but the evidence that he didn’t get a fair trial seems pretty overwhelming.  Now we’ll see whether the court thinks so as well.

        • Hey, DaveMB. Thanks for mixing it up. I rated your comment a 6 to offset that 3. We need some more voices of reason. As I noted on John Hosty’s post I am gathering my thoughts on yesterday’s hearing and will post them later on today when they are ready. Hey, it turns out BMG is not only good for communicating but indulging in what might be termed therapeutic writing. I feel better already.

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