The Massachusetts House passed a controversial crime bill on July 18. Defense lawyers are criticizing the controversial measure, saying the bill is unusual in that it removes "any judicial discretion in sentencing."

DORCHESTER — Katherine Gonzalves, the young woman who was allegedly assaulted and held against her will by Democratic state representative Carlos Henriquez, broke her silence at a press conference on July 11.

“My credibility has been questioned and my private life has become the topic of speculation,” Gonzalves said. “Why? Because the man I was dating hit me and he is a public figure?”
 
After reading a brief statement that was light on details, the UMass Boston student sat silently and let her attorney Rick Brody do the talking.
 
“It’s not just people who look like batterers who are batterers. Good people hit their spouses, bad people hit their spouses,” said Brody.
 
Brody said his client met Henriquez when she was doing a research paper on the so-called Three Strikes bill. That led to a relationship that ended this week.
  
Brody said the press conference was intended to counter false claims about Gonzalves in the media. But when he was asked for specific examples, he refused to give them. 
 
“Katherine is a reasonable, thoughtful, well-spoken young woman who was put in a position with this man that resulted in the criminal process,” said Brody.
 
Gonzalves’s press conference came 2 days after Henriquez emphatically denied the charges against him.
 
In a statement posted to Facebook Henriquez said: “I have been accused of some serious charges. These charges are completely untrue.” Henriquez also said stopping violence against women has been one of his top priorities, adding — “Putting my hands on a woman is contradictory to my upbringing and my own morals.”

 
Greater Boston has partnered with the Boston Globe to bring you a weekly feature called "From the Archives." Each Wednesday on Greater Boston, we will show one to two photos from the newspaper's archives. This weekly feature offers a glimpse into Boston's past.
 
This week, we look at … a terrifying murder spree.

On June 28, 1978, five bodies were found in the blood-splattered basement of the Blackfriars Pub on Summer Street in Boston. The gangland-style killing would be known as the "Blackfriars Massacre." The Suffolk County District Attorney said he “had never witnessed a more shocking crime.” Among the dead were club manager John (Jack) Kelly, a former radio and investigative television reporter who was known to associate with members of organized crime. Also killed were Charles Magarian, Peter Meroth, Freddie Delavega and Vincent Solmonte, the club’s owner. The victims were found shot in the head with either a .12 gauge shotgun, or a .25 caliber automatic or both — it was believed that there were two shooters. In 1979, Robert J. Italiano and William N. Ierardi were acquitted of the murder. They were the only suspects tried for this unsolved crime.

 
BOSTON — Attorneys for James "Whitey" Bulger got a four-month extension for the mobster’s trial, which is now scheduled for early March 2013. But one former U.S. attorney said that if Bulger’s defense is that his crimes were protected by his informant status with the FBI, it probably won’t work.
 
Bulger was never indicted for any of the 19 murders he’s now accused of committing while he was an informant for the FBI. His attorney J.W. Carney said that’s because Bulger had immunity. However, former U.S. Attorney Donald Stern said no form of immunity covers murder.
 
"It would be unprecedented," he said. "Even if there was such a deal, to, if you will, give a license to kill, prospectively — immunity is typically given, when it's given at all, for crimes that have already happened."
 
Stern also said it’s the same tactic Bulger cohort Steven "The Rifleman" Flemmi tried when he was on trial — and it didn’t work then.
 
"What Jay Carney is doing here is a variation of what was tried unsuccessfully with Flemmi. Reading between the lines, I think he was saying that the prosecutors knew about the criminal activity of Bulger and de facto essentially gave him immunity," Stern said.
 
Back in 1998, then–FBI agent John Connolly told WGBH’s Greater Boston that the FBI was consumed with bringing down La Cosa Nostra, with Bulger’s help, and for that reason essentially turned a blind eye to anything Bulger did, including murder.
 
When asked whether he had ever asked Bulger if he'd killed anyone, Connolly responded, "Well, why would I do that? He was a source. The top-echelon criminal informant program was geared towards developing top-echelon mobsters, primarily Mafia members, who by definition have all killed at least once."
 
Connolly was later convicted of racketeering and obstruction of justice for tipping off Whitey that he was about to be indicted. For that reason alone, Stern did not believe Connolly’s testimony would benefit Bulger.
 
"Connolly has been found guilty of having been engaged in a corrupt relationship between handler and informant," Stern said. "That corrupt relationship was extensive, it included Connolly's protecting Bulger and Flemmi for a significant period of time and there's evidence, obviously, that John Connolly received gifts and other things of monetary value during that relationship. What the incentive would be at this point may be simply to protect somebody who he thought had protected him in the past."

> > Hear more of the conversation with Donald Stern

 
BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick — who has advocated for immigrant needs in the past — praised the U.S. Supreme Court for striking down key provisions of Arizona's crackdown on immigrants on June 25. But Patrick wasn't entirely satisfied. He called the Supreme Court ruling a mixed bag.
 
“Most of the provisions of the Arizona law have been ruled unconstitutional. That sounds right," he said. However, "some of the things that were preserved having to do with the ability to stop and ask questions, you know, you can see how that creates a climate of fear, especially if the Supreme Court has said you can’t actually do anything with that information.”
 
Patrick has favored expanding immigrant health care options, allowing in-state UMass tuition rates and providing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. But some advocates said he has failed to push immigration issues strongly enough on Beacon Hill.
 
As he was leaving his office, Patrick got into a heated exchange with students demanding a stronger stance.
 
“You know you said you were going to do something for us — at least give us licenses. I’m undocumented and I've been here for 8 years, I'm putting myself through school right now, I'm paying out-of-state [tuition]," one woman said.
 
"And I can’t do what the federal government won’t let me do," Patrick responded. "I tried to do that. But there's a federal law that prohibits it."
 
"We can’t just live in the shadows!" she said.
 
"I understand that! I’m on your side," Patrick said. "I’ve said that a million times. These provisions aren’t before me yet. I’ve been as clear as possible, not just with you but with the legislature, that if they come to me, it’s over,“
 
There are measures pending in the legislature that would require new immigration status checks for employment, state housing and driver's licenses. Patrick said if they get to his desk he’ll oppose them, though he didn’t explicitly promise a veto.

The Supreme Court health care ruling is now expected to come down this Thursday, June 28. While we all drum our fingers, law expert Renée Landers reviewed the four possible scenarios and explains the ramifications of each. 

Catherine Greig. (Mugshot)

BOSTON — A lawyer for Catherine Greig, 61, the girlfriend of James "Whitey" Bulger, has filed a notice saying she will appeal her sentence. On June 12, Greig was given 96 months in prison for her role in helping him avoid capture for over 16 years. She must also pay a $150,000 fine.

Greig pleaded guilty in March to charges of conspiracy to harbor a fugitive and identity fraud. Speaking after the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said she got the punishment she deserved. "Miss Greig was no victim. She made choices of her own free will. And so as a result she's paying the price for those choices that she made," she said. 
 
Five family members delivered emotional victim impact statements earlier that day. One man, referencing the suicide of Greig's brother, said to her, “I could see why your brother killed himself. I would kill myself too, if you were my sister." At that, the courtroom gasped and Greig started to shake.
 
Greig's attorney initially sought a more lenient sentence of 27 months, pointing to Greig's lack of a criminal record.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Howie Winter, undated mug shot. (Wikipedia)

BOSTON — Massachusetts prosecutors have announced the arrest of 83-year-old former Boston-area gang boss Howie Winter, a predecessor of James "Whitey" Bulger as head of the Winter Hill Gang in the 1960s and '70s, on attempted extortion and conspiracy charges.

The Middlesex District Attorney's office said Winter, of Milbury, and 70-year-old James Melvin of Braintree were arrested the night of June 7. They are accused of attempting to extort $35,000 from each of two individuals who had arranged a $100,000 business loan for a third man last fall.

Prosecutors said the alleged victims began getting threatening phone calls after the borrower stopped making payments in January. 

Winter and Melvin are charged with attempted extortion and conspiracy and are to be arraigned on June 8 in Somerville District Court. It was not immediately determined if they have attorneys.

> > More about the charges from our partners at Wicked Local

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press

May 31, 2012

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON — In a landmark decision, on May 31 a Boston federal appeals court declared the heart of the Defense of Marriage Act, called DOMA, unconstitutional. The 1996 law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
 
The three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeals in Boston ruled unanimously that the law unconstitutionally discriminates against same-sex couples. 

The panel included two Republican appointees. It is the first time a federal appeals court has struck down parts of DOMA.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose office filed the suit, hailed the decision, saying DOMA damaged Massachusetts families everyday.

“We’re aware of veterans who would not be able to be buried in a veterans cemetery with their loved one, their married partner. They are married under Massachusetts law. But for purposes of federal law they would not be considered married and not be able to be buried together," she said, citing also couples who have not had access to health care, Social Security and other survivor benefits.

Mary Bonauto, the lead attorney for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, said the ruling affirmed the constitutional rights of the 17 plaintiffs. "Having worked with these seventeen people for these many years now, and knowing these many burdens DOMA imposes on them, I am thrilled," she said. "And I’m thrilled in part because the court couldn’t be clearer that a big part of its ruling is that these plaintiffs have the right to secure equal protection of the law on the same terms as others. That is the promise of America, and that is the foundation of this decision."
 
The court did not rule on a more politically explosive provision of DOMA, which says that states without same-sex marriage do not have to recognize same-sex unions performed in states such as Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal. Nevertheless, Coakley called the ruling a big deal, saying, "This is a great day for Massachusetts for civil rights and for all same-sex couples in Massachusetts who are married or who will be.”

But Kris Mineau of the Massachusetts Family Institute said liberal states such as Massachusetts are trying to define marriage for the nation: "This court has the audacity to hold the federal government hostage and demand the government recognize Massachusetts’ radical social experiment and bestow its benefits upon it."

The ruling is now expected to wind up before the Supreme Court. Mineau said he was confident the court will see the "eternal logic" of defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

> > READ: Legal documents from the case
 

May 23, 2012

BOSTON — Despite the Supreme Court's decision not to hear his appeal, a former Boston University student facing a $675,000 fine for downloading and sharing 31 songs via the online file-sharing network Kazaa has vowed to continue his fight against the group of record companies suing him.

While free downloads mean lost revenue for musicians, Joel Tenenbaum said that many recording artists had no problem with online file sharing. "Music fans love the artists," he said, adding that the lyricist for the Grateful Dead testified at his trial that "familiarity, not scarcity, creates value." 

"The music business will never cease to exist in some form because it does what humans fundamentally need to do, which is share art," Tenenbaum added.

The case is currently before U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel, who will decide whether to impose the penalty, ask the Recording Industry Association of America whether it will accept less money from Tenenbaum or order a new trial. 

The playlist

Tenenbaum faces the $675,000 penalty for illegally downloading 31 songs. You've probably heard some of them yourself. Perhaps you even own them ... one way or another. Here they are, legally and for free on Grooveshark.

Aerosmith — Pink; Water Song/Janie's Got a Gun
Beastie Boys — (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)
Beck — Loser
Blink-182 — Adam's Song
Deftones — Be Quiet and Drive
Eminem — Cleaning out My Closet; Drug Ballad; My Name Is
The Fugees — Killing Me Softly
Goo Goo Dolls — Iris
Green Day — Minority; Nice Guys Finish Last; When I Come Around
Incubus — New Skin; Pardon Me
Limp Bizkit — Rearranged; Leech
Linkin Park — Crawling
Monster Magnet — Look to Your Orb for the Warning
Nine Inch Nails — The Perfect Drug
Nirvana — Come As You Are; Heart-Shaped Box
OutKast — Rosa Parks; Wheelz of Steel
Rage Against the Machine — Guerrilla Radio
The Ramones — The KKK Took My Baby Away
Red Hot Chili Peppers — By the Way; Californication; My Friends
Smashing Pumpkins — Bullet with Butterfly Wings

List source: Wikipedia.
 

 
BOSTON — Massachusetts lawmakers are trying to close a loophole in the state's drunk driving law that was brought to light in a recent Supreme Judicial Court decision, Paul Souza v. The Registry of Motor Vehicles.
 
In 1997, Souza was arrested for the first time for drunk driving. Like many other first-timers, he was able to make a deal with the judge. He pleaded to what's known as a CWOF — a "continuation without a finding." It’s similar to but not technically the same as a guilty plea.
 
If Souza stayed out of trouble for a year, his case would be dismissed. And that's what happened.
 
In 2010, Souza was caught drunk driving again. He refused to take a breathalyzer test. Under the law, because this was his second offense, Souza should have gotten his driver's license revoked for 3 years.
 
But Souza’s lawyers argued, and on May 17 the state Supreme Judicial Court agreed, that because his first offense was a CWOF and not a conviction, his second offense should have been considered his first offense. So instead of having his license revoked for 3 years, it should have been revoked for just 6 months.
 
State Sen. Katherine Clark of Melrose said because of the Souza ruling, thousands of drunk drivers could get behind the wheel much sooner. "There are almost 30,000 court cases since 2008 where defendants have pled to continued without a finding. And if they were to re-offend and we did not change the law, then potentially, they would not be subject to all the enhanced penalties for a second offense," she said.
 
Clark, along with Attorney General Martha Coakley and key members in the House and Senate, want to change Massachusetts' drunk driving laws to make CWOFs count as convictions. The Senate could approve the change in the law as soon as next week. Lawmakers in the House are also pledging swift action.
 

 
BOSTON — On Monday, Attorney General Martha Coakley called for an amendment to the state's open meeting law. The need for change comes as no surprise to those who have followed the State Integrity Investigation, a nationwide look at corruption risk.

Massachusetts flunked the "public access to information" category on the SII report card. Investigators found that while citizens have a legally enshrined right to government information and records, in practice those rights are hard to access. The state earned a C overall, placing it 11th in the nation for corruption risk.

"The amendment would clarify the standard for a finding by the AG of an intentional violation of the Open Meeting Law," Coakley said in a statement.
 
The current law states that a violation is considered "intentional" if it occurs after the official or governmental body has been given a warning by a court or prosecutor. Coakley's change would add situations where the board or member "acted with specific intent to violate the law" or "with deliberate ignorance of the law’s requirements."

The Massachusetts Legislature is exempt from the open meeting law.
 
The attorney general's office plans to hold a public hearing on the regulation in July.
 
> > READ: The AG's press release

 
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick said on Thursday that he hoped the resignation of Carl Stanley McGee would let the new state Gaming Commission proceed with its work. McGee had been appointed interim executive director before concerns surfaced over a sexual assault accusation.

Patrick defended the appointment, however, saying, "The charges that were made in Florida against Stan were serious, they were investigated, there were no charges. And he and anyone else under those circumstances should be able to resume their life." McGee has worked for the Patrick administration since 2007. He is expected to return to his job as assistant secretary for policy and planning, where he was charged, among other things, with crafting the state’s expanded-gambling law.

The group Mass. Citizens for Children is calling for Patrick to place McGee on administrative leave and conduct further investigations.

“You don’t have to have CSI”

The mug shot from Stan McGee's 2007 arrest in Florida. (Wikimedia)

In 2007, McGee was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in Florida. Authorities there chose not to prosecute — but later, McGee reached a civil settlement with the boy’s family. In a press conference Tuesday at the Beacon Street offices of Mass. Citizens for Children, attorney Carmine Durso said the details of that settlement should be made public.
 
“You don’t have to have CSI engaged to determine whether or not these allegations are credible,” said Durso, who sits on MCC’s board of directors. “There’s information out there — there’s information that could be provided.
 
“I see nothing wrong with asking [McGee] to disclose the amount of money that was paid,” he added. “I see nothing wrong with asking him to have the attorneys who represented him provide the documents that were part of the discovery in the case. Had the case gone to trial, this is information that would have been made public.”
 
Early test for the Gaming Commission
 
The furor over McGee’s hiring began after the Boston Globe reported that the Gaming Commission didn’tinvestigate the 2007 allegations before hiring McGee. State Rep. Dan Winslow said that was a serious mistake.
 
“It’s very important that we get this right,” said Winslow, a Republican from Norfolk. “Because this will set the bar for how the [Gaming] Commission treats future due diligence and future applicants.”
 
On Monday, Winslow urged the gaming commission to stay McGee’s hiring and delve into the old charges. Commission chairman Stephen Crosby refused, arguing that such a move would violate McGee’s right to the presumption of innocence. But at the Tuesday press conference, Durso claimed that no such right exists.
 
“An individual who is a defendant in a criminal case is entitled to the presumption of innocence,” he said. “This is not a criminal case.”

Trudie Hall disappeared in 2010. (Facebook)

WOODS HOLE, Mass. — Law enforcement officials on Cape Cod have identified a body found in a remote area of woods in Falmouth on April 19 as Trudie Hall, a Nantucket resident who went missing in July 2010.

Officials are giving few details surrounding the investigation and the condition of Hall's body, beyond saying she was shot multiple times. Barnstable County District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said a person walking their dog found the body in woods adjacent to Falmouth Country Club and the Crane Wildlife Area — an area police had not previously searched.
 
"Last Thursday, skeletal remains were found in the town of Falmouth, and we indicated those remains would be analyzed by experts at the office of the medical examiner, including a forensic anthropologist and a forensic dentist," he said. "The medical examiners' office late yesterday, has identified the remains as Trudie Hall."
 
Hall, 23, was reported missing in July 2010 by her mother after Hall had traveled from Nantucket to Cape Cod, where she spent the night in a Yarmouth motel and rented a car. The car later was found in a commuter lot, with blood and bullet casings inside.
 
O'Keefe would not identify any suspects, but investigators had previously interviewed a Centerville man with a criminal record and seized some of his property during the investigation. That man has not been charged. O'Keefe indicated that anyone involved in the crime should step up now, saying, "There may be a possibility that someone knowingly or unknowingly aided the killer of Trudie after the fact, and we want that person to contact us."
 
Hall was approximately four months pregnant at the time of her disappearance, and O'Keefe said it was unclear whether a second murder charge for the unborn baby would be appropriate. He also would not confirm multiple media reports that Hall was married to more than one person at the time of her death, and may have been involved in an immigration scam.
 
"Some of the things that you have reported about Trudie that may or may not be true with respect to these immigration issues, not withstanding all that, she was a 23-year-old woman who had a family that loved her very much," he said.
 
While providing few details, O'Keefe said the location and condition of Hall's body provides law enforcement officials with some key information, and officials are confident that whomever was involved in her murder will be brought to justice.
 
 

 
BOSTON — Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed an appeal challenging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to go ahead with hearings to grant a new 20-year license extension for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth.
 
> > WGBH NEWS SPECIAL COVERAGE: Power Struggle: The Fight over Pilgrim Nuclear
 
Coakley said an independent expert has concluded that the risks of operating Pilgrim are greater than originally thought and that certain improvements should be made to the plant before a new license is granted. “There should be better and longer backup power systems, or there should be instrumentation to verify the cooling systems are functioning properly. Or to make sure there are improved valves and containment to reduce pressure on the reactor,” she said.
 
The goal, Coakley said, is to guarantee that the NRC considers the environmental and public safety implications of the 2011 Fukushima accident while allowing a meaningful opportunity for public comment.
 
State Sen. Dan Wolf (D-Harwich) agreed, saying that lessons learned from Fukushima should be explored in an open, public process and applied to the Pilgrim relicensing process, particularly in regards to on-site storage of spent nuclear fuel rods.
 
The appeal was filed on April 4 in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

> > READ: More from Coakley's office on Pilgrim