Boston Mayor Marty Walsh told WGBH News that he has no regrets about comments he made criticizing a jury’s decision to convict former probation commissioner John J. O’Brien and two deputies last week of corruption.
Walsh was in a festive mood when we caught up with him at the annual Feast of Saint Agrippina in the North End. He suggested it was time to put the controversy stemming from his defense of the former probation commissioner to rest.
"I know that people are upset about it, but I was asked a question, I gave a truthful answer, and I’ve moved on beyond it now," he said.
But not everyone else has. A juror who sat on the panel that convicted O'Brien blasted off an email to WGBH News Wednesday night in response to Mayor Walsh’s answer to the question asked by Boston Public Radio host Jim Braude: "Was John O’Brien guilty of a crime?"
"You know, that’s a good question," Walsh told Braude. "Uh, I don’t think so."
That prompted the anonymous juror to write to Jim Braude.
With music blaring from the festival, the mayor raised his voice slightly to try to answer the juror’s criticism:
"I appreciate the juror’s feeling on this and I thanked the jury for their service," he said. "It was a difficult trial. Certainly the jury had all the facts in front of them and they made a good, informed decision. I wasn’t criticizing the jury the other day. I made a statement. I was asked a question on the radio. I answered the question."
The juror in this case also suggested that the mayor conflated political patronage with the more serious charge in the trial.
U.S. prosecutors charged the trio with operating the probation department like a criminal enterprise, and handing out jobs to friends and families of legislators, judges and other powerful individuals in order to curry favor.
Walsh said he had no regrets.
"No, I mean it’s how I feel," he said. "This isn’t a criticism towards the jury. They did tremendous work here. I know they came back with a lot of questions for the judge and I commend them on that. My criticism, my discussion, my comment had nothing to do with the jury or the process. It was just my personal feeling."
