June 26, 2006

Worcester DA John Conte fails to seek justice and protects State Trooper from prosecution.

Judge Grecco's report released

by Tim McGuigan and Mary T. Jean

Few forms of expression are more damaging then one’s own words.  If the motive is clear, then the path to the objective usually becomes obvious.  Respective of the fine reporters and the news organizations they represent, a review of news articles as well as the words that District Attorney John Conte sent to the media tells a different story. 

A November 29, 2005 Telegram article, reporters state that District Attorney John Conte said he expects the judge's report to determine if someone is "criminally responsible" for Johnson's death. 

Then, on December 8, 2005 Conte made an uncharacteristic move and submitted an editorial to the Fitchburg Sentinel. The letter in part states “the inquest is to be used simply as an aid in the achievement of justice by obtaining information as to whether a crime has been committed. Once that information is obtained, then I will decide whether there will be a prosecution.” 

It appears to all that when the Inquest did not return the finding John Conte expected, he simply moved in another direction, had the report impounded and held a Grand Jury.  This move afforded him time and eventually gave him the finding he wanted, in his eyes without the appearance of impropriety.  

The true issues related to this grand jury issuing a “no bill" have yet to be asked or answered. Who testified before the grand jury?  Was the inquest report read to the Grand Jury?  Was the inquest report supplied to the State Police previous to the Grand Jury? Was Trooper Gray allowed to testify in his own defense? Did Sergeant Richard McKeon of Conte’s C-Pac State Trooper Unit testify? Who was the Worcester ADA who presented the case? Why was the Grand Jury held on Monday, June 19?   

Attorney Stephen Hromes of Boston, who represents the Johnson family stated on Friday, stated that  “I had no knowledge of the grand jury proceedings nor who attended and or testified.”  Hromes went on to say "in the inquest ADA Thomas Landry acted as a defense counsel for Trooper Gray and only called witness who supported Troopers Gray’s position.” 

Within the inquest report by the Honorable Judge Robert V Greco which is most disturbing is that Trooper Gray's testimony  regarding a white Toyota. In his statement, Trooper Gray advised that previous to seeing Johnson on the road, he had pulled over a white Toyota, yet he failed to call in the license plate to dispatch. He goes on to explain that although the driver was not a license operator and only had a learners permit which too was in violation due to the hours of operation, he allowed the driver to leave without citing him. However, when the truth was finally learned that the white Toyota was allegedly the same white car he claimed to have been "pinned' against, the State Police assigned to John Conte's office could not find or produce the driver or that white car.   

According to Honorable Judge Greco, Trooper Gray “acted with malice,” “took an unnecessary risk” and whose conduct was “wanton and reckless.”   However, rather then standing by his word and moving forward towards prosecution, Conte had the results of the Inquest impounded and held a grand jury.  Why?

As the saying goes, “you can indict a ham sandwich.” well perhaps that isn’t so in Worcester County.  When you have a Judge with the respect and experience of the  honorable Robert Greco who use such strong language in his report and then have a Grand Jury disagrees with his findings, one can’t help but question how or why.  Why would the DA have an Inquest if the original intent was to have a Grand Jury anyway? Where would his next move have been if despite his efforts the Grand Jury agreed with the Judge?  

No longer can Worcester District Attorney John Conte’s actions be overlooked and rationalized.  John Conte should be immediate removed pending the outcome of an investigated for obstruction of justice as well as possible jury tampering all felonious crimes.  

The Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly, current gubernatorial candidate as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigations in Hudson will be contacted to seek such an investigation.

This case represents the worst of Worcester County and truly illustrates the blatant disrespect John Conte has had for fair and equal application of the law. 

June 25, 2006

After inquest, more questions than answers in Fitchburg

EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE Worcester telegram

The conflicting results of a grand jury investigation and independent inquest that were supposed to provide answers about the fatal shooting of a Fitchburg man by a state trooper Nov. 3 instead have raised even more questions.

The grand jury returned a “no bill” in the case against Trooper Donald C. Gray in the death of Preston D. Johnson. Judge Robert V. Greco found the shooting, while not malicious, reckless to the point of “criminal negligence.”

District Attorney John J. Conte owes the community a more convincing explanation of the conflicting judgments than he has provided to date.

June 23, 2006

You can’t blame the doubters
Grand jury action in Preston Johnson case

Clive McFarlane,T&G STAFF

June 22, 2006 

Trooper shooting witness sought
Mystery car likely stopped before incident

By Matthew Bruun TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

FITCHBURG— A civilian driver who was at the scene when Trooper Donald C. Gray shot Preston D. Johnson on Nov. 3, 2005, likely has knowledge to share about the events of that day. He had apparently been stopped by the trooper just minutes before the fatal shooting and was allowed to leave, but no record of his name or vehicle registration has been found by investigators.

The driver of the car that was stopped has never been identified, and his drinking companion who testified about what he saw that night claims no knowledge of the man’s name or address. The passenger also said he wanted nothing to do with the case.

The passenger’s account is part of the lengthy transcript of the closed-door inquest that was held in February in Clinton District Court. Judge Robert V. Greco found Trooper Gray’s conduct that morning was wanton and reckless and amounted to criminal negligence, but a Worcester County grand jury did not indict him.

Trooper Gray testified he was in fear of his life during the encounter with Mr. Johnson, and said he was also fearful for Fitchburg police Officer Douglas Darton, at whom Mr. Johnson allegedly aimed his SUV moments before the shot was fired. Trooper Gray said Mr. Johnson had nearly pinned him against the witness’s vehicle, a Toyota Camry, when the shot was fired, though Judge Greco discredited much of the trooper’s account in making his own findings on the case.

Trooper Gray remains on duty in the Leominster barracks, but the state police will be reviewing all documentation from the investigation for an internal affairs review, spokeswoman Lt. Sharon Costine said yesterday.

Lt. Costine said the internal affairs review was standard procedure in a case such as this. She said there is no specified time limit for the inquiry.

Lawyer Stephen Hrones, representing Mr. Johnson’s family, said the lengthy, sworn testimony included in the inquest transcript would be used in the lawsuit the family plans to file in federal court.

The driver of the car is a critical witness who could shed light on the whole case, Mr. Hrones said yesterday.

“The officer is claiming he was in harm’s way because he was backed into that car,” Mr. Hrones said. “If that car wasn’t there, there’s absolutely no argument he was in danger and he didn’t have to shoot.”

He said Trooper Gray “lost his cool” and fired his weapon without provocation.

The trooper’s lawyer has maintained that Trooper Gray fired in self-defense, and called the grand jury’s action a vindication. Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte issued a statement Tuesday saying the grand jurors “made the right decision” in finding there was not probable cause to believe Trooper Gray had committed a crime.

The judge’s report and more than 600 pages of court transcripts were unsealed this week after the grand jury’s report was filed in Superior Court.

Investigators were looking to the public for help in finding the driver of the mysterious Toyota Camry within days of the shooting. Investigators working for Mr. Hrones ultimately found Daniel Dingui, 40, a passenger in the car who testified he had five or six drinks before ending up near the intersection of Salem and Spruce streets in the early hours of Nov. 3.

Mr. Dingui testified through an interpreter in February that he was at the scene of the shooting, but could not identify the man who was driving the car in which he was a passenger.

Police canvassed the neighborhood for signs of the car referred to as the “witness vehicle” in the transcripts. From pieces of a damaged taillight recovered at the scene they were able to determine the vehicle was a 1987, 1988 or 1989 Toyota Camry.

Police found there were 46 blue and white Camrys from those years registered in Fitchburg. The driver has never been identified, according to the transcript.

Trooper Gray and Officer Darton both described a witness vehicle being at the scene of the shooting.

Mr. Dingui said he had been drinking at the Rock Bottom Café that night and was given a ride home. He told Assistant District Attorney Thomas E. Landry he did not know the name of the person who gave him a ride.

“I only know him by the face,” Mr. Dingui said through an interpreter. “We just met, we had a beer, and then he offered a ride.”

He said he had met the man on two or three other occasions.

“He told me his name once, but I forgot it,” Mr. Dingui said. The man, he said, drove a blue Toyota Camry.

Mr. Dingui, whose own license to drive was suspended, said he was intoxicated at the time.

“I drink a lot when I drink,” he told Mr. Landry, adding he had five or six drinks that night.

He denied much direct knowledge of the shooting.

“I heard a shot, but because it wasn’t with me, I just left,” Mr. Dingui testified. “I went. I went to sleep.”

He said the car was passing a stop sign when he heard the shot.

Pressed for further details, Mr. Dingui said he purposely didn’t want to see more.

“I only saw the police,” he said. “I didn’t really pay that much attention because I just said, ‘Just keep going. I don’t want to get involved with this.’ ”

He testified that he had seen the man one time after the shooting, but he did not discuss the incident with him.

“I don’t like to talk about it,” Mr. Dingui said.

He said he hadn’t realized at the time it was a gunshot he heard.

“I thought it was like a tire that had burst or something like that,” he said. “I didn’t know it was a shot. It was only the next day that I found out, and I said, ‘Oh, my God.’ ”

Lawyer Stephen Hrones, representing Mr. Johnson’s family, asked Mr. Dingui if he could help locate the driver.

“Maybe I can see him around,” Mr. Dingui said.

“If you see him around, will you find out his name?” Mr. Hrones asked.

“Well, if he’s like me, he doesn’t know,” Mr. Dingui replied. “I mean, these are like street things that happen that you don’t want to get involved, so I don’t know.”

Mr. Dingui said he had encountered a state trooper 10 to 15 minutes before the shooting.

“We were stopped before because the car didn’t have the front license plate on the front part of the car, and I think that the red light was changing, so the police stopped us,” Mr. Dingui testified.

Mr. Hrones asked if it was a trooper or city officer who stopped him.

“I really don’t know, because I don’t pay attention to things that are happening,” Mr. Dingui replied. He then said he believed it was a state trooper.

Trooper Gray was called back to the witness stand to testify about that earlier encounter. He said he was stopped at a five-way intersection when he observed the traffic signal appeared to be malfunctioning.

He said he went through the intersection and saw what he described as a black, foreign sedan facing northwest. He noticed the car was lacking a front license plate and asked the car’s driver to pull into a nearby gas station.

The driver was a Hispanic man in his 30s, with short hair, and was shorter than his front-seat passenger, whom Trooper Gray identified as Mr. Dingui. He asked the driver for identification.

“It was a Massachusetts learner’s permit, but I don’t recall the name or the address, just that it was a learner’s permit,” Trooper Gray testified. “I spoke with him at some point about you’re not supposed to drive with only a learner’s permit, and I tried to see if perhaps the passenger was duly licensed.”

He said he spoke with Mr. Dingui, who appeared to have been drinking.

Trooper Gray said he wanted to send the men on their way if possible.

“I wanted to give the operator a break and not tow his vehicle,” Trooper Gray testified. “He was in his 30s. At some point, I assumed he had had a license. He said he lived nearby.”

He said he learned Mr. Dingui’s license had been revoked. He did not run a check on the driver, he said, because the photo identification he produced appeared to match him.

Trooper Gray’s next encounter with a motorist was Mr. Johnson.

Judge Greco asked Trooper Gray if he recognized the car that contained Mr. Dingui as the same car he saw later at the scene of the shooting.

“No, your honor, I didn’t, and I haven’t,” he said. He earlier said he was “positive” the car was black, while Mr. Dingui said the vehicle he was riding in at the time of the shooting was light blue.

Trooper Gray and Officer Darton said the “witness vehicle” they saw at the scene of the shooting was white.

Mr. Hrones asked Trooper Gray if he had called in the vehicle’s registration after the traffic stop that preceded his encounter with Mr. Johnson. The trooper said no.

Sondra Surrett of Hale Street said during the inquest that she had known Mr. Johnson “like all my life,” and considered him like family. She said Mr. Dingui was the father of her children, and had called her at 5 a.m. Nov. 3. He had left the home earlier that day because of an argument, she said. In that call he indicated he had been in the vicinity of the shooting.

Ms. Surrett said Mr. Dingui said he was with a friend at the time.

“I don’t know his friend,” Ms. Surrett testified. “I don’t socialize with his friends. That’s what, that was the argument that, why I was having the argument.”

He had left the house on foot, she said, because his driver’s license was suspended.

“He told me that Preston got shot in his head, and he told me that Preston was dead,” she testified. “That’s what he told me.”

Ms. Surrett said Mr. Dingui told her he had been headed toward the house on Hale Street when he saw Mr. Johnson driving down Salem Street.

“And then he said that he looked down, and that he heard one shoot, and that the state trooper was there,” she said.

“Did he tell you whose car he was in?” Mr. Landry asked.

“No, he told me that he was with his friend,” she replied.

Mr. Dingui also told her the trooper appeared to be the same man who had stopped him and his friend 10 minutes before on Laurel Street.

June 22, 2006

Johnson's girlfriend angry trooper avoided charges 

Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise

FITCHBURG -- Preston D. Johnson's former girlfriend expressed anger on Wednesday that the state trooper who shot and killed Johnson last fall after an early-morning chase on residential city streets won't face charges.

"I don't know what I would say to him. I got no words for him," Maribel Torres, 27, said Wednesday. "No, I got some words for him that you can't print."

Torres dated Johnson for about six years until he died Nov. 4, 2005, the day after Trooper Donald C. Gray shot him.

Gray testified during a February inquest into the shooting that he shot Johnson because he feared the 30-year-old city man would use his sport utility vehicle to crush him and Fitchburg Police Officer Douglas Darton.

Torres spoke as she sat in Cutz and Plus, the barbershop she opened on Daniels Street this year in Johnson's memory. She often fidgeted during an approximately 40-minute interview and eventually left, appearing on the verge of tears.

Friends came and went, all expressing amazement that Gray avoided criminal charges.

"I understand you think he was driving his car at you, but you killed a human being and because you're a cop, you get away with it," Jay Beauregard, 31, a barber and long-time friend of Johnson's, said of the confrontation. "His day will come eventually and he'll have to face the real man."

District Attorney John J. Conte announced Tuesday a Worcester County Grand Jury returned a no bill in the case, meaning they didn't find enough evidence to charge Gray, 45. Conte said he agreed with the decision and wouldn't prosecute the case.

But District Court Judge Robert V. Greco wrote in a separate report released Tuesday that Gray's actions amounted to "criminal negligence." Greco also wrote he rejected "some of the most significant and crucial portions of Trooper Gray's testimony" because it was inconsistent with the "physical evidence," as well as Darton's testimony.

Johnson's friends said in light of Greco's findings, Gray should face prosecution.

"All I could think was 'Wow. Why didn't he get charged?' He took a life," Torres said, describing her reaction when she first read the news Wednesday morning. "I'm upset, I'm mad, I think he should've been charged."

Torres' mother, Juana Pagan, 45, entered the barbershop and began ranting about the decision, slipping between English and Spanish.

"This was a black guy against the police," she said. "We don't have any rights for anything in this."

Police Chief Edward F. Cronin said the department strives for good relations with the city's minority community.

"You know, the only thing I would say about that is that I am in contact constantly with the minority leadership in the community, and I don't think there's any indication of mistrust in the community," he said Wednesday in a telephone interview.

Several people near the intersection of Spruce and Salem Streets, where the shooting occurred, said they knew Johnson.

Jimmy Lee Muniz, 20, and Jamie Write, 19, gave a profanity-laced tirade and paced up and down one side of Spruce Street when they heard that Gray won't be charged.

"I'm getting the chills right now -- not because of the wind," Muniz said.

Write rushed inside his home and returned with newspaper clippings he had saved about the case. Muniz shouted that police officers aren't supposed to shoot above the shoulders.

"He was a nice person. He was trying to change," Write said of Johnson, adding that Johnson's sister Joyce once baby-sat him. "Sometimes people don't understand that. It takes time to change."

The neighborhood where Gray shot Johnson was quiet Wednesday. So few cars passed by that interviews could be conducted in the street.

Tonya Merchant, 24, who said Johnson's sister Joyce used to style her hair frequently, expressed frustration with the Grand Jury's decision.

"Whether you're a person of the city or a police officer, you should get the same charges as anyone else," she said on Salem Street. "Because he's a police officer, it's different?"

Gray's lawyer, Joseph P. Kittredge of Needham, rejected such criticisms.

"None of those people actually saw what led up to the shooting or saw the shooting, so I'm not sure they're in a position to comment on whether the shooting was justified or not," he said Wednesday in a telephone interview.

Kittredge added Gray won't be available for comment because the Johnson family's lawyer has said the family is planning to file a civil lawsuit. Family members could not be reached Wednesday.

Jennifer Miner, 28, who lives in the house where Johnson's SUV came to rest, said she's disgruntled with how Conte handled the case.

"John Conte's just trying to save his own butt," she said at the corner of Spruce and Salem Streets. "My bet is Conte is saying he's going to retire -- what DA would want that on his record?"

"The state trooper should be sitting in prison right now, or at least, not on the roads," she concluded.

A spokesperson for Conte, Elizabeth A. Stammo, said Wednesday he won't comment on the case.

Back inside Cutz and Plus on Daniels Street, a new air-conditioning system arrived as Torres spoke. Johnson's obituary hung on a wall, opposite a "Scarface" poster -- a movie that Torres said Johnson loved.

Torres said she thinks about Johnson daily -- the parties they went to, the fishing trips they took.

"He gets to see his wife and I'm stuck. He gets to see his kids," she said of Gray.

"I'm just upset that he didn't get charged," she continued. "He made his own decision to shoot him."

June 22, 2006

Trooper case fuels anti-police sentiments
Fitchburg approach rankles

By M. Elizabeth Roman TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
eroman@telegram.com

FITCHBURG— City officials this week launched a plan to have a stronger police presence in crime-ridden neighborhoods, but a grand jury’s decision made public Tuesday not to indict a white state trooper in the death of Preston D. Johnson, a black man, has intensified suspicions toward police by members of the city’s minority community.

Adrian L. Ford, executive director of the Three Pyramids social service agency, said yesterday the decision from the grand jury hit home.

“I’m emotionally drained. It is saddening and disappointing,” he said. “As African-American males we train our children what to do if they get stopped by the police. Don’t move your hands. Show your hands. Stereotypes still have dangerous consequences.”

Mr. Ford was critical of recent efforts by city officials to target crime in the Elm Street area, which he says is “ridiculous.”

“It is ridiculous to say you are going to liberate a neighborhood. Elm Street is not Iraq,” Mr. Ford said. “It was an affront to the whole neighborhood.”

Police Chief Edward F. Cronin and City Councilor Ted E. DeSalvatore announced yesterday that the department has placed two officers, funded by anti-gang grant money, on five-hour nightly foot patrols in the Elm Street area.

The effort will target public disorder such as loud music and outdoor drinking by underage people, and will also involve street cleaning and graffiti removal.

Chief Cronin said police have made three arrests in two days since the effort started Monday.

“We have a concrete plan to move ahead here. I’m for long-term systemic change,” Chief Cronin said. “But when we need to use the hammer, we’ll use it. People have taken too much freedom. If they cross the line, we will arrest them.”

Judge Robert V. Greco, who held a closed inquest in Clinton District Court in February, found Trooper Donald C. Gray’s conduct in the shooting of Mr. Johnson was wanton and reckless and amounted to criminal negligence. But the judge’s report was impounded until Tuesday, and because of the Worcester County grand jury’s decision, Trooper Gray remains on duty in the Leominster barracks. An internal affairs review will be conducted, Lt. Sharon Costine said yesterday.

“The decision will not affect our efforts,” Chief Cronin said yesterday.

Mr. Ford said he believes the trooper acted on a subconscious bias.

“There are things we hold inside that make us act a certain way,” Mr. Ford said.

“There are a disproportionate amount of black males that are involved in the criminal justice system. You can debate the reasons why, but it doesn’t give people the license to say it’s OK that a life was lost,” Mr. Ford said. “What about redemption and compassion? People can be so cold.”

That Judge Greco found fault with Trooper Gray’s actions is comforting to Mr. Johnson’s mother, Pamela Johnson, who lives in Jackson, Miss.

“The judge saw the lies that was told. I know the law will prevail. I know someone will listen,” Ms. Johnson said last night.

She added, however, that the only real justice in her mind would be to have her son back.

“That’s something I can never get in this world,” she said with a tearful voice. “I just want to know why, the honest-to-God truth, why he killed my son. Lies, lies and more lies is all they’re telling. Maybe that’s something he (Trooper Gray) will take to his grave with him.”

Ms. Johnson also criticized reports of the incident that included information about her son’s 1997 brush with the law, when he was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for firing shots at Fitchburg College students.

“They make him sound like the meanest villain so they can justify Trooper Gray’s actions,” Ms. Johnson said. “My son had a past, but that trooper made a big booby on his end. He killed my son, then tried to clean his mess up.”

She added that the family is not sure about pursuing a civil case at this time.

“I just got the news. I appreciate all the love and support from everyone. It’s not forgotten. We will work with this all together until justice is done,” she said.

“No matter what their (city officials’) intentions, it was their approach. You don’t stand up and bark at the neighborhood,” Mr. Ford said. He added that in his experience, alleviating crime starts by working with people’s children and doing the tedious, long-term work of helping them change their lives.

As for the “Preston” T-shirts that have a portrait of Mr. Johnson on the front and an obscene anti-police slogan on the back, he said, “You are going to see those types of T-shirts as long as you see a criminal justice system that exploits the community. I don’t like it, but they feel it’s the only freedom of expression they have. That’s telling us something.”

June 21, 2006 

By David Abel, Globe Staff   

Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte declined yesterday to prosecute a state trooper who fatally shot an unarmed man in 2005, despite a judge's report three months ago finding the trooper had engaged in ``wanton and reckless conduct" that ``amounted to criminal negligence," according to court records and lawyers involved in the case.

The decision was announced a day after a Worcester grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict Trooper Donald C. Gray, a 12-year veteran based in the Leominster barracks. On Nov. 3, the trooper fired one bullet that killed Preston D. Johnson, a 30-year-old intoxicated felon who led Gray and local officers on a high-speed chase through Fitchburg.

``In light of the judge's findings, I think the DA's decision is kind of shocking," said Stephen Hrones, a Boston-based lawyer representing the relatives of Johnson, a father of three who spent four years in prison for a 1996 shooting at Fitchburg State College. ``But it's not surprising that a grand jury would decline to indict a trooper."

Hrones called the prosecutor's decision a ``whitewash" and vowed to file a civil lawsuit in federal court, contending that Gray denied Johnson's rights by using excessive force.

Officials from Conte's office did not return calls last night, but in a statement, Conte said, ``the grand jurors, in my opinion, made the right decision."

A lawyer representing Gray said the trooper acted in self-defense. Within seconds of the shooting, Gray radioed his colleagues, saying he had been struck by Johnson's sport utility vehicle, said Joseph P. Kittredge.

``I submit that supports his state of mind -- that he was in personal danger," said Kittredge, a Needham lawyer. ``I believe there's more than sufficient evidence to support my client's decision to shoot to protect himself."

But Framingham District Court Judge Robert V. Greco found inconsistencies in Gray's explanation of the shooting when compared with ballistics evidence and accounts from another officer on the scene. Those inconsistencies cast doubt on the trooper's claim of self-defense, Greco said. Greco had been assigned to perform a judicial inquest after the Fitchburg District Court transferred the case to his court.

``While the facts as found do not lead me to conclude that Gray acted with malice," Greco wrote, ``I do conclude that Gray took an unnecessary risk in `disregard of the probable consequences' to Preston Johnson, and that his conduct was wanton and reckless." Greco declined to comment last night.

In Greco's March 27 report, which was unsealed yesterday at Conte's request, the judge wrote that Gray's account of the shooting was ``at odds with the physical evidence" about where the bullet entered Johnson's vehicle, the location of the bullet's entry wound in the back of Johnson's head, and the path it took between those spots. Contrary to Gray's statements, Greco found that ``evidence clearly shows that Gray had shot Johnson from the rear."

Greco also took exception to Gray's statements that he was acting to defend Fitchburg Officer Douglas Darton, who was also at the scene and at one point had to jump out of the way as Johnson tried to evade a roadblock the two set with their cruisers.

Greco's report said that Johnson was drunk and high on marijuana when his SUV nearly hit Gray after crossing the center line on Route 12 in Fitchburg. Gray pursued Johnson, activating his lights and siren. Darton joined the chase.

Gray told investigators that Darton was ``within arm's length of him" and they were both ``about to be pinned" against a third vehicle blocking Johnson's path. But the judge said that Darton had ``had time to make the right call, namely, not to fire his gun and jump out of the way."

When Gray fired, Greco found, the trooper was not pinned against the nearby third car and ``therefore not in danger of being crushed."

``He could not have reasonably believed that he was immediately about to be struck and that his personal safety was in immediate danger," Greco wrote.

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.  

06/21/06

Johnson's family to file federal lawsuit 

By Jonathan Graham, Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise

FITCHBURG -- The attorney for Preston D. Johnson, the local man killed by a state trooper at the end of a chase in November, says they will file a federal lawsuit in connection with the case.

"If the judge found (Gray) was unreliable and was criminally negligent we're going to go to court as soon as possible," Hrones said. "If the judge made that finding, I'm assuming that its supported by the record."

The trooper, Donald C. Gray, will not face criminal charges in connection with the shooting death after a Grand Jury decided not to indict the state trooper.

District Attorney John J. Conte said in a press release Tuesday he believes jurors "made the right decision by finding that there was no probable cause to believe that a crime had been committed," according to the press release.

But District Court Judge Robert V. Greco, who conducted a four-day-long inquest behind closed doors at Conte's request, stated in a report that he did not believe Gray's version of events, nor did he think the trooper needed to shoot Johnson to save Fitchburg Police Officer Douglas Darton's life.

A state trooper will not face criminal charges in connection with the November shooting death of Fitchburg resident Preston D. Johnson even though a district court judge said the trooper's action amounted to "criminal negligence."

A Worcester County Grand Jury returned a no bill in the case, meaning they did not find enough evidence to charge Donald C. Gray, 45, who works in the Leominster barracks.

District Attorney John J. Conte said in a press release Tuesday he will not pursue the case further following the grand jury's decision, reached earlier this month.

Conte said he believes jurors "made the right decision by finding that there was no probable cause to believe that a crime had been committed," according to the press release.

A spokesperson for Conte, Elizabeth A. Stammo, said he was not available for an interview Tuesday because he was attending an out-of-office meeting.

Stammo also declined to answer several questions submitted by a Sentinel & Enterprise reporter about the Nov. 3 shooting at the intersection of Salem and Spruce Streets in Fitchburg.

But District Court Judge Robert V. Greco, who conducted a four-day-long inquest behind closed doors at Conte's request, stated in a report that he did not believe Gray's version of events, nor did he think the trooper needed to shoot Johnson to save Fitchburg Police Officer Douglas Darton's life.

"This act of Donald Gray was wanton and reckless conduct and amounted to criminal negligence," Greco wrote in the report, which was released Tuesday afternoon.

Hrones also said Conte's handling of case showed he never had an interest in pursuing charges against Gray.

"Something was very wrong in the state of Denmark, everyone knew it," Boston-based attorney Stephen Hrones said.

Johnson's family could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Hrones said the contradiction between the report and the Grand Jury's decision showed Conte's office never wanted Gray indicted.

"The Grand Jury will do whatever the prosecutor wants it to do," Hrones said. "The DA acted as defense council for Gray at the inquest, and it's mindboggling that the judge would have made those findings and the DA didn't make an indictment."

Hrones said Conte should be "vigorously" supporting indictments, especially when he has the support of a judge's independent report.

Hrones said Conte's office showed no interest in finding facts against Gray during the inquest hearings.

When told that Greco disputed Gray's statements that both he and Darton faced imminent danger, Hrones replied, "That's tremendous, that's tremendous."

"In a strange way, this is good for the family, because if he was indicted and convicted, it would be very difficult to get the Commonwealth to defend him and pay any judgment," Hrones said. "This way, by no billing it, it opens the way for a civil suit. If they were to indict him, it would be years before we would ever see the record."

Hrones also said he would like to see the state police open an internal affairs investigation into Johnson's death.

"We just shouldn't let this drop," Hrones said.

Adrian Ford, the executive director of Three Pyramids Inc., seemed shocked when told about the Grand Jury's decision.

"It's unbelievable," Ford said. "Oh my God."

Ford said the lack of charges against Gray will widen mistrust between residents and police and noted the racial implications of a white trooper shooting a black man.

"I think what this does, is this serves again to say to people that there's no equality and that there are racial and economic gaps to how people view the criminal justice system," Ford said.

"It just widens the gap of trust in the system, here, and that's a shame," Ford added.

Ford said he wants to see some sort of federal investigation into the shooting, and he also expects "white leadership" to make a strong statement.

"A life is a life ... this should not be viewed as a black and white thing," Ford said.

Residents, especially minority residents, also need to differentiate between law enforcement officers who are "trying to make a difference out here," and those that do not properly represent the police.

Ford said he cannot believe Conte would not push harder for an indictment in the shooting.

"I am so upset," Ford said. "It's 2006 and we have to be living this right here in Fitchburg,"

Police Chief Edward Cronin did not respond to a message left at his office and one at his house Tuesday afternoon.

Mayor Daniel H. Mylott declined to comment until he reads Greco's inquest report.

"It's too serious a thing to make off-hand comments about without having seen the report," Mylott said.

Needham-based attorney Joseph Kittredge, who represents Gray, said his client is very pleased with the Grand Jury's decision.

"I believe that the Grand Jury made the right decision, I don't believe a crime was committed here," Kittredge said.

Kittredge said he would only discuss the report within the context of the inquest's entire transcript.

Court officials would not allow the Sentinel & Enterprise to copy the entire transcript Tuesday.  Kittredge cited Gray's radio transmissions immediately after the shooting as evidence not included in Greco's report.

"'Shots fired, I've been hit, and the suspect may be wounded,' that's the subject matter of the transmission," Kittredge said.

Kittredge said those sort of statements are important because it is an honest, immediate statement from Gray about the shooting.

"But the radio transmission and the substance of the radio transmission was not included in the report," Kittredge said.

June 21, 2006

Inquest judge, grand jury disagree 

By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gmurray@telegram.com

WORCESTER—The judge who presided over an inquest into the fatal shooting of Preston D. Johnson by State Trooper Donald C. Gray found the trooper’s actions “wanton and reckless,” amounting to “criminal negligence” that would have supported a manslaughter charge, according to documents released yesterday in Worcester Superior Court.

A grand jury has found insufficient evidence, however, to indict the trooper in the Nov. 30 shooting of the 30-year-old Fitchburg man after a police chase.

District Attorney John J. Conte confirmed yesterday that a Worcester County grand jury returned a no bill Monday in the case of Trooper Gray, who shot Mr. Johnson after he allegedly rammed a cruiser and drove his SUV at a Fitchburg officer after a police pursuit.

Mr. Conte said the grand jury’s determination that the evidence did not support an indictment against Trooper Gray was “the right decision,” although he acknowledged it was “at odds” with the findings of the judge who presided over a closed inquest done in February in Clinton District Court.

In his 10-page inquest report made public yesterday, Judge Robert V. Greco said the preponderance of the credible evidence did not lead him to conclude that the trooper “acted with malice,” but did show that the officer “took an unnecessary risk” in disregard of the probable consequences to Mr. Johnson, and that his conduct was “wanton and reckless.”

While Mr. Conte said earlier that Trooper Gray feared for his life and that of a Fitchburg police officer when he fired, Judge Greco found that the shooting was unjustified either as self-defense or defense of another.

Mr. Johnson was shot in the back of the head at about 2 a.m. on Nov. 3 and died the next day. The shooting ended a chase that began after Trooper Gray, on patrol on Route 12 in Fitchburg in a marked cruiser, saw an SUV driven by Mr. Johnson traveling toward him at a high rate of speed, according to Judge Greco’s findings.

The SUV crossed the center line of Route 12, nearly struck the cruiser and sped away, the judge found. Trooper Gray activated his siren and overhead blue lights and pursued the SUV. Officer Douglas Darton, also in a marked cruiser, joined in the pursuit.

Mr. Johnson sideswiped a car, crossed into the opposite lane of travel and was driving 45 mph in a 25 mph zone during the chase, according to the judge. “The results of hospital tests would later show that Johnson was drunk at this time,” the judge wrote.

The pursuit came to a halt on Salem Street in Fitchburg, near the intersection of Spruce Street. Judge Greco found that Officer Darton, who had pulled in front of the SUV, got out of his cruiser with his gun drawn. The SUV moved forward, coming into contact with the Fitchburg cruiser. Mr. Johnson then backed the SUV to the front of Trooper Gray’s cruiser, which was behind him, and turned it diagonally to the left so that it was pointing directly at Officer Darton, according to the judge’s findings.

Apparently ignoring Officer Darton’s orders to shut his vehicle off, Mr. Johnson drove at the officer, who stumbled to the rear of another vehicle, a Toyota Camry, before hearing a gunshot, Judge Greco found. The SUV struck the Camry, took a right, struck a parked car, went through some bushes and a yard, went over a wall, landed on Spruce Street, hit another parked car and came to rest against another wall.

According to Trooper Gray’s testimony at the inquest, Mr. Johnson drove the SUV directly at him and Officer Darton immediately before the shooting.

“I became very afraid that I was going to be crushed by the SUV and that Officer Darton was going to be struck and crushed also,” Trooper Gray testified. It was then, he said, as he was being pushed backward by the driver’s door of the SUV, that he fired, according to Judge Greco’s report.

The judge said he did not credit the trooper’s account, which he said was “at odds with the physical evidence concerning the location where the bullet entered the vehicle, the location of the entrance wound on the back of Johnson’s head, and the path the bullet would have taken between those two spots.” Judge Greco also found the trooper’s testimony inconsistent with that of Officer Darton.

“Gray places Darton within arm’s length of him at the side of the Camry as they were both about to be pinned against the Camry by the SUV. Darton, whose conduct is not at issue here and who consequently has much less of an interest in the outcome of the case than Gray, unequivocally stated that he was at the rear of the Camry and never at the side of it,” the judge wrote.

“Both these men were trained police officers. Darton had time to make the right call, namely not to fire his gun and jump out of the way. In these circumstances, defense of another was disproved by a preponderance of the evidence. It is not for me to determine whether it could be disproved beyond a reasonable doubt,” Judge Greco said in his report.

Despite the judge’s findings, Mr. Conte said he believed the grand jury did the right thing by determining that the evidence did not warrant an indictment against Trooper Gray.

“The issue in the case as far as we’re concerned was the question of self-defense or defense of another. And I can’t speak for the grand jury but, basically, I think that those were the issues in the case and I think the grand jury made the right decision,” Mr. Conte said.

Judge Greco’s report and a transcript of the inquest testimony, both previously impounded in the Worcester Superior Court clerk’s office, were made public yesterday by order of Judge Frances A. McIntyre after lawyer Vincent F. O’Rourke Jr., representing the Telegram & Gazette, filed an emergency motion seeking their release.

Judge McIntyre’s action followed Mr. Conte’s filing of a sealed certificate verifying that a no bill had been returned by the grand jury and no prosecution was proposed.

While the filing of the certificate would trigger the release of the documents under case law, the clerk’s office was reluctant to make them public because Regional Administrative Judge John S. McCann, who initially ordered the records sealed, was not available yesterday to lift the impoundment order.  

June 21, 2006

Trooper won't be charged 

Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise

WORCESTER -- A state trooper will not face criminal charges in connection with the November shooting death of Fitchburg resident Preston D. Johnson even though a district court judge said the trooper's action amounted to "criminal negligence."

A Worcester County Grand Jury returned a no bill in the case, meaning they did not find enough evidence to charge Donald C. Gray, 45, who works in the Leominster barracks.

District Attorney John J. Conte said in a press release Tuesday he will not pursue the case further following the grand jury's decision, reached earlier this month.

Conte said he believes jurors "made the right decision by finding that there was no probable cause to believe that a crime had been committed," according to the press release.

A spokesperson for Conte, Elizabeth A. Stammo, said he was not available for an interview Tuesday because he was attending an out-of-office meeting.

Stammo also declined to answer several questions submitted by a Sentinel & Enterprise reporter about the Nov. 3 shooting at the intersection of Salem and Spruce Streets in Fitchburg.

But District Court Judge Robert V. Greco, who conducted a four-day-long inquest behind closed doors at Conte's request, stated in a report that he did not believe Gray's version of events, nor did he think the trooper needed to shoot Johnson to save Fitchburg Police Officer Douglas Darton's life.

"This act of Donald Gray was wanton and reckless conduct and amounted to criminal negligence," Greco wrote in the report, which was released Tuesday afternoon.

Greco stressed that he based his report on a preponderance of the evidence -- the civil standard of proof -- and not reasonable doubt -- the criminal standard of proof.

"In these circumstances defense of another was disproved by a preponderance of the evidence. It is not for me to determine whether it could be disproved beyond a reasonable doubt," he wrote.

Gray, who is white, said he feared that Johnson, who is black, would kill both him and Darton with Johnson's sport utility vehicle.

"I became very afraid that I was going to be crushed by the SUV, and that Officer Darton was going to be struck and crushed also," Gray testified during the inquest. "I fired one round at the operator of the vehicle."

But Greco rejected "some of the most significant and crucial portions of Trooper's Gray testimony" because it was inconsistent with the "physical evidence," as well as Darton's testimony.

"He (Gray) could not have reasonably believed that he was immediately about to be struck and that his personal safety was in immediate danger," Greco wrote.

Gray's attorney, Joseph P. Kittredge of Needham, disputed Greco's conclusions.

"I don't believe that all the salient, important facts were included in the report," he said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Greco also noted the marked differences in the accounts of the shooting given by Gray and Darton.

"Their accounts diverge dramatically in a way that cannot be explained by understandable lapses in memory about a traumatic and pressure-packed event," Greco wrote in his report.

Here's what Greco said happened:

Gray began chasing Johnson's SUV after Johnson nearly crashed into Gray's cruiser on Route 12 in Fitchburg, before turning onto Nashua Street.

Gray then followed Johnson and turned on his lights and siren.

Johnson, who Greco said was drunk and had smoked marijuana before the chase, crashed into a parked car during the chase, which "continued over various streets in a residential area of the city, sometimes in an almost circular course, and was joined in by local Fitchburg police."

The chase stopped when Darton cut in front of Johnson's SUV at the intersection of Spruce and Salem Streets.

A Toyota Camry with a drunk passenger and no license plate accidentally drove into the confrontation, becoming a shield for Darton.

"There were two people in the Camry, the driver who was never identified and a passenger who appears to be one, Daniel Dingui, who was drunk and who had a remarkable lack of interest in what was going on right next to him, even when he heard a shot and even though he knew Preston Johnson," Greco wrote.

Greco said Darton got out of his car, and stood between the cruiser and the Camry with his gun drawn, about eight away from Johnson's SUV.

Greco said there was "barely enough room," between the cruiser and the Camry for another vehicle to get through.

At the same time, Gray stood with his gun drawn between the SUV and his cruiser, which was parked behind the SUV.

"Darton repeatedly ordered Johnson to shut his vehicle off. As the SUV then started toward him, Darton was afraid he would be struck and 'tried to jump out of the way' by moving to his right in order to get to 'a safe spot' behind the Camry," Greco wrote.

"He managed to stumble to the right rear of the Camry when he heard a shot fired. Darton gained his balance and saw the SUV proceed past him, striking the back door of the Camry," Greco wrote.

Johnson's SUV then turned right in front of Darton's cruiser and ultimately crashed into a wall on Spruce Street.

Darton testified he did not see Gray fire because of the SUV's and Gray's headlights.

"I couldn't see from the lights that was in -- that was shining at me," he said in the transcript.

Gray testified he exited his car and stood adjacent to Darton, near the driver's door of Johnson's SUV and facing Johnson.

Johnson then started to drive the car into Gray, provoking him to shoot, the trooper said.

But Greco didn't believe him.

"Evidence clearly shows that Gray had shot Johnson from the rear, that Gray could not have been facing directly at him, and that the major portion of the SUV had gone passed Gray at the time he had fired the gun," Greco wrote.

Greco also wrote Johnson's SUV could not have wedged its way between Darton's cruiser and the Camry to injure Darton -- as Gray claimed happened -- and that even if it had, Darton could have leapt out of the way in time.

"That Gray gave a very different account indicates to me a concern on his part that a more accurate account would be inculpatory," Greco wrote.

Johnson died the next day after he was taken off life-support.

He had spent several years in prison on charges of armed assault with intent to murder and armed assault with intent to rob, among others, after a conviction stemming from an incident in 1997 at Fitchburg State College.

June 21, 2006 

Trooper shaken after incident
Transcripts made public

By Matthew Bruun TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

CLINTON— After running to the crashed sport utility vehicle after shooting its driver, Trooper Donald C. Gray was pale and looked as though he was going to pass out, a Fitchburg police officer testified in February, according to a document released yesterday.

Fitchburg Police Officer Douglas Darton said he helped Trooper Gray across the street from where Preston D. Johnson’s vehicle came to rest after the shooting, because he was afraid the state police veteran was going to fall down.

“You don’t want to see this,” Officer Darton told Trooper Gray after looking inside the crashed SUV, according to the trooper’s own testimony.

Detailed first-person accounts from both officers are in the newly unsealed 586-page transcript of the closed inquest into the Nov. 3 shooting. Judge Robert V. Greco presided over the inquest, conducted in Clinton District Court in February.

Judge Greco’s report on the inquest, dated March 27 but released only yesterday, discredited much of Trooper Gray’s account and said the early morning shooting that killed the 30-year-old Fitchburg man constituted wanton and reckless conduct that amounted to criminal negligence.

A Worcester County grand jury did not agree.

Trooper Gray said he feared for his life and that of Officer Darton when he fired the single shot into the SUV driven by Mr. Johnson.

The trooper’s firing posed a risk to Officer Darton, Judge Greco said, and did not stop Mr. Johnson’s vehicle, which went over an embankment and into another parked car before crashing to a stop on Spruce Street.

Trooper Gray, 45, became a state trooper after graduating from the academy in October 1994. At the time of the shooting, he said, he had been stationed in the Leominster barracks for six years.

Before Nov. 3, Trooper Gray said, he had fired his weapon only once outside the practice range, and that was to put down a coyote.

On the night of the shooting, Trooper Gray was on patrol on Water Street in Fitchburg near Central Plaza. He said he saw a vehicle heading toward him at a “high rate of speed” about 100 yards away.

“It was going so fast that my perception was that it was erratic just due to the speed,” Trooper Gray testified.

He said the SUV came to an abrupt stop, crossed the centerline of Route 12 and nearly struck his cruiser. Trooper Gray said he then backed up and followed the SUV as it drove along Nashua Street.

With his blue lights flashing and siren occasionally blaring, Trooper Gray said, he kept up the pursuit for 4 to 5 minutes through the residential neighborhood off Water Street, as Route 12 is locally known. The chase reached speeds up to 45 mph, he testified, and the SUV struck at least one parked vehicle during the pursuit.

The SUV came to rest behind a Fitchburg cruiser — driven by Officer Darton — near the intersection of Salem and Spruce streets.

An unidentified vehicle, referred to in the reports on the case as a Toyota Camry, approached from the other direction and stopped near Officer Darton’s cruiser.

Trooper Gray said he exited his cruiser.

“I was shouting as I ran towards the vehicle, the SUV,” he testified. “I was shouting ‘Stop, police. Stop, stop, stop,’ repeatedly.”

He said the driver of the SUV, later identified as Mr. Johnson, refused to comply with his commands. He said he saw the vehicle’s reverse lights come on and tried to smash the driver’s side window with his right hand.

Trooper Gray said he suffered a laceration on his right hand that required three stitches, the only injuries he received in the encounter.

“The vehicle came toward me so fast that I couldn’t make any movement to avoid the vehicle,” Trooper Gray testified. “It was pushing me backward. I was right up against the suspect’s vehicle.”

He said he was pinned against the Camry that had stopped at the scene.

“I believe that the passer-by vehicle prevented both of us from escaping this vehicle accelerating towards us,” Trooper Gray said. “I was pushed backward by the driver’s door as the vehicle turned left towards the witness vehicle.”

He described Officer Darton as being an arm’s length away from him.

“I would say it came within a few feet or less of Officer Darton,” Trooper Gray said. “The entire time I was shouting, ‘Stop. Stop Stop.’ ”“I fired one round at the operator of the vehicle,” he said. He said he did not use the sights on his 40-caliber Sig Sauer pistol, rather, aiming at the center of mass of the driver that he could see. He described himself as perpendicular to the driver at the time the shot was fired.

“The operator appeared to fall over to the right and the SUV swerved to the right, away from us,” Trooper Gray said.

He said Officer Darton saw Mr. Johnson lying prone in the SUV before he did.

“You don’t want to see this,” the Fitchburg officer told him, Trooper Gray testified.

Officer Darton, 32, a four-year veteran of the Fitchburg force, was the second witness called in the inquest.

He testified that he joined the pursuit on Nov. 3 after hearing Trooper Gray’s radio transmission of the pursuit in progress. He said he saw the vehicles, with the cruiser’s blue lights flashing, as he passed Beekman Street.

Officer Darton said he stopped his cruiser on Salem Street and saw the SUV approaching from behind.

“I exited the vehicle because I thought I was going to get rammed by the SUV,” Officer Darton testified. Once out of the cruiser, he said, he recognized Mr. Johnson as the driver of the SUV, “Just from seeing him in town.”

Once he was out of the cruiser, he said, the SUV moved again and struck the rear of his cruiser.

“I was giving commands for him to stop. He wouldn’t,” Officer Darton testified. “And then he put the SUV into reverse, accelerated back; he put it into drive and came right at me.”

He said the SUV struck a Toyota Camry that had pulled up next to him and he jumped out of the way. He said his vision was affected by the SUV headlights and the lights on Trooper Gray’s cruiser and could not estimate how far he was from the trooper when the shot was fired. He said the SUV was close to him, but never made contact.

Officer Darton said he ran toward where the SUV came to rest after the shooting, followed by Trooper Gray.

“He kept asking me over and over if I was OK,” Officer Darton said. “He was very pale, like he was going to pass out.”

During his testimony, Trooper Gray said he eventually learned of two earlier connections to Mr. Johnson. He was one of many law enforcement officers who responded to the Fitchburg State College campus after Mr. Johnson fired shots at two students in 1996. Mr. Johnson spent four years in prison for the shooting, though Trooper Gray said his involvement in the case did not extend beyond the evening of the crime.

Trooper Gray said he also learned he arrested Mr. Johnson in 2002 on a default warrant in Fitchburg.

He said he did not recognize Mr. Johnson from their earlier encounters on the night of the shooting.

June 20, 2006

No indictment for trooper in Fitchburg fatal shooting

By Jay Lindsay, Associated Press Writer  

BOSTON --A grand jury did not indict a state trooper who shot a Fitchburg man to death after a police chase, though a judge who presided over an inquest into the case discounted the trooper's story and said his actions amounted to criminal negligence.

The grand jury returned a "no bill" in the case Monday, meaning it didn't find sufficient evidence to indict Trooper Donald Gray in the Nov. 3 shooting of Preston Johnson, 30.

Worcester County District Attorney John Conte said grand jurors made "the right decision," a comment an attorney for Johnson's family said was "outrageous," given the judge's finding.

"They wanted to whitewash this all along," said attorney Stephen Hrones.

Gray's attorney, Joseph Kittredge, denied any whitewash, and said his client told the truth during the inquest and felt vindicated by the grand jury finding.

"My client was justified to fire to protect himself and (another officer) that evening," he said.

At Conte's request, Framingham District Judge Robert V. Greco presided over a closed-door inquest into the case in February. Conte ordered Greco's previously sealed report released Tuesday.

In his report, Greco said Johnson, 30, had been shot in the back of the head by Gray, and that he was "not crediting" Gray's account of the shooting, in which Gray said he was afraid of being crushed by Johnson's SUV after he'd exited his car following the chase in Fitchburg.

"That evidence clearly shows that Gray had shot Johnson from the rear, that Gray could not have been facing directly at him, and that the major portion of the SUV had gone passed (sic) Gray at the time he fired his gun," Greco wrote.

Greco also wrote that Gray should have seen a Fitchburg police officer at the scene, Douglas Darton, was not in danger of being hit by Johnson.

Greco said he did not believe Gray acted with malice, but took an unnecessary risk.

"This act of Donald Gray was wanton and reckless conduct and amounted to criminal negligence," he wrote.

In a statement, Conte said the grand jury "made the right decision by finding there was no probable cause to believe a crime had been committed by Trooper Donald Gray."

Conte didn't immediately return a message from The Associated Press for comment Tuesday.

"The issue in the case, as far as were concerned, was the question of self-defense or defense of another," Conte told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

Hrones said he wasn't surprised by the grand jury decision, since grand juries only hear from prosecutors when a case is presented. He said Johnson's family planned to file a civil lawsuit in the case.

Kittredge said he was "disappointed" by Greco's report, and that the judge didn't fully consider all the facts presented at the inquest, including a radio transmission by Gray immediately after the shooting that backs his story.

Greco's report said Johnson was drunk and almost hit Gray with his SUV after crossing the center line on Route 12 in Fitchburg. Darton joined the chase, which ended on a narrow street where both officers got out of their cars and Darton ordered Johnson to turn off his SUV.

Johnson was shot as his car drove within several feet of the officers.

Gray, an 11-year veteran, remained on active duty after the shooting.

Johnson served four years in prison for shooting at two Fitchburg State College students. His driver's license had been suspended for numerous traffic violations, including speeding and failing to obey an officer.

May 10, 2006

Petition filed to release shooting inquest report 

By Jonathan Graham, Sentinel and Enterprise

FITCHBURG -- Boston attorney Stephen Hrones filed a motion Tuesday requesting the public release of an inquest report on the shooting death of Fitchburg resident Preston Johnson.

The motion asks for a superior court judge to lift a standing impoundment on the report by Judge Robert V. Greco, if the document does not recommend criminal prosecution of anyone in connection with Johnson's death.

District Attorney John Conte called for the inquest to determine whether someone can be criminally charged for the Nov. 3 fatal shooting of Johnson, 30, by a state trooper following an early-morning police chase through Fitchburg streets.

Hrones argues that Conte should state whether he will prosecute anyone, and if he is not, Greco's report should be released in full.

"(The) petitioner requests a hearing where the prosecution shall reveal to the court whether it intends prosecution," Hrones states in the motion.

Conte has access to the inquest's findings, but has not yet publicly decided whether to seek charges against anyone.

Hrones gave a copy of the motion, signed on behalf of Johnson's mother, Dorothy Johnson, to the Sentinel & Enterprise.

"The family's concern is that the District Attorney will for an undue period of time claim no decision has been made as to whether they will prosecute, thus denying the victim's family access to the facts relating to the death of their son, brother, husband and father," the motion reads.

State Trooper Donald C. Gray shot Johnson once to protect himself and Fitchburg Officer Douglas Darton, Gray's attorney, according to Gray's attorney, Joseph P. Kittredge. Johnson died the next day at a Worcester hospital.

Greco's report is the result of five days of testimony at a closed-door inquest.

The document was immediately impounded when it arrived at the Worcester Superior Court in late March, and access to it is limited.

If Conte declines to prosecute anyone in Johnson's death, he must release the inquest report and all of its supporting documents, Hrones has said.

Conte has declined several requests from the Sentinel & Enterprise for comment on the inquest report over the past several weeks.

A message requesting comment left Tuesday with Conte's spokeswoman was not returned.

Superior Court Judge John S. McCann received a motion on the report Tuesday, said Assistant Clerk Catherine M. Brennan.

Brennan said no information was available on the motion because McCann was still in court Tuesday afternoon.

Hrones said the family won't consider filing a civil suit in connection with Johnson's death until the inquest report is released.

"I've got to see the paperwork to see what's there, to see if we have a basis (for a lawsuit)," Hrones said. "I need more information."

Hrones said he witnessed some of the testimony at the inquest, but not enough to decide if a civil suit is an option.

Kittredge, who represents Gray, declined to comment on the inquest report in an interview two weeks ago.

He said that he would not comment until Conte made a decision on what to do with the report.

Kitteredge said he had spoken with Conte since the report was impounded, but declined to talk about the conversation.

May 10, 2006

Family seeks inquest report
Fitchburg man shot by trooper

By Matthew Bruun TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

FITCHBURG— The lawyer for the family of Preston D. Johnson, the man fatally shot by a state trooper after a police pursuit Nov. 3, has filed a motion in Worcester Superior Court seeking the release of a judge’s findings from an inquest.

The report from Judge Robert V. Greco, filed March 27, was impounded. A spokeswoman for Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte has said the matter is still under advisement.

Neither Mr. Conte nor the lawyer representing the trooper who fired the fatal shot returned calls for comment yesterday afternoon.

Lawyer Stephen Hrones, who accompanied Mr. Johnson’s family during the closed-door inquest in Clinton District Court in February, said he had expected to hear a decision from the prosecutor on how to proceed before so much time had passed.

If he does not plan to bring charges, Mr. Hrones said, the report should be released.

“We should hear from the DA. What’s he doing?” Mr. Hrones asked yesterday from his office in Boston. “Fish or cut bait. The family has a right to know all the facts.”

Trooper Donald C. Gray, who shot Mr. Johnson, was returned to active duty within weeks of the shooting.

When he sought the inquest last fall, Mr. Conte explained that the proceedings were an investigative tool to help determine whether criminal charges should be brought.

In an interview in December, Mr. Conte said he would decide whether charges should be brought after reviewing the judge’s report. If no charges were sought, the report would be made public. If a criminal case was brought, the proceedings would be held in open court.

“It’s a very public process in the end,” Mr. Conte said during that interview. “The inquest process is a process that protects everybody’s rights. It’s another set of eyes and it protects everybody’s rights.”

Mr. Hrones said he has no idea what the judge’s report says, but it should be made public immediately if Mr. Conte is not planning to pursue criminal charges.

“He can’t just hold onto it for months and years,” Mr. Hrones said.

In his recent filing, Mr. Hrones asks the court to lift its impoundment if the judge who presided over the inquest did not recommend criminal prosecution.

“It is unconceivable that the district attorney would commence criminal proceedings against a state trooper where the judge who heard from the witness and examined all the evidence recommended no prosecution,” the petition reads.

Family members remain “intensely interested” in the results of the inquest, the petition continues, and a hearing is sought “where the prosecution shall reveal to the court whether it intends prosecution.”

“The family’s concern is that the district attorney will for an undue period of time claim no decision has been made as to whether they will prosecute, thus denying the victim’s family access to the facts relating to the death of their son, brother, husband and father,” the petition concludes.

He said Mr. Johnson’s family has not decided whether to pursue civil action against Trooper Gray or anyone else involved in the case. That decision will be made after the materials in the report are reviewed, he said.

Although family members attended the inquest and heard testimony from witnesses, they have not received any written reports on the case or any recordings of police radio broadcasts associated with the events that night in November.

The family still has questions about what happened, Mr. Hrones said.

“Everything doesn’t all fit together,” he said. “We want to get this information.”

The only official account of the shooting released was issued by Mr. Conte’s office at the end of November.

That account says Mr. Johnson’s vehicle was operating erratically and at high speed, and he refused to stop for police Nov. 3. Mr. Johnson’s car struck several other vehicles, the prosecutor said.

“When, with the assistance of a Fitchburg police officer, Mr. Johnson’s vehicle finally came to a stop, Mr. Johnson refused repeated requests by the officers to turn off and exit the vehicle, this in spite of the fact that the officers were all in uniform, in marked police vehicles with flashing lights illuminated,” the statement last fall continued.

“When Mr. Johnson once again tried to flee the scene, he did so by ramming his vehicle into a Fitchburg police cruiser that was blocking him and then driving around the cruiser directly at the Fitchburg officer,” Mr. Conte’s statement continued.

“Fearing the lives of both officers to be in danger, Trooper Donald C. Gray fired a single gunshot into Mr. Johnson’s vehicle,” the prosecutor added.

“The gunshot struck Mr. Johnson and ultimately resulted in his death,” the statement read. Mr. Johnson died in a hospital after being taken off life support Nov. 4.

Family members said he was shot in the back of the head.

March 31, 2006

Inquest report 'impounded'

By Jonathan Graham, Sentinel and Enterprise

FITCHBURG -- The judge overseeing an inquest into the shooting death of Fitchburg resident Preston Johnson has filed his final report in Worcester Superior Court, according to a letter he wrote to another attorney.

Worcester County District Attorney John Conte called for the inquest to determine whether someone can be criminally charged for the Nov. 3 fatal shooting of Johnson, 30, following an early-morning police chase through Fitchburg streets.

State Trooper Donald C. Gray shot Johnson once to protect himself and Fitchburg Officer Douglas Darton, Gray's attorney, Joseph P. Kittredge, has previously said. Johnson died the next day at a Worcester hospital.

Judge Robert V. Greco's report is the result of five days of testimony at a closed-door inquest. It is "impounded" at the court and access to it is limited, according to Greco's letter, provided by Johnson family attorney Stephen Hrones of Boston.

Hrones said it was outrageous the Johnson family could not look at the finished report, which according to Greco's letter was filed Monday.

"Everyone wants to know what this report said," Hrones said. "Why shouldn't we get access to it? It's ridiculous."

The inquest finished hearing evidence at its final session on Feb. 28.

Conte spokeswoman Elizabeth Stammo did not return messages requesting the inquest's status on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Conte did not return a voicemail message left at his home Thursday afternoon by press time.

The district attorney and attorney general may view inquest reports at any time, according to the District Court Standards of Judicial Practice for Inquest Proceedings.

If the report names someone as possibly responsible for Johnson's death, their legal counsel may also obtain the information, according to the standards. 

"I think it's terrible that the family of the victim doesn't get the results of the inquest, or get access to it right away, just like the DA," Hrones said.

Kittredge did not return a message requesting comment left with his assistant Thursday afternoon.

A state police spokesman declined to comment on the finished report Thursday, directing all calls to Conte's office.

District Court standards state the public can access the documents only under the following circumstances: Conte declines to file any prosecution; an indictment is sought and not returned; a trial of the person or persons named responsible for Johnson's death is completed; or a Superior Court judge decides no criminal trial is likely.

Hrones said the lack of access to Greco's report is another example of his inability to access information related to the shooting.

Hrones said he tried to obtain the state police's cellphone and radio communications from the morning of the shooting, but was told he could not have the materials.

"The state police are clearly violating the law. They're telling me to go to the DA, but it's a public record," Hrones said. "We're not talking about a police report ... we're talking about communications."

March 31, 2006

’05 police shooting report impounded

By M. Elizabeth Roman and Mary Jo Hill TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
mhill@telegram.com

FITCHBURG— A judge who presided over an inquest into the shooting death of Preston D. Johnson has filed a report on the hearing with Worcester Superior Court, but the materials have been impounded, according to Stephen B. Hrones, a lawyer representing Mr. Johnson’s family.

“The report was filed in Superior Court March 27 and they impounded it so we can’t get access to it,” Mr. Hrones said.  

“We want to go to court to get it as soon as possible,” he said 

Mr. Hrones said that if District Attorney John J. Conte does not recommend criminal prosecution, the report should be released immediately.

He said he is not sure why the inquest report has been impounded and did not speculate as to what this could mean.

Mr. Johnson was shot Nov. 3 by state Trooper Donald C. Gray after a police pursuit in Fitchburg. Mr. Johnson died Nov. 4 after being removed from life support.

Family and friends of Mr. Johnson have expressed outrage over the shooting of the 30-year-old Fitchburg man.

Mr. Conte’s office could not be reached by telephone yesterday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, lawyer Joseph P. Kittredge of Needham, who represented Trooper Gray, said he had heard nothing and had no idea when the decision would come down.

The inquest, described as investigatory rather than accusatory, was to determine whether the death was criminal in nature, according to a definition of the hearing on the state’s Web site.

After completion of an inquest, the documents shall remain impounded and the inquest judge shall transmit his report and a transcript of the evidence to the appropriate clerk of the Superior Court, according to guidelines on the public’s right to access to judicial proceedings and records.

The report and transcript shall be made public if the district attorney certifies that no prosecution is proposed, an indictment has been sought but not returned, a prosecution for the death has been completed, or the Superior Court determines that no criminal trial is likely, according to the guidelines.

Mr. Conte has said he will decide whether criminal charges are warranted in the death after reviewing the judge’s report.

Judge Robert V. Greco oversaw the hearing, which was held from Feb. 6 to 9