July 11, 2007 Teen killed in car crash after drinking party
EAST BROOKFIELD—
A Warren man, charged with letting teenagers drink in his Bemis Road
home in the hours before one of them died in a horrific car accident
in late 2005, was found not guilty by a jury yesterday in Western
Worcester District Court.
Officer Mark Chase testified that he had no recollection of taking a
statement from Zachary Robidoux and did not know that it was in a
folder he brought to Hampden Superior Court to be used in a case
against the driver in the fatal crash. The written statement was eventually found after an assistant district attorney in the Springfield court read a newspaper article about the missing document and alerted prosecutor John F. Kennedy at the East Brookfield court that he had a copy. December 28, 2006
WORCESTER—
An Oxford man charged with possessing child pornography has been
acquitted after a jury-waived trial. Of the 110 images police said they retrieved from Mr. Hoose’s computer, 37 were identified by Dr. Christine Barron, former director of the UMass Memorial Medical Center’s Child Protection Program, as child pornography........... One of those models testified that she was 20 when she began working for ALS Scan. November 18, 2006 Asquino pleads not guilty in car accident case GARDNER -- Daniel M. Asquino, president of Mount Wachusett Community College, pleaded not guilty Friday to allegedly leaving the scene of a minor two-car accident earlier this year. Asquino's attorney had filed a motion seeking to dismiss the charge prior to his arraignment at Gardner District Court, but the judge didn't issue a ruling on Friday. Missing paperwork could have led to the charge's dismissal Friday, because city police had not submitted a citation to the courthouse since the accident occurred in August. October 6, 2006 Police officer, wife arraigned on A&B chargesHumidifier hurling part of ruckus By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF WORCESTER— A Worcester police sergeant and his wife were arraigned yesterday on cross-complaints stemming from a domestic disturbance at their home on Blackthorne Drive. Sgt. Herbert Campbell, 49, of 27 Blackthorne Drive, was charged with a single count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (humidifier) and his 38-year-old wife, Olga Campbell, was charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (humidifier and lighter). According to a statement filed in court by Officer Robert R. Bousquet, he and other officers went to the home to investigate a report of a domestic disturbance. The date and time of the response are not listed, but court documents indicate the assaults occurred yesterday. Mrs. Campbell told police she and her husband were arguing when he threw a humidifier at her, missing her, according to Officer Bousquet’s statement. Sgt. Campbell denied throwing anything at his wife and accused her of hurling the humidifier and a lighter at him, the report states. Mrs. Campbell then acknowledged throwing the lighter at her husband, but said she did so only after he threw the humidifier at her, Officer Bousquet wrote. Judge Robert W. Gardner Jr., who presided over the Central District Court arraignments, released Mrs. Campbell from custody on her own recognizance and her husband on $500 cash bail he had previously posted. As a condition of release, the judge ordered that neither abuse the other. Both told the judge they planned to hire their own lawyers. Their cases were continued to Nov. 10. Police Chief Gary J. Gemme said Sgt. Campbell had been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcomes of the court case and an internal investigation. After his arrest, the veteran sergeant’s gun was confiscated and his firearm license suspended, according to the chief. In addition to the internal inquiry by the department’s professional standards unit, detectives from the special crimes unit — which handles domestic violence cases — will investigate the allegations, he said. “Any time there’s a domestic situation, especially with a police officer, it’s a concern because of the authority a police officer has and his license to carry,” said Chief Gemme. Police officials, as a matter of policy, suspend the firearm licenses of all suspects in domestic violence cases, according to the chief. Chief Gemme said Sgt. Campbell’s job status could change depending on the outcome of the criminal case. Even if he is acquitted or the charge against him is dropped, Sgt. Campbell’s license to carry firearms could remain under suspension if it is determined that he violated departmental rules and standards, Chief Gemme noted. Mrs. Campbell is the former owner of On the Rocks, which was a popular college-age bar at 258 Park Ave. As part of a Worcester police crackdown on city bars where drugs were sold, officials planned to seek the court-ordered closure of On the Rocks earlier this year, after a drug investigation that police said included purchases of crack cocaine and marijuana there by undercover officers. Mrs. Campbell surrendered the bar’s liquor license in June, effectively closing the establishment. Shaun Sutner of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report. August 2, 2006 Lawyer blames ’Peeping Toms’
By Kristen
Bradley/ Daily News Staff Scott A. Davis, 47, of 1 Sunrise Road, shielded his face from cameras yesterday after his name was called out in court. Davis pleaded not guilty to one count of open and gross lewdness, although the charge was never said aloud in the courtroom. He was ordered held on $1,000 bail, handcuffed and taken into custody. He is due back in court Aug. 29 for further arraignment. Davis -- a married father of two children, ages 2 and 5 -- was arrested Sunday after police received a 911 call Saturday night about a man masturbating in public. On Sunday, a Southborough Police officer told the Daily News that Davis was arrested after a 17-year-old girl called police to say she could see Davis, her neighbor, fondling himself in front of one of the windows to her home. The alleged victim was with a group of teenagers at the time. But Davis’ attorney, Mark Lucier, said that never happened and that the teenagers were Peeping Toms. Yesterday, Southborough Police Chief William Webber wouldn’t elaborate on the case, saying he couldn’t comment on the arrest per order of Worcester County District Attorney John Conte’s office. During the arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Harry Johnson handed Judge Paul Waickowski a typed police report rather than reading the prosecution’s statement and facts of the case into the public record, as is normally done at arraignments. Johnson then made a motion to impound the police report to protect the alleged victims’ identities. Some of the alleged victims are minors, Johnson said. Waickowski allowed the move, impounding the entire file, not just the police report or other documents where the alleged victims’ names appeared. Johnson asked for $3,500 bail, citing concern and fear felt by the alleged victims. Lucier said Davis and his wife were performing "perfectly legal activities in the privacy of their home." Lucier said the alleged victims witnessed the actions of Davis and his wife by looking in the couple’s home windows. "Those individuals were peeking into my client’s windows," Lucier said. "A number of the individuals were entertained...and on a number of occasions they laughed and found it amusing." Johnson said the alleged victims were afraid of Davis, a graduate of Wentworth who works as a medical device engineer. "There is so much fear, that no one is here today," Lucier said. After the hearing, Johnson wouldn’t comment on the case or why the arraignment wasn’t carried out in the usual manner. He referred all calls to Conte’s office. Messages left there were not returned. (Kristen Bradley can be reached at 508-490-7463 or kbradley@cnc.com.) May 18, 2006
Campaign veterans charged in vote fraud
WORCESTER— Two
local political operatives have been charged with voting illegally
in what was the closest City Council district race in the November
elections. March 16, 2006
 Is
this justice in Central Massachusetts?
A recently widowed mother who is still grieving for her deceased husband got a further shock when her Bronze-star decorated son returned from Iraq only to be locked up by Judge Charles Abdella without bail after he voluntarily turned himself in. March 16, 2006 Guilty plea in carnival ride deathManager gets probation in precedent-setting trial
By Shaun Sutner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF March 15, 2006 No bail for Iraq vet -Warren man on probation
Kenneth G. Tatro, 24, of Main Street, Warren, was taken into custody and held after a probation detention hearing. He will be back in court March 20 for a probation violation hearing. February 3, 2006 Former nurse gets probation in Milford patient abuse case WORCESTER— A former nurse who had been accused of
abusing a nursing home resident by removing a pain medication patch
from his body was placed on probation yesterday after pleading
guilty to a reduced charge of assault and battery. January 28, 2006 DA Conte's Massachusetts State Police C-Pac unit arrest in web threat criminal case shown on video. Officer James Gough to face clerk on criminal complaint application for threatening to commit a crime (murder).Unbeknown to the Massachusetts State Police Detectives as they arrived in nine (9) different police vehicles, with troopers dressed in black clothing armed with semi-automatic rifles running flank around the home, taping of their arrival occurred. Massachusetts State Trooper Nicholas Nason had called earlier and asked if he could come over to speak with Mr. Pechonis. Mr. Pechonis was not expecting the aggressive assault upon his family found after he had returned home from his late afternoon arraignment in almost empty Marlborough District Court. A complete video copy of the interaction with the State Police, their search of his home without a warrant, and his arrest which had been previously descried as to contain numerous misleading statements by Trooper Nason. January 19, 2006
Judge
dismisses drug charges -
WORCESTER - Drug
charges against a Liberty Street man have been dismissed at the
request of prosecutors, who said the suppression of evidence against
the suspect had left them without a case. The state Appeals Court upheld Judge Agnes' decision on Sept. 30, 2005. District Attorney John J. Conte's application to the state Supreme Judicial Court for further appellate review of the Appeals Court ruling was denied Nov. 30. December 17, 2005 Wife of Sizzler defendant allegedly pressured witness WORCESTER— A key witness in the case against Brian R. McCullough, a carnival maintenance supervisor charged with manslaughter in the 2004 death of Andrew R. Fohlin on a Sizzler amusement ride, was pressured by the defendant’s wife to recant his story, a prosecutor said in court yesterday. August 31, 2005 Deal with Correction Officer, eliminates criminal charges. Tuesday August 29, 2005 was a good day for Officer Joseph F. Coggans of Dudley who had charges of resisting arrest, negligent driving, refusing to identify himself, failing to stop for police, obstructing an emergency vehicle and disorderly conduct dismiss. Assistant District Attorney Joyce Johnson asked Fitchburg District Court Judge Edward Reynolds to drop the case. So are we to believe that Fitchburg Police Officer Joanne M. Bairos, Sgt. Jeffrey J. Howe, street supervisor and Fitchburg Police Chief Edward F. Cronin do not understand criminal law. According to new Worcester County Sheriff Guy Godis “The Fitchburg police chief has about as much knowledge of public safety as a troglodyte. He was way out of bounds to press charges and I can assure you there will be no further investigation against my officer,” Mr. Glodis said. As for Sheriff Glodis, his operation of the Worcester House of Corrections leaves much room for debate, since Sheriff Glodis has taken control, there has been three prisoner deaths, overcrowding transfers, and complaints of informants disclosing legal avenues initiated by prisoners, who some claim as working for Worcester DA John Conte. Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte's double standards once again questioned. July 15, 2005 ide operator arraigned in Sizzler death -Florida man remains free after pleading not guilty WORCESTER - The amusement supervisor charged with causing the death of 38-year-old Andrew R. Fohlin on a carnival ride in Shrewsbury last September pleaded not guilty to manslaughter at his arraignment yesterday in Worcester Superior Court. Brian R. McCullough, of Hernando, Fla., indicted June 17 as the person responsible for the operation of the Sizzler ride, is the first person charged in an amusement death in Massachusetts. October 6, 2005 Appeals court upholds earlier ruling, Worcester police used unlawful tactics to gain warrant. The state Appeals Court has affirmed the suppression of drug evidence by a lower court judge who had harsh criticism for methods used by the Worcester vice squad and expressed disbelief in police testimony. Worcester District Attorney John Conte's office needs to immediately bring to a grand jury the issues of this testimony and have police Officer Larry T. Williams and Sgt. Timothy O'Connor whose behavior spurred this this ruling held responsible. Failure to do so will only further the belief that we have a double standard of prosecution in Worcester County.How many warrants have been issued by these Worcester Police tactic's may never be known. What will be know, is if Worcester DA John Conte insures that this type of police behavior is not tolerated and respects every American's right to constitutional protection and seeks prosecution. October 1, 2005 Man charged in Web threatsWESTBORO— A Northboro man who allegedly asked for the “resignation or execution” of Westboro District Court Judge Paul S. Waickowski on one of the Web sites he created was charged in court yesterday with threatening to commit a crime (murder). Paul Pechonis, 46, of 17 Milk Porridge Drive, Northboro, also claimed the judge “is slowly starving my baby to death” and allegedly placed a poster of his child and that statement on a bulletin board in the Westboro District Court hallway Sept. 9, according to court records. April 14, 2005 Conte’s office loses 75 percent of trials by Anthony Leo I’d like to comment on the true statistics that District Attorney John J. Conte released, “District attorney releases prosecution statistics” (Telegram & Gazette, Feb. 22). Mr. Conte stated that 469 cases were prosecuted in 2004, and, of those, 406 ended in plea bargains. This leaves 63 cases that went to trial, in which Mr. Conte got 16 convictions. This figures out to a 75 percent failure rate in trials. This also comes at a time when the commonwealth’s public defender system is in crisis. Most of the 406 defendants who pleaded guilty most likely were poor people who could not afford their own lawyers to defend them. They are forced to rely on public defenders who are grossly overworked and underpaid, and who also just want to dispose of the cases as fast as possible. Indigent defendants soon realize that these lawyers cannot effectively subject the prosecution’s case to the meaningful adversarial testing that the Constitution demands. Furthermore, after losing a trial, indigent defendants often are punished by much longer prison sentences. Hence, 406 plea bargains. What the statistics really prove is that even when facing overworked, underpaid and often ineffective appointed lawyers, Mr. Conte’s office still loses 75 percent of the trials they prosecute. This is really nothing to brag about and certainly doesn’t warrant a raise. Does it?
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26-Jul-2007 03:58 PM
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EAST BROOKFIELD— A
Warren man who recently returned from service in Iraq is being held
without bail after turning himself in yesterday at Western Worcester
District Court, where he was wanted on a default warrant. 