Nearly four years ago, the Boston Globe described the 2009 death of Joshua Messier at Bridgewater State Hospital in horrific detail.
Messier, according to surveillance video, was on a bed with his hands cuffed behind his back and his feet in leg irons. He had suffered a schizophrenic attack and guards had forcibly restrained him. Two guards, Derek Howard and John Raposo, pushed down on Messier’s back, forcing his chest toward his knees, a tactic called “suitcasing” that the Globe reported had been banned in Massachusetts institutions because it can cause suffocation.
After Howard and Raposo got off Messier’s back and unfolded his body, Messier “lay limp and motionless, his head flopping back at a 90-degree angle as guards strapped him to the bed and stripped off his clothes, then went casually about their business for the next 10 minutes.”
The story set off relentless reporting by the Globe’s Michael Rezendes suggesting that the actions of the guards were criminal, that Bridgewater was an institution run amok, and that reforms were necessary.
Reforms have been made at Bridgewater. State administrators were fired. The state also settled a civil lawsuit brought by Messier’s parents by paying the family $3 million. But on Monday, Howard, Raposo, and a third guard, supervisor George A. Billadeau, were found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
“Retrospectively, the conduct of these three defendants left much to be desired, but does not constitute wanton and reckless conduct,” said Superior Court Judge Jeffrey A. Locke after a five-day non-jury trial.
Locke said the quality of the video prevented him from fully understanding Messier’s movements and position at critical times. Defense lawyers raised questions about the inadequate training of the guards. They also suggested Messier’s death could have been caused by a head injury he suffered fighting with guards and the presence in his body of toxic levels of a psychiatric medication known to raise the risk of cardiac arrest.
“There was reasonable doubt everywhere you looked in this case,” said Kenneth H. Anderson, one of the three defense lawyers.
“The fact that these guards were not as well trained as they should have been and the fact the Department of Correction didn’t abide by its own policy made it very difficult to find any possible set of individuals, including these three, personally responsible for what happened to Joshua,” said Martin Murphy, a special prosecutor brought into handle the case.
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz, who came under fire for not prosecuting the guards, issued a statement essentially saying I-told-you-so. “There was no new evidence presented at this trial that our office had not previously pored over as part of our investigation,” Cruz said. “Judge Locke came to the same determination that there was insufficient evidence to support any charges against these three men.”
Lisa Brown, Messier’s mother, said she had expected a guilty verdict as a matter of common sense. “I take solace from the fact that because of Joshua’s death, many things have already changed in the mental health care system,” she said. “There are no more prison guards inside Bridgewater State Hospital.”
BRUCE MOHL
BEACON HILL
In what has become a testy back-and-forth between state officials, Gov. Charlie Baker lashed out at a report issued last week by state Auditor Suzanne Bump that found deficiencies in the state’s Department of Children and Families. (Boston Globe)
Baker, in an effort to prime the home-building pump, proposed a change that would allow communities to lower the threshold for approving zoning changes from two-thirds to a majority vote of local boards. (Boston Globe)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Developers of a proposed mixed-use project at the Quincy Center MBTA station say they would consider paring back the number of apartments from the planned 600 units if residents and city officials want them to. (Patriot Ledger)
Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia promoted his former special assistant to fill the city’s newly created post of housing director. (Herald News)
The Falmouth Board of Health is considering tighter regulations on semi-private pools in response to the drowning death of a four-year-old last summer at a resort pool. Some ideas include increased adult supervision and keyed entry to locked gates. (Cape Cod Times)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
Investigators said the alleged would-be suicide bomber in the New York city subway attack Monday morning told authorities he executed the failed attack in retaliation for US airstrikes against ISIS Syria and other countries. (New York Times)
The Treasury Department is coming under fire for a one-page report claiming the GOP tax cut will pay for itself with critics charging the statement lacks specifics and is based on non-existant legislative successes. (U.S. News & World Report)
ELECTIONS
The surreal US Senate race in Alabama will be decided one way or the other today with conflicting polls showing both Democrat Doug Jones with a lead of 10 points and another putting Roy Moore ahead. Still another shows the contest a toss-up. (New York Times)
Gov. Charlie Baker says — the day before the balloting — that he doesn’t think Moore is fit to serve in the Senate and “would be supporting the alternative.” (State House News) Joe Battenfeld writes that that Baker “had to be prodded” to say he backs Jones, and says the governor could pay a price politically if the retrograde right-winger is elected. (Boston Herald) Conservative columnist Michael Graham has nothing good to say about the “idiot” voters who will cast a ballot for Moore. (Boston Herald)
Business groups filed suit to try to block the so-called “millionaires’ tax” from appearing on the 2018 state ballot. (Boston Herald)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Local brew Sam Adams, not Budweiser, will now be the king of beers at Fenway Park. (Boston Globe)
EDUCATION
Lawrence schools receiver Jeff Riley suspended use of a seclusion room at the Arlington Community Day elementary school after a parent posted a picture online showing a stark, windowless room where her daughter was often kept alone. School officials said students who were perceived as in danger of hurting themselves or others were never left unattended and the door was always open. (Eagle-Tribune)
Students at Boston’s Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School mount a protest over what they say is the city’s neglect in keeping the area near their school free of needles discarded by drug addicts. (Boston Globe)
An obituary for 15-year-old Connor Tronerud said he took his own life because of bullying from peers. Tronerud, whose family lives in Massachusetts, was a student at Marianapolis Prep School in Thompson, Connecticut. (MassLive)
A Lowell Sun editorial predicts lawsuits and lost tax revenues in the wake of the fight over where to locate a new high school.
A Pioneer Institute report says the state’s new education standards are “mediocre,” leading to lower scores on standardized tests. (Salem News)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
The third installment of the Globe series on racism keys in on health care issues.
TRANSPORTATION
Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack defended the Baker administration’s decision to put off until 2040 the construction of West Station, a proposed transit center near an emerging neighborhood being developed by Harvard University. (CommonWealth)
T notes: MBTA cuts bus maintenance costs on its own without outsourcing; T officials lay out a timeline for commuter rail of the future; and officials mum on former employees critique of parking management at the agency. (CommonWealth)
The state will pick three waterfront sites from a list of 12 communities to receive grants that would expand ferry service to downtown Boston starting in the spring. (Patriot Ledger)
Some transit agencies around the country, most notably LA Metro, are experimenting with “microtransit” services. (Governing)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Federal regulators will vote on whether to ban large trawlers from catching herring within three miles of the Cape Cod shore after individual and small commercial fishermen made the case the midwater boats should be pushed out 50 miles or more. (Cape Cod Times)
Eversource is demanding that the Environmental Defense Fund remove a report from its website that accuses the utility of driving up electricity prices through its contracting practices. (Boston Globe)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
The extortion trial of two City Hall aides to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was pushed back to March as defense attorneys raised new questions about the grounds for the prosecution. (Boston Herald)
District attorneys across the state suspended use of results from a widely used breathalyzer machine as the state sorts through documents questioning the accuracy of the information that were never turned over to defense attorneys. (Lowell Sun)
MEDIA
The Berkshire Eagle and the Berkshire Museum continue to wrangle over the release of documents related to the sale of the museum’s artworks. (Berkshire Eagle)
Tom Farragher offers a poignant tribute to his former Globe colleague Gloria Negri, an indefatigable presence at the paper for 53 years who died Sunday at age 91. (Boston Globe)
According to the Eagle Tribune, the seclusion room is in the Arlington Community Day elementary school “which is operated by a charter organization” Lawrence School Receiver Jeff Riley “oversees.”
CommonWealth’s Daily Download is giving another shout out to the Pioneer Institute for releasing yet another report. At least this Pioneer report provided some context on the Education Reform Act of 1993 stating that law “…instituted sweeping changes in Massachusetts education. In addition to establishing a baseline of funding for all districts, the law mandated a series of reforms including increased credentialing requirements for teachers, great management authority for school principals, and the creation of a new Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS)…tests…administered in grades 4, 8, and 10…” Usually, the Pioneer Institute ignores the funding part. While I reluctantly plod through the report, here’s something to consider about that “baseline of funding for all districts:” that’s the foundation budget…the mechanism distributing state aid to local public schools and the Foundation Budget Review Commission released a report back in 2015 finding a massive funding shortfall. In fact, one area noted in that report was special education: “Because special education is a legal entitlement, districts must fund individual education plans for all students in special education. Therefore, any gap between the foundation budget categories and actual legal obligations results in funds being diverted from other instructional priorities of the district to fund obligatory special education costs.” I’m pretty sure the Pioneer Institute won’t be mentioning how that could effect student performance. No, that won’t come up in its report at all.
yes, that is true; and the Boston based DESE/BESE and Governor Baker and PEYSER(Ed secretary) are grooming Riley to be your next commissioner — I hope you will all be happy with his privatization and “hybrid” portfolio of schools that benefit the hedge fund managers. They will replace Riley with a “Board” of receivership but so far there is only one Lawrence person on that Board — the mayor and I imagine they will be brining in their own “board” just as they always propose with charter schools — and I already know the kinds of persons/roles they see for that board. Meanwhile, the “Board” can raise the pay of the superintendent they hire (it is my understanding that Riley was earning $280,000 ) so that means they CEO will be getting $300,000 ormolu in the poorest city in the state…. What accountability is there for that kind of money in a school district? Does the state intend to take over 350 school districts and raise the supers salaries up to $300,000 each?
Speaking of the Lawrence Public School’s state receiver Jeff Riley, I came across an article in The Valley Patriot that ran six months after his appointment: “Riley didn’t waste any time bringing friends, acquaintances, and former colleagues on board to work in high paid administrative positions. He created a “cabinet” of administrative jobs, also creating their salaries, job requirements and determined the language in each of their contracts. Even though the positions were publicly posted on the school department’s website, all of the people Riley has hired were people that he knew. The Valley Patriot matched up the posted job descriptions of Receiver Riley’s “cabinet” and new hires, with the resumes of those he hired. The job descriptions look as though they were designed for specific people Riley was affiliated with in the past.” One year later another article in that same newspaper had a quote: “of the $9.1 million in salaries that he (Riley) is increasing for spending in the Lawrence Schools, more than $6 million of that is salary increases at central offices.” That same article went on: “Documents obtained by the Valley Patriot show that the Lawrence Schools are paying $15,776,981 for charter school tuition with only $3 million coming back in (state) reimbursements.” And yes, I can see Riley is being groomed to be the state education commissioner.