The Boston Globe - 06.08.2019

TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019 The Boston Globe Metro B

tacted Kyes and several other
police officialsMonday, more
thantwo weeksafter first re-
porting on the Registry’s spotty
compliance.
“They wantto hear fromthe
police chiefs as to any concerns
we have, any issuesat all that
involvethe RMV, and thento
certainly talk about Haley’s law
and the notificationproce-
dures,” said Kyes, who is repre-
senting both the Massachusetts
Chiefs of Police Association and
the Major City Chiefs of Police
Association, of which he’s presi-
dent, at the session.
“Hopefully, it will be a pro-
ductive meeting,” he said.
Patrick Marvin, a spokes-
manfor the Department of
Transportation, said Monday
the Registry had reached out to
the police chiefs association to
“set up an opportunity to gath-

uRMV
ContinuedfromPageB

er law enforcement’s feedback”

on both the implementation

and effectiveness of the law.

It wasn’t immediately clear

whoelse wouldbe attending

Thursday’s meeting. Efforts to

reach otherofficialsat the Mas-

sachusetts Chiefs of Police Asso-

ciationwerenot successful

Monday.

Registry critics applauded

Tesler’s willingnessto huddle

with local law enforcement offi-

cials. State Representative Lou

Kafka, a StoughtonDemocrat

who wrote Haley’s law, said he’s

encouraged by the “positive

steps to bringthe Registry into

full compliance with this law.”

The hope, Kafka said,is that

the meeting “will bringus clos-

er to making sure that munici-

pal police departments have the

information they need to be on

lookout for driverswho should

not be on the road.”

The law states that the Regis-

try must “timelynotify” police

departments when it strips a

resident’s licensefor certain rea-

sons, including driving under

the influence of alcohol or drugs

or refusinga chemical test.

The goal is to addressflaws

in information-sharing that

wereexposedby the death of

Haley Cremer. Sharon police

werenever notified by the Reg-

istry that the driverof the car,

Jeffrey Bickoff, who had a histo-

ry of at-fault crashes, had his li-

cense suspended at the time.

Sharon officials said they might

have arrested himhad they

knownaboutthe suspension

and spotted him driving.

Informal surveys conducted

by the Globe and the Massachu-

setts Chiefs of Police Associa-

tion last monthfoundthat the

Registry enters updates of sus-

pensions and revocationsinto a

statewide database, leaving it to

localdepartments to find that

information on their own.

Somedepartments reported

receiving only a smattering of

advanced notices fromthe Reg-

istry. More thantwo dozende-

partmentssaid the Registry is

not in full compliancewith the

law, according to the police as-

sociation’s survey.

Eight departmentstold the

Globethat they receive written

notices about suspensions only

in cases in which a driver is

considered an immediate

threat to public safety.

A spokesman for the Regis-

try’s parentagency insisted last

month that it is complying with

the law by makingthe informa-

tion available throughthe data-

base, known as Criminal Jus-

tice Information System, which

is updated weekly.

State officialsalso provided

the Globe witha 2015 letter

from the Department of Crimi-

nal Justice Information Servic-

es and two otherletters from

the Registry in 2016advising

lawmakers and police chiefs of

the database system.

However, that process puts

the onus on officers to look up

suspension and revocation in-

formation — causingconfusion

among somedepartments.

The Registry’s internal

workingsexplodedintothe

public realmafter the deaths of

seven peoplein a crash in late

June in New Hampshire,alleg-

edly caused by a truckdriver

from West Springfield who

shouldhave beenstrippedof

his Massachusetts commercial

driver’s license.

Registrar Erin Deveney re-

signed shortly afterward. Regis-

try officialshave sincesaid they

knowinglystoppedprocessing

alerts fromotherstates last

year, and didn’t act for more

thana year despitemultiple

warning flags.

Laura Crimaldiof theGlobe

staff contributedto this report.

Matt Stout can be reachedat

[email protected]

himon Twitter @mattpstout.

Registry officials to meet with local police about Haley’s law

ByGalTzipermanLotan
GLOBESTAFF
Attorneys for a NewtonDis-
trict Court judge and a former
court officer who are accused of
helpingan undocumentedim-
migrant evade a federal agent
asked for more evidence from
prosecutors on Monday to de-
cide whether they want to sepa-
rate the cases.
Judge Shelley M. Richmond
Joseph could face up to 20 years
in prison if convicted of charges
of conspiracy to obstruct justice
and obstruction of a federal
proceeding. She and her co-
defendant, formercourt officer
Wesley MacGregor, have both
pleaded not guilty.
They werenot in court Mon-
day, but their attorneys request-
ed transcriptsfromgrand jury
testimony and notes federal
agents took duringtheirinves-
tigation.
MacGregor’s lawyer, Rose-
mary Scapicchio, said she want-

ed to be able to readthe grand

jury testimony abouther client,

who is also charged with con-

spiracy to obstruct justice.

“They couldbe blamingmy

client, I don’t know. But I need

to know, in order to think about

whether or not we have to sever

this case fromJudge Joseph’s

case,” she said. “And in reverse,

in termsof Judge Joseph,my

clienttestifiedin frontof the

grand jury. In termsof his testi-

mony, I don’t know howthey

make a valid determination as

to whether or not they needto

sever without seeing those tran-

scripts.”

A federal prosecutor noted

that while grand jury testimony

is typically secret, defense attor-

neys have already received a

portion of the transcripts.

“We do not view this as a

severable case,” said Assistant

US Attorney Christine J. Wich-

ers.

US District Court Magistrate

Judge Donald L. Cabell did not

rule on the motions Monday,

but said he likely will make a

decision by the end of the week.

Attorneys for Josephand

MacGregor are scheduled to file

motionsby Sept. 6 for the

charges against them to be dis-

missed.A trialdate has not

been scheduled.

Whenthe indictment was

handed down,US Attorney for

Massachusetts Andrew Lelling

said his decision to prosecute the

case was about the “rule of law.”

“This case is not intended as

a policy statement, at least not

beyond making the point that

the laws have to apply equally

even if you’re a state court

judge,” Lelling said in April.

At the time,Massachusetts

Attorney General Maura Healey

calledthe indictment“a radical

and politically motivated attack

on our state and the indepen-

dence of our courts.”

Prosecutors allege that Jo-

seph and MacGregor conspired

to help Jose Medina-Perez, a

Dominican national, escape an

Immigration and CustomsEn-

forcementagent in a Newton

courtroom.He is identifiedin

court recordsas A.S., for “alien

subject.”

A courtroomclerk asked the

ICE agent to step outsidethe

courtroom and wait for Medi-

na-Perez in the lobby, records

show. RichmondJosephthen

allegedly turned off the court-

room recorder for 52 seconds.

MacGregor is accusedof es-

corting Medina-Perez,a lawyer,

and an interpreter to a back

door and using his security key

to let himout of the court-

house, records show.

Maria Cramer, Andrea Estes,

andMatt Stout of theGlobe

staff contributedto this report.

GalTziperman Lotan canbe

reached at gal.lotan@

globe.com.

Separate trials for Newton judge, ex-officer?

The law states that theRegistry must

‘timelynotify’ policedepartmentswhen

it stripsa resident’slicenseforcertain

reasons.

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