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Michael M. O’Laughlin was convicted of the assault and attempted murder of Annmarie Kotowski, a woman who lived in his apartment building.  The victim was severely beaten to the extent that, except for her jaw, all the bones in her face were broken.  In addition one of her ears was almost completely severed.  At trial the state presented “evidence of motive, means, opportunity, and consciousness of guilt” on the part of O’Laughlin.  However, such evidence only indicated that O’Laughlin could have committed the crime.  It contained no necessary inferences that he did commit the crime.

The victim had lived with her husband, David Kotowski, for 26 years, but had separated from him just 2 months before the assault to pursue a relationship with another man, James Finn.  She had mentioned divorce to her husband just one week before the assault.  She had amnesia resulting from the assault and could not identify her assailant.  The brutality of the assault suggested the assailant knew her enough to harbor rage towards her.  O’Laughlin’s alleged motive of robbery did not require such brutality and did not make much sense as nothing was stolen from the victim’s apartment.

The trial judge refused to allow into evidence a note found in the victim’s apartment.  The note called its recipient “a whore,” used four-letter words to describe her having oral and regular sex with “him,” and contained the words, “threat to kill him,” suggesting murderous rage.  The victim’s relationships highly suggest that her husband had written the note to her and that the “him” mentioned in the note was her boyfriend, James Finn.  Police had not used comparisons of handwriting to prove who wrote the note, and one reason citied for its inadmissibility was that allowing it into evidence “would have required the jury to speculate as to its meaning and genesis.”

The victim’s husband was known to have blisters on his hands when questioned after the assault.  He had two towels reeking of bleach in the trunk of his car.  These suggested that he engaged in a cleanup.  He also had no alibi for the hours surrounding the 2 a.m. assault, claiming to be home asleep at the time.

On appeal, the Massachusetts Appellate Court ruled in 2005 that the state’s evidence was insufficient to establish guilt.  It then vacated O’Laughlin’s conviction and entered a verdict of acquittal.  The prosecution appealed the decision to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which in 2006 reversed the appellate court’s decision that the state’s evidence was insufficient.  The Court did indicate the decision was a close one, but it reinstated O’Laughlin’s conviction.  (www.freemichaelnow.com)  [3/08]

Martin was convicted of murdering her boyfriend, Richard Alfredo, 61.  Alfredo died in his home after a long history of heart disease.  Initially, it was assumed the disease was the cause of his death and no autopsy was performed.  Alfredo's assets worth about $25,000 went to his estranged wife and her children while Martin and her children continued to live in the home she had shared with Alfredo.  Four weeks after Alfredo's death, rumors surfaced that Alfredo was poisoned.  Martin's daughter had told high school friends that Alfredo had made sexual advances toward her, and that her mother got revenge by serving him Jell-O laced with LSD.

LSD is an illicit hallucinogen and can cause a rapid increase in heart rate.  Such an increase can be fatal to someone with a diseased heart like Alfredo's.  Alfredo's body was exhumed and tests indicated the presence of LSD.  The medical examiner then ruled the death a homicide and listed the cause of death as "Acute LSD Intoxication."  When police went to arrest Martin, they found that she and her daughter had fled, but phone records indicated they two were in Montreal, Canada, where they were captured.

At Martin's trial, the judge took her lawyer aside for not cross-examining forensic witnesses, but the lawyer assured him that he would defend against such testimony later, which he never did.  A local drug dealer also testified that he sold 30 doses of LSD to a small group that included Martin and her daughter.  Seven years after Martin's conviction, her new lawyer, Kevin Mahoney, a public defender, went to the courthouse to get her case file.  While there, he struck up a conversation with a prosecutor about the case.  The prosecutor told him to look very closely at the official cause of death.

Mahoney found out from a pharmacologist that there had never been a case reported where a person had died from the direct effects of LSD.  Therefore, the listed cause of death was very unlikely.  Secondly, the test kit used to determine the presence of LSD was designed only for fresh urine samples, not cadaver tissue.  It contained a warning label that it gave a preliminary result and required confirmation by tests that are more accurate.  Mahoney then found out that the prosecution had performed multiple confirmatory tests but they all came back negative.  The prosecution was required by the Brady Doctrine to turn over all exculpatory evidence to the defense without being asked, but it had violated this rule.

On appeal, Martin got a new trial.  Rather than remain in prison while awaiting a new trial, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for time served.  She maintained her innocence.  (Forensic Files)  [12/06]

Waters was convicted of the murder of Katharina Brow.  She was stabbed more than 30 times and her money and jewelry were taken.  Two of Waters' ex-girlfriends testified that he had made a drunken confession to them.  Another witness stated Waters tried to sell her the victim's ring and necklace soon after the crime.  Co-workers of Waters stated that he had a knife similar to the one used in the attack.  Types B and O blood were found at the scene.  Brow had type B and Waters had type O, although 48% of the population have type O.

Although the perpetrator apparently bled at the crime scene, police examined Waters a few hours after the murder and found no injuries on him.  Waters' defense indicated that a hair found on victim was neither the victim's nor Waters'.  An ex-girlfriend witness later recanted her testimony.  DNA tests exonerated Waters in 2001.  (BUSL) (IP083)  [6/05]

Peter Limone, Joseph Salvati, Henry Tameleo, and Louis Greco were convicted in 1968 of the murder of Edward Deegan.  At trial, the main witness against the four was Joseph Barboza, a hit man, who later admitted that he had fabricated much of his testimony.  All except Salvati were sentenced to die but were spared when Massachusetts abolished the death penalty in 1974.  Tameleo and Greco died in prison in 1985 and 1995.

Salvati was released in 1997 after the Governor commuted his sentence.  Limone was released in 2001 after released FBI documents showed that informants had told the FBI before the murder that Barboza and another man would soon kill Deegan, and the FBI was also told after the murder that the same two men committed it.

Deegan was a small time thief.  At the time of Deegan's killing, Tameleo and Limone were reputed leaders of the New England mob, while Greco and Salvati had minor criminal records.  FBI agents Dennis Condon and H. Paul Rico not only withheld evidence of Barboza's fabricated testimony, but also told state prosecutors who were handling the Deegan murder investigation that they had checked out Barboza's story and it was true.  Barboza was the first person ever accepted into the federal witness protection program.  He was relocated to California, where he was involved in at least two more murders.

Agent Rico was arrested in 2003 on murder and conspiracy charges in the 1981 killing of Roger Wheeler, a former World Jai Alai owner.  In 2004, he died in an Oklahoma prison while awaiting trial.  John Connolly, Rico’s replacement at the Boston FBI office, faces trial in Sept. 2007 for the 1982 murder of a former World Jai Alai president.  In July 2007, Salvati, Limone, and the estates of Tameleo and Greco were awarded a combined total of $101.75 million, the largest wrongful conviction award in U.S. history.  (BUSL)  [7/07]

Johnson was convicted of the shooting murder of James Christian, 30, and sentenced to death.  Another suspect in the murder, Kenneth Myers, claimed to have witnessed the shooting, and identified the photograph of the perpetrator.  When the police told Myers that person he identified was in prison at the time of the shooting, Myers changed his story and told police that Johnson was the murderer.  Myers told police that he himself had picked up the victim's gun after the victim was shot, and he took police to the place where he had hidden the gun.  Myers claimed that he was with his girlfriend when he witnessed the murder, but he refused to divulge her name.

On appeal, the court granted Johnson a new trial, ruling that Myers should have been forced to divulge the name of other witnesses who were at the scene of the crime.  At the new trial, Myers' girlfriend did not corroborate his account and a new witness testified that he saw Myers flee from the scene, but never saw Johnson.  The jury however convicted Johnson again—this time of second-degree murder.  This conviction was upheld on appeal.

Several years later, a 19-year-old woman named Dawnielle Montiero came forward and reported that she had witnessed the murder and that Myers was the killer.  She said Johnson was not there that day.  This witness had informed the police at the time of the murder about what she saw, but the police said that because she was only nine years old, her information was not important.  Based on this new evidence, Johnson was granted yet another new trial.  This time around, the prosecution dropped all charges and Johnson was released in 1982.  In 1983, both houses of the Massachusetts legislature approved a bill providing $75,000 compensation to Johnson, but no final action was ever taken on this measure.  (BUSL)  [7/05]

Rodwell was convicted in 1981 of the murder of Louis Rose, Jr., a drug dealer and the son of a Burlington police captain. No physical evidence linked Rodwell to the crime. The case against him relied on two witnesses: (1) Frankie Holmes, an immunized witness who drove the victim to the murder scene and drove away after the murder. (2) David Nagel, a prison informant, who had the opportunity to confer with Holmes prior to trial, when the two were incarcerated together. Both witnesses faced multiple life felony convictions on various charges.

At trial, Holmes’ testimony conflicted with earlier statements he had given to investigators and the grand jury. Both witnesses’ testimonies were riddled with discrepancies, inconsistencies, and errors. Nagel was a career informant. He had been charged with 37 armed robberies in the 1970s, a number which grew to 59 by the mid-1980s. He managed to sidestep lengthy sentences by aiding the police with tips and testimony. In prison, Rodwell had to endure taunts by other inmates, taunts that usually ended with the refrain, “Another one that Nagel got.”

The prosecution withheld a police report on a witness who stated another person committed the crime. The prosecutor and the state police told the witness, “If you remember what you saw, you will be charged as an accessory.” (Website)  [2/08]

Amado was convicted of the shooting murder of 28-year-old George Sneed.  The conviction was due to testimony that an eyewitness, Frederick Johnson, had selected a photo of Amado, had identified the assailant as "Bugsy," and had associated the name "Bugsy" with Amado.  When called to testify, Johnson readily answered a series of question on the sequence of events leading up to the murder.  However, his testimony became evasive and confusing when asked about his previous identification of Amado.  The prosecutor had to repeatedly refresh Johnson's "recollection of events," by showing him what purported to be a transcript of statements he had given to police.  Johnson appeared to deny identifying Amado and claimed that he had selected Amado's picture because it "looked familiar."  The prosecutor never asked Johnson if Amado was the killer.  On cross-examination by defense counsel, Johnson denied that Amado was the killer or was present at the scene of the killing.  Three detectives were called as witnesses and testified to Johnson's previous identification of Amado.

According to Amado's attorney, "The eyewitness in the case identified a photo that looked like Amado, but when he came into court and saw my client he said he knew Amado wasn't the killer."  In 1982, an appeals court ruled that the trial court erred in presenting contrary testimony to prove identification.  It reversed Amado's conviction and directed a verdict of acquittal.  (BUSL) (Google)  [4/08]

Randolph was convicted of sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl.  The girl did not initially recognize Randolph as her assailant.  However, a few minutes later, after talking to her aunt, she accused Randolph.  During a grand jury investigation, the girl described her assailant in ways that did not match Randolph, including his clothing and height.  There was also no physical evidence connecting Randolph to the assault.

At his lawyer's request, Randolph entered a Alford plea in which he did not have to admit guilt in exchange for a time served sentence of 4 months plus 10 years of probation.  Randolph later failed to show up for an alcohol counseling session, a condition of his probation.  A judge then incarcerated him for the remainder of the 10 years.  Following Randolph's release, he had to register as a sex offender.  In 2008, after prosecutors said the case against Randolph was so weak it should not have been pursued, a judge exonerated Randolph of all charges and declared him innocent.  (Boston Globe)  [6/08]

Benjamin LaGuer was convicted of raping 59-year-old Lennice Plante.  Plante had bad eyesight and said she could not identify her attacker.  When questioned further she vaguely described him as a very dark skinned black male who was very short and of small build.  She later identified LaGuer from a photo.  LaGuer has a light olive skin complexion, is at least six inches taller than Plante and is of muscular build.  Plante said her attacker spoke clearly without an accent, yet LaGuer had had a severe stutter since childhood, and also has an ethnic accent.  Plante said she was vaginally and anally raped over an 8-hour period, yet tests of vaginal and rectal swabs taken from her, as well as tests on her panties failed to show the presence of semen.

Plante had a nervous breakdown 14-years before the incident and her daughter said she “had not been right” since the breakdown.  The prosecutor thought she was mentally ill.  Given her mental state and the lack of semen evidence, it is not clear that she was ever raped.  Other problems plague the case including fingerprint evidence, blood evidence, a missing knife, a missing Pepsi can, police misconduct, prosecutorial misconduct, and even juror misconduct.  Following LaGuer’s conviction, some jurors on the all-white jury came forward and said that during deliberations other jurors made prejudicial ethnic statements against LaGuer.  (JD33 p14)  [3/07]