[Note: Friends of Justice is a personal blog. I speak only for myself.]
photo credit: Peter Chermayeff
Few things gladden my heart as much as watching an innocent person walk free after many years of wrongful incarceration. I believe I’ve experienced this only four times.
Yesterday, I watched Victor Rosario walk free after 32 years of wrongful incarceration.
Victor’s sentence was voided on July 7th and a new trial was ordered by Superior Court Judge Kathe M. Tuttman. The Middlesex County District Attorney will appeal the decision, so the case is not over. But yesterday the judge released Rosario on bond.
The hearing at the Middlesex County Courthouse in Woburn, Massachusetts, began promptly at 10 a.m. It was a rather brief affair.
Rosario has been represented by attorney Andrea Petersen and by New England Innocence Project attorney, Lisa Kavanaugh. [Kavanaugh told me yesterday that she had once worked for National Center for Reason and Justice (NCRJ) Advisor, Harvey Silverglate.] The Commonwealth was represented by Assistant DA Thomas O’Reilly.
In arguing for bond, Kavanaugh said that it was likely that Tuttman’s decision will prevail on appeal because of the sea changes that have occurred in our knowledge about fire forensics and about false confessions. She said that Rosario posed no security or flight risk. He would live with his wife Beverly at their home in Brighton, Massachusetts. Rosario was ordained as a Baptist minister while incarcerated and has been offered a part-time job at Boston’s Tremont Street Baptist Church. Rosario’s prison record was exemplary, with no violent interactions. He served as a leader, including a role as an assistant chaplain.
O’Reilly responded by reminding the judge of “the terrible events of March 5, 1982” when eight people, including five children, lost their lives. he said that the Commonwealth still believes that Rosario was responsible and asks for a bond of at least $250,000.
Tuttman set the bond at $25,000. She acceded to O’Reilly’s request that Rosario wear a GPS monitor, that he be prohibited from drinking alcohol, that he remain in Massachusetts, and that he not apply for a passport.
There will be a status update on the case at 2 p.m. on January 13, 2015.
After the brief hearing, there was a wait of over three hours while bond was posted and Rosario met with the probation department. The media left except for a cameraman from Boston’s Channel 7 and another from a Spanish station.
After Channel 7 asked a question, Rosario burst into tears and sobbed for several minutes. His wife, Beverly, and Andrea, who stood on either side of him, comforted him.
When he gained his composure, the other reporter asked him a question — in Spanish. Victor gave quite a long and eloquent reply — in Spanish.
After the brief press conference, Andrea and her husband, architect Peter Chermayeff, whisked Rosario and his wife away to their Brighton home. I was at least able to shake his hand. I also gave Beverly my phone number in hopes that Victor might call.
I also plan to attend Victor’s release party, which will take place at Andrea and Peter’s home on the afternoon on July 20th.
The NCRJ has every reason to be proud of this victory. As Andrea told me yesterday, they could never have won without the NCRJ’s help in obtaining (and paying for) expert witnesses.
It was also the NCRJ who brought this case to the attention of Dick Lehr and his graduate journalism students at Boston University. The articles they did for the Boston Globe were important in obtaining the involvement of the New England Innocence Project.
The NCRJ learned of this case in March of 2007 when I met Andrea Petersen at a Harvard conference sponsored by the New England Innocence Project. The NCRJ Board voted to sponsor the case on January 8, 2008.
Some background on the case.
An account in the Boston Globe.
-Bob Chatelle
Congratulations Victor, Beverly and your amazing support team.
Everyday you made a choice to get up, be positive and productive in an environment where you did not belong. Everyday you made a choice to fight for yourself despite the overwhelming challenges. May you be rewarded with a long and healthy life.