Reilly under fire for cover-up: Romney blasts AG as details of crash emerge

Boston Herald ^ | 1/6/2006 | Casey Ross

[saveliberty]

Reilly under fire for cover-up: Romney blasts AG as details of crash emerge
By Casey Ross
Friday, January 6, 2006 - Updated: 01:24 AM EST

Attorney General Tom Reilly scrambled yesterday to explain why he tried to cover up the role of alcohol in a fatal accident that killed two teens, but the secrecy crumbled within hours when new details involving vodka and drinking games were revealed by police.
      The probe into Shauna and Meghan Murphy’s deaths concluded without criminal charges yesterday as Reilly — a friend of the girls’ father — was accused of intervening with Worcester District Attorney John Conte in an effort to keep details of the girls’ drinking secret.
      The Southboro girls, ages 17 and 15, were killed in October when the Land Rover Shauna was driving struck a utility pole after they left the house party of a male acquaintance in Northboro. Police had probed whether to charge Nathaniel Berberian, 20, for allowing a minor to consume alcohol.
      Northboro police Chief Mark Leahy, who had accused Reilly of thwarting his efforts to get blood-alcohol results on the girls, released a report yesterday detailing the alleged pre-crash drinking at Berberian’s home.
      But an emotional Reilly, a Democratic candidate for governor, said, “The only role that I had in this at all is to take steps to make sure the (medical) information is not released to the media. To the best of my knowledge — I know I didn’t — no one interfered with any investigation, tried to impede any investigation, tried to withhold any information from law enforcement officials.”
      Gov. Mitt Romney accused Reilly of trying to “hush up” the investigation. The AG read a statement from the Murphy family pleading against “politicizing” the case.
      Leahy had urged Conte to pursue charges against Berberian, but the DA yesterday declined.
      “We’re done and nobody’s being charged,” Leahy said yesterday after he failed to get Conte to reconsider. “So that’s the end of it.”
      The Northboro police report released yesterday stated the Murphy sisters were drinking vodka at Berberian’s house before Shauna Murphy attempted to drive home about midnight.
      The report included interviews with several witnesses at the party who said the sisters and their friend, Melissa Smith, 15, who was injured in the accident, were seen drinking and playing games involving alcohol at the party.
      One witness told police Shauna left the house “wasted.”
      Berberian told police the girls brought their own vodka to the party in plastic water bottles and that he only gave them orange juice to mix it with. The report concluded, however, that there was enough evidence to charge Berberian in connection with the sisters’ deaths.
      “It appears that Berberian was in control of the house, in the absen(ce) of the owner, and allowed underage persons to drink,” the report states.
      Reilly confirmed that he advised Conte not to make the blood-alcohol report public, but insisted he never attempted to block the police from obtaining that information.
      Attempts to contact the Murphy sisters’ father, Christopher, who donated $300 to Reilly’s campaign last June, were unsuccessful last night. Berberian also could not be reached. Conte did not return calls.
 

[saveliberty]

Exactly! Ha!

[grania]

Berberian told police the girls brought their own vodka to the party in plastic water bottles and that he only gave them orange juice to mix it with. The report concluded, however, that there was enough evidence to charge Berberian in connection with the sisters’ deaths.

This strikes a chord. Down in SE Massachusetts (the boondocks), home owners have gone to jail when alcohol they didn't know about or ignored caused adolescent deaths.

Again, Governor Romney knows what side of the toast to butter...Reilly will never be governor. But, hey, he should've known to put away his elitism and tell the truth about these horrible deaths.

What this really gets to is a big problem in MA. A lot of these folks have set up a separate universe for the rich and powerful. I'm sure a lot of people in Southboro would say it's nobody's business how those girls died. (Maybe if there were more openness and respect for the law.....everybody's law....the girls would still be alive.

That being said, the night the tragedy happened was a cold, wet, night, with a lot of leaves on the ground. The roads there are hard to navigate, being narrow and curved. I can see someone saying to a friend it was the road conditions, not the booze that caused the accident. Even with that, the girls were out too late and it was irresponsible to let them be driving at that point, even if they hadn't been drinking. (I know someone in Southboro and followed through with the family when news of the story evolved)

[Nextrush]

History repeats itself.

[Maceman]

Actually on illegals, we can thank M. Stanley Dukakis for ordering social security numbers issued to illegal aliens.

I wasn't aware that state governors had such power.

[gridlock]

I don't think most voters are going to hold this against the guy. He is trying to preserve whatever dignity is left for this family.

[saveliberty]

LOL! And abandoning the scene. Seriously he did not have a valid license at the time and magically someone produced one for him.

Wasn't there a DWI statute at the time instead of DUI?

[saveliberty]

I guess because I live in Massachusetts, I see it differently.

[saveliberty]

Very true

[saveliberty]

He didn't. But ssns were procured for them anyway

[johnny7]

I wasn't aware the the SJC could create law either.

[mewzilla]

I wonder if this is really more about any pull the Berberians may have.

[hiramknight]

That's BS! He obstructed justice and broke the law, theoretically jeopardizing the safety of anyone who might cross paths with someone else who might attend another party at that same house. No one is above the law. What kind of message doea that send? That it's ok to ignore the seriousness of this crime because it might hurt someones feelings? Sorry, I don't buy it, I don't care what his motivations were.

[Humble Servant]

Incorrectamundo, monsieur. The police had to stop their investigation because the DA denied them access to the toxicology report, without which they have no grounds to persue a case against the people who served alcohol to two drunk teenagers and let them get into a car. That is a crime in Mass., and the AG has engaged in a coverup for a friend who contributed to his campaign. It will, without a doubt, cost him any chance at the governorship. It's typical Mass. petty political arrogance, and tribalism. People here are royally po'd.

[saveliberty]

LOL! I am a lady and I had been making the point that I believed that the type of jack@ssery you have documented is what stinks.

[saveliberty]

Were you meaning to send this to misterrob? :-)

[MortMan]

I disagree. The BAC of the driver will play a role in any civil suit on behalf of the injured survivor. By the abnormal shielding of this information from public release, the AG attempted to prejudice the outcome of any such suit (at least in the public opinion court) against his friend and supporter (the driver's father).

That is a textbook case of abuse of power, IMO.

[Humble Servant]

Wet leaves, my Aunt Fannie. They were going 85 shortly before they hit, and did you SEE the photo of the crash? Someone was trying to spread around the idea that there was a deer that jumped out of the woods and surprised the driver. THE KIDS AND FAMILIES OF THE TOWN NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH. If they were drinking, let people know, so they can learn about reality. If they weren't drinking, clear that up.

[Jack Hammer]

Tom Reilly is banana-republic corrupt, and has been for years. His extra-legal end-run of the state legislature and the principle of separation of powers in interdicting sales of hand guns in the state by judicial fiat was an act of political megalomania which would do a Latin American dictator proud.

[Humble Servant]

Dangamundo, Mademoiselle/Madame! I was afraid of that right after I sent it. Anyway, the discrepancy is between what the AG said about the effect of his call to the DA, and what the police say. From his track record, I don't believe Reilly.

[saveliberty]

Thanks, Jack Hammer (Great FR name, BTW!)

It's hard for me to express how backward Boston politics are. And yet these boneheads think that they are the be all and end all.