Posted on 11/28/2007 7:42:34 AM PST by Hemingway's Ghost
A judge under fire for springing a killer was the supervising prosecutor on a botched case that set a child rapist free just six months before she was put on the bench by former Gov. Mitt Romney, the Herald has learned.
Judge Kathe Tuttman, who has been criticized for releasing mom-killer Daniel Tavares, was the head of the Essex District Attorney’s Family Crimes and Sexual Assault Unit in November 2005, when the office missed two deadlines that led to the release of convicted rapist Daniel Parra. Prosecutors wanted Parra civilly committed as a sexually dangerous person, but slipups by Tuttman’s unit prompted the state’s highest court to throw out the case, records obtained by the Herald show.
In September 2006, Parra was charged by Hub cops with failing to register as a sex offender. He had served 17 years for molesting a boy and two girls in his van in Lynn in 1986, and is now believed to be living in Boston.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
From here:
Defense attorney Barry Dynice said Tavares had no history of failing to show up for court, had a sister in the area with whom he could live and had volunteered for electronic monitoring.The defense attorney also told the judge that Tavares had a fiancée in Washington State and that the attorney had corresponded with her.
The judge declined to order a monitoring system, saying she was presented with no evidence he was a flight risk. She ordered him freed on the condition that he call probation officers three times a week, live with his sister and work.
“It is the court’s view that Mr. Tavares has wrapped his sentence on the underlying offense,” Tuttman said, according to a transcript of the hearing. “He doesn’t have a history of any defaults on his record. And there is no indication before the court based on the representations of counsel and the record before me that he is a risk of flight, other than the nature and circumstances of the charges,”
Perhaps the real story is being missed here. The Washington State Patrol was alerted to the issue, apparently had his residence under surveillance, and yet seem to have failed to notify the local law enforcement.
There may be some issues with the judge, but do not forget that there was more than one failure within the system(s) that could have perhaps prevented another death.
maybe the rule should be that any judge that paroles a violent offender must turn their own house into a half way house and let that person stay in the room right next to theirs for the first 5 weeks. If they feel comfortable with that then they can release the person into the community.
etc. etc. etc.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.