Criminal Trials

Latest Articles

Advocates renew challenge to punitive probation practices

Violations
At the conclusion of its 2008 session, the General Assembly passed a bill that would have reformed state criminal justice procedure for probationers charged with new crimes.
By ARIEL WERNER | December 03, 2008

A mighty bad man

Balls, pucks, and monster trucks
October 3, 1995, brought my worst experience at the University of Memphis.
By RICK WORMWOOD | October 09, 2008

Blunt object

The political fight over a November marijuana-reform ballot question has sparked a Battle of the Bong
Question 2 supporters claim Massachusetts district attorneys committed “at least 15 violations of Massachusetts campaign-finance and election laws” in the runup to the marijuana-decriminalization vote.
By CHRIS FARAONE | September 25, 2008

The mentally ill, criminalized

Common nonsense
She is afraid he will continue to be kept in the Supermax, which will make him worse, she says.
By LANCE TAPLEY | September 11, 2008

Astro naught

Sports blotter: "More trouble for the Clemens family" edition
Always a darned shame when we hear that the Clemens family has fallen on hard times.
By MATT TAIBBI | September 10, 2008

Will race enter the race?

Dianne Wilkerson and Sonia Chang-Díaz don’t talk about the racial split in their Senate showdown, but it’s likely to make its mark
Two years ago, when Dianne Wilkerson inexplicably failed to submit the necessary signatures to get her name on the Democratic primary ballot for re-election as state senator, a 28-year-old upstart seized the opportunity.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | July 30, 2008

From janitor to detainee: one woman’s story

Immigration
As part of her job cleaning the Superior Court in Providence, Angela de la Vega often imagined how hard it must be to be a judge.
By AMY LITTLEFIELD | July 23, 2008

Head case

Media coverage of a State House sex scandal reveals the pitfalls of reporting on mental illness
Who is Jim Marzilli, exactly? Is he a predatory letch? Or is he a deeply troubled man who needs to be kept from harassing women — but also from hurting himself?
By ADAM REILLY | July 23, 2008

Darkness falls in the Dark Knight

Scars run deep in Christopher Nolan’s Götterdämmerung
“The night is darkest just before the dawn,” says District Attorney Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight .
By BRETT MICHEL | July 16, 2008

William Lemmer: Coming home

The further history of a Vietnam-era informer
This article originally appeared in the July 11, 1978 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
By JEFFREY STEIN | July 10, 2008

Naked in the public square

Freedom Watch
In the finest Puritan tradition, Middlesex District Attorney Gerald Leone is crusading to save Harvard Square from the shock and awe of the nude human form.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND JAMES TIERNEY | June 25, 2008

You’re fired! Or not . . .

More naughty cops
This past summer, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis was outraged by the actions of four officers, including three lieutenants, accused of manipulating the detail system to defraud the department.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 14, 2008

More than a few loose ends

BPD to review Cowans evidence
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis has ordered a review of evidence in the wrongful conviction of Stephan Cowans, following a report in the Phoenix that raised questions about possible police misconduct .
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 05, 2008

See no evil

What’s on the videotape Dan Conley won’t make public? Plus, winners in the Times ’ McCain mess.
An intriguing battle pitting government against the press is currently percolating on the North Shore and here in Boston.
By ADAM REILLY | February 27, 2008

The case of Milan Kohout

The right of a performance artist represents the rights of all Americans. Plus, an opportunity with Cuba.
Kohout, a serious man, was engaged in the serious business of political protest.
By EDITORIAL | February 21, 2008

The Station’s long shadow

Five years on, getting by remains a day-to-day challenge for some of those touched by the fire
For most Rhode Islanders, the Station nightclub conflagration — the worst disaster in the state since the hurricane of 1938 — is like a receding object in a rearview mirror.
By IAN DONNIS | February 20, 2008

Framed?

The Boston Police investigation of Stephan Cowans led to a wrongful conviction. Was it incompetent — or corrupt?
The Boston Phoenix has uncovered substantial new information about the Cowans case.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 07, 2008

Righting a staggering wrong

It is time for the US Attorney to investigate how and why the Boston police wrongfully convicted Stephan Cowans
US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan should launch an investigation into how that department managed to help convict the wrong man in the 1997 shooting of a Boston cop.
By EDITORIAL | February 06, 2008

A close call

Another suspect was nearly charged with the Gallagher shooting

By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 06, 2008

Truth and illusion

The Big Dig settlement
There is a word for when a private party threatens to get someone indicted unless money is paid: extortion.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | January 30, 2008

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