A JUDGE'S decision to release Daniel Tavares from the Massachusetts prison system shouldn't be fodder for cheap shots among Republican presidential candidates, but it does point to systemic problems in a fragmented criminal justice system. Governor Patrick, the Legislature, and the judiciary need to figure out how the system can be improved to better protect the public from recidivist killers.
Patrick has taken a first step toward transparency by ordering an investigation into why the Department of Correction delayed filing charges against Tavares for allegedly assaulting officers while he was in state prison. The department didn't act until Tavares was about to be released, after serving 16 years for killing his mother.
The delay hindered efforts by the Worcester district attorney to keep Tavares in prison, pending the posting of a $50,000 bond. A transcript of the bail hearing this July shows that Barry Dynice, Tavares's lawyer, made a strong case that his client was not a flight threat. And Dynice cast doubt on the allegations that Tavares had attacked guards.
Assistant District Attorney William Loughlin didn't immediately second Dynice's suggestion that Tavares wear a monitor, rebut Dynice on the veracity of the assault allegations, or follow up on Dynice's statement that Tavares had a fiancée in Washington state.
By the time the prosecutor got around to asking for a bracelet, Judge Kathe Tuttman was ready to rule that Tavares be freed without bail and without electronic monitoring on the condition that he check in with a probation officer three times a week.
Tavares made a couple of those calls, then headed for Washington. He is now behind bars there, accused of killing Brian and Beverly Mauck.
As governor, Mitt Romney named Tuttman to the bench in 2006. Now, facing withering criticism from presidential rival Rudy Giuliani, Romney has called on her to resign. But after 17 years as a prosecutor in Essex County, Tuttman was well qualified to be a judge. Romney shouldn't so readily jettison appointees when they become a liability.
In July, Tuttman was still learning how to master her job on the other side of the bench, and was badly served by the Department of Correction and the district attorney's office. Patrick's investigation, only covering the Correction Department, will be incomplete, and he has no power over the district attorney or the judiciary. The ultimate authority is the Legislature, which pays their bills.
The legislative leadership and the governor need to find a distinguished legal figure to bridge the bureaucracies and find out what went wrong, including the decision to charge Tavares with manslaughter, instead of murder, in 1991. To honor the victims' memory and protect its citizens, Massachusetts needs to understand why Tavares slipped away.
rising
falling 