Thursday, 4:30 PM
Sentence tossed in cop killing
By Suzanne Smalley and Mac Daniel, Globe Staff
An oversight by the US attorney’s office led a federal judge to throw out the life sentence of a man convicted in the death of a Boston police officer in 1991, outraging many in the department.
Legal specialists say it is unlikely Alfred W. Trenkler, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1994 for building the bomb that killed Officer Jeremiah J. Hurley Jr. and injured his partner, Francis X. Foley, will be freed at his April 4 resentencing.
But the Feb. 20 ruling vacating the sentence and the possibility of Trenkler receiving a lighter sentence prompted US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan to issue a public apology today.
"The US Attorney’s Office unintentionally failed to respond to the Court as required by two separate Orders," Sullivan’s statement reads. "We have begun an immediate internal review to determine how the office failed to comply with the Court’s Orders. There appears to have been a significant breakdown in communication."
Sullivan’s office twice did not address court orders seeking its response to a motion by Trenkler’s lawyers to throw out the life sentence. Trenkler’s lawyers argue that federal law allows only juries, not judges, to impose life sentences. In his case, the trial judge dismissed the jury after it convicted Trenkler, and the judge imposed the sentence. Sullivan’s office said that it will file a response by March 7 and that it had successfully opposed four challenges by Trenkler’s lawyers.
Thomas J. Nee, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, said that although he expects Trenkler to be resentenced to a significant time in prison, he is angry about the government’s failure to keep on top of the case.
"It does outrage me," Nee said. "The taking of a life during this terrible incident, especially the life of a Boston police officer, should be met with an equal justice."
Nee said that he is not as anxious as he would otherwise be, however, because Trenkler’s conviction stands and the federal judge who ruled on the sentence, Rya W. Zobel, still has the power to ensure that Trenkler spends the rest of his life in prison.
"We may not be able to call it a life sentence under technical terms," Nee said, "but certainly he should serve enough years that he will never be able to walk among good and decent people again."
Although lawyers interviewed last night said Trenkler will not get out of prison, Randy Gioia, a criminal defense lawyer, said the ruling "could be an apparent victory for Mr. Trenkler, because the judge has the discretion to sentence him to any number of years."
"His lawyers are probably going to argue that the judge has to impose a sentence for a term of years that would be less than life," Gioia said. "At that point, it gets very foggy as to what term of years would be less than a person’s life. I think that’s going to be the problem."
