Witness intimidation ruling upheld

Taking a picture with a cellphone of an undercover police officer can constitute witness intimidation, the state Appeals Court ruled yesterday. David Casiano was convicted last year of witness intimidation in a Dec. 1, 2004, incident in which he pointed his cellphone at an undercover officer who was in a Boston courthouse corridor, waiting to testify against Casiano in a drug case. Casiano, 37, of Dorchester, appealed, arguing that he did not show any hostility toward the witness prior to the action taken. But the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that "his action threatened the undercover officer's continuing safety." Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said the ruling was a victory for law enforcement authorities.

Wednesday's shooting death of a Dorchester teen on Bartlett Street is "clearly a gang-related case," Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said yesterday. David Jones, 17, was walking home from Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, where he was a junior, when he was shot. Davis said that Jones had recently left the custody of the Department of Youth Services. Davis declined to say what led Jones to be in DYS custody. Jones had transferred to Madison Park from another city school about two weeks ago, school officials said yesterday. Mayor Thomas Menino said the latest shooting does not indicate a resurgence in gang violence. "It's not spiraling out of control," he said during an interview at Northeastern University, where he and Davis met to discuss reentry programs with other city and law enforcement officials.

The owner of a Revere construction company was indicted yesterday on nearly 40 counts related to allegations of fraudulently collected unemployment benefits and workers' compensation violations, officials said. State investigators say that to avoid paying higher insurance premiums, Robert Sasso, 40, owner of R. Sasso & Sons Construction Co., failed to disclose the amount of his full payroll, an accurate count of his employees, and a work-related injury sustained by an employee. Sasso also accumulated nearly $18,000 in unemployment benefits since 2002 as a part-time employee for the city of Revere, where he simultaneously received labor and unemployment payments, authorities said. Sasso is scheduled to be arraigned next Friday in Suffolk Superior Court.

Barry R. Bloom will resign as dean of the Harvard School of Public Health at the end of the academic year, Harvard University announced yesterday. He has led the school since January 1999. In a statement, Bloom said he was leaving to allow a successor to plan the school's anticipated move to Harvard's new Allston campus. Bloom, 71, will remain at the school as a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and continue his research related to global health. Harvard president Drew Faust said she will promptly launch a search for a new dean.

Less than two years after becoming Springfield's police commissioner, Edward A. Flynn is leaving the city to become Milwaukee's new police chief. He will leave Western Massachusetts 18 months after agreeing to a five-year contract. Before coming to Springfield, Flynn served as secretary of public safety under Governor Mitt Romney and was the governor's chief adviser on homeland security. Milwaukee's current chief - Nanette Hegerty, who was the city's first female police chief - is retiring after serving one four-year term. Springfield's mayor elect, Domenic Sarno, previously said he would favor promoting Deputy Police Chief William Fitchet if Flynn leaves. (AP)

A third New England prep school is offering free tuition to certain students in an effort to attract potential pupils from nonwealthy families. The Groton School will offer free tuition to students whose family income is less than $75,000, beginning in fall 2008. The move follows similar announcements by two New Hampshire boarding schools, Phillips Exeter Academy earlier this month and St. Paul's, which announced a free-tuition program last year. "We want to challenge the myth that only the wealthy have access to this kind of exceptional educational experience," said Groton board chairman James Higgins. Tuition for boarders at the Groton School is $42,040, and about one third of its students receive financial aid.