Man says he was tricked into plea

Wants conviction in slaying tossed

A state appeals court was urged yesterday to set aside the murder conviction of a Dorchester man who says he pleaded guilty to killing an innocent teenager during a Dorchester shoot-out in 1993 because prosecutors and his own lawyer duped him into believing the stray bullet came from his gun.

Charles F. Bogues, 38, who has spent 11 years in prison for the slaying of 15-year-old Louis D. Brown, did not learn until after he pleaded guilty in 1997 that witnesses identified someone else as the shooter and that ballistics evidence indicated he was not the only one firing a .45-caliber weapon during the shoot-out, according to his lawyer. Brown, a bystander who was killed on his way to a Christmas party for Teens Against Gang Violence, was hit in the head with a bullet shot from a .45-caliber weapon.

Bogues "was told he was the only one possible who could have done it because he was the only one that day carrying a .45-caliber weapon," said Elaine Pourinski, the Northampton lawyer representing Bogues. "We now know that is not the case."

She argued that Bogues's former lawyer never reviewed the evidence in the case before advising him to accept a plea bargain. Under the deal, Bogues pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for Brown's slaying, making him eligible for parole in 15 years. In exchange, federal prosecutors dismissed a pending indictment that would have charged Bogues with trafficking in crack cocaine and weapons possession and carried a minimum mandatory prison term of 15 years.

The three-judge appeals court panel, which has taken the case under advisement, indicated it may not have the authority to consider Bogues's appeal, given that he waived his right to see all of the evidence when he decided not to go to trial. He lost a previous appeal, which challenged the competency of his prior lawyer.

Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Paul B. Linn disputed Bogues's assertion that ballistics evidence suggested other possible suspects and told the appeals court that Bogues was "the only one who could have fired the fatal shot."

Linn said, however, that even if there was a dispute over who fired the errant bullet, Bogues was responsible for Brown's death because he was involved in the shoot-out.

During a telephone interview in October from the state's medium-security prison in Shirley, Bogues told the Globe he had just joined several friends on Tonawanda Street when one of them was shot by an unknown gunman, sending the group scrambling for cover as they dodged more bullets.

Bogues said he returned fire as he fled and never saw anyone shoot Brown. He said he did not believe he could have killed Brown because the teenager was around the corner on Geneva Avenue. Prosecutors suggested that a bullet must have ricocheted.

Brown's mother, Tina Chery, who sat on the same bench in court with Bogues's parents and sister yesterday, said she is troubled that none of the other men who were involved in the gunfight have been charged and that she now has doubts about whether Bogues killed her son.

"What about the other people involved? Where are they?" said Chery, adding that she is frustrated that the investigation into her son's death ended with Bogues's guilty plea when others may be equally, if not more responsible.

Chery, who became a leading crusader against violence after her son's death and has forged a friendship with Bogues's mother, Doris, said she still has many unanswered questions.

Bogues's father, Boston police Officer Charles T. Bogues, said his son wants a new trial to explore what really happened. "All we're looking for is the truth," he said.