Drumgold sues over wrongful conviction
Shawn Drumgold said he doesn't hold a grudge against those who kept him behind bars for 15 years for a slaying he did not commit. But nobody else should endure what he did, he said, and yesterday he sued the Boston police in a bid to make sure that no one else does.
Drumgold, accompanied by his wife and 16-year-old daughter, spoke at a news conference after his two lawyers filed a lawsuit in US District Court against the City of Boston, Boston police, former police commissioner Mickey Roache, and three officers who allegedly withheld evidence that could have cleared him and pressured a key witness to testify falsely at his trial. The suit alleges that the officers' misconduct resulted in his false imprisonment and seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
"This is a very strong case," said Drumgold's lawyer, Stephen Hrones, noting other wrongful convictions in the state. This is "another case of Boston police officers so bent on obtaining a conviction in a high-profile case that they broke the rules, violated the Constitution, and wanted the conviction at all costs."
In 1989 Drumgold was convicted of murdering 12-year-old Darlene Tiffany Moore and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Moore was shot to death Aug. 19, 1988, as she sat atop a mailbox while talking with friends on a street corner in Roxbury.
Her slaying ignited a public outcry against the gang violence that plagued the city during the late 1980s. But last year, Suffolk County prosecutors said the case against Drumgold was flawed. In November, a Superior Court judge vacated the conviction, and Drumgold was freed.
The reexamination of his case was prompted by a Globe report in May 2003 that raised questions about the Drumgold verdict. The Globe found that a key witness against Drumgold was suffering from brain cancer when she testified about seeing Drumgold at the murder scene. The Globe also found that other prosecution witnesses recanted sworn testimony and statements used to convict Drumgold.
The lawsuit accuses the city and the Police Department of having a "policy, custom, or practice of improper and inadequate investigation and discipline of acts of misconduct committed by Boston police officers." Named as defendants in the suit are Lieutenant Timothy Callahan, now on military leave from the department; Sergeant Paul Murphy and Detective Richard Walsh, who retired a year ago.
Police spokesman Lieutenant Kevin Foley said the department had not been notified of the suit and would not comment. Mayor Thomas M. Menino spokesman, Seth Gitell, said the mayor's office would not comment until it had seen the suit.
