Romney withdraws a 2d nomination for juvenile court judge

Facing an almost certain defeat before the Governor's Council, Governor Mitt Romney yesterday withdrew Henry L. Rigali's nomination for a juvenile court judgeship at Rigali's request. The Springfield lawyer was the second judicial nominee in a week to hit a roadblock.

Several members of the council, which reviews all judicial appointments, had opposed Rigali's nomination on a number of grounds, including the fact that Romney circumvented his own often-touted judicial nominee screening system to tap the nominee for a Hampden County Juvenile Court post.

Romney, citing an urgent need to fill the job, nominated Rigali instead of one of three other candidates the state Judicial Nominating Commission deemed qualified.

Rigali declined interview requests yesterday but released a statement saying that he shared the ''concerns expressed by others that my resume was selected outside of the normal judicial selection process."

''Neither I nor any serious candidate want to be viewed as having received special treatment," Rigali said in the statement, calling his nomination ''a good-faith effort to accommodate the needs of a busy juvenile court struggling under a backlog of cases."

The withdrawal is a blow to the Romney administration, which two years ago installed a new system designed to radically reduce the role of political influence in the selection of judges. Only Monday, the governor had put the nomination of another juvenile court candidate, Bristol County prosecutor Renee Dupuis, on hold and sent it back to the nominating commission for reconsideration after sensational details from her 2002 divorce were reported in the media.

Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, who presided over yesterday's Governor's Council meeting, appeared to be in no mood to discuss either Rigali or Dupuis with councilors. Breezing through the agenda in approximately a minute and a half, Healey adjourned the meeting and strode quickly out of the room, cutting off Councilor Marilyn Petitto Devaney's attempt to request further discussion.

''Lieutenant governor . . ." Devaney said, standing.

''I'm sorry, we've concluded the meeting, thank you," Healey said as she walked out.

Later, after testifying before a legislative committee on an unrelated matter, Healey defended the administration's handling of the nomination of Dupuis, who was accused in legal papers by her former husband of excessive drinking and of saying ''I should just shoot you" during their breakup, the Boston Herald reported.

''Obviously, they [the nominating commission members] didn't have all the information they needed the first time around and the process has worked," Healey said. ''More information has come out, and it's important that she go back and start the process again."

Dupuis has strongly denied her ex-husband's accusations and, in a settlement that he agreed to, was awarded full custody of the couple's daughter, now 6 years old.

Councilors yesterday continued their meeting informally after Healey left, and both Devaney and Councilor Carole A. Fiola of Fall River jumped to Dupuis's defense.

Fiola said she believed that Dupuis, the top Bristol County assistant prosecutor, was the victim of a ''smear campaign over a divorce." Fiola said Dupuis was well qualified for a Suffolk County Juvenile Court post and noted that her personal life had been investigated extensively by adoption officials over the past year while she was successfully adopting an infant from Guatemala.

Dupuis's current boss, Bristol District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr., also released a statement yesterday supporting her nomination, saying he had learned ''with great dismay" that it had been put on hold.

In her own statement, Dupuis said she welcomed additional scrutiny.

''Neither the governor nor I want a cloud over my nomination or appointment," she said.

Administration officials continued to defend Rigali, whom the nominating panel had approved for a previous judicial opening.

''We think Henry Rigali would have made a good addition to the Hampden County Juvenile Court, but I think he recognized that the votes weren't there," said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom.

Ralph Ranalli can be reached at rranalli@globe.com.