North Andover officer Kelsey Fitzsimmons fighting to see her baby and end house arrest
Kelsey Fitzsimmons ' lawyers are asking a judge to modify what they described as "medieval" bail release conditions that have her under 24/7 house arrest and unable to seek custody of her infant son.
Fitzsimmons, a North Andover police officer, is accused of pointing a gun at a fellow officer serving her a restraining order obtained by her fiancé . She denies doing so, and has said she attempted suicide. The officer shot Fitzsimmons once in the chest. She was hospitalized for weeks recovering from her wound.
Last fall, Superior Court Judge Kathleen McCarthy-Neyman allowed Fitzsimmons' release with strict conditions, which included a GPS bracelet, alcohol testing through a SCRAM device and house arrest, with the ability to leave only for medical appointments and meetings with her lawyers. McCarthy-Neyman also barred Fitzsimmons from seeing her infant son, after her fiancé said she had threatened the baby's life."
When Fitzsimmons' lawyers said she couldn't comply with the alcohol testing, which required her to blow into a tube, because of her gunshot injuries, McCarthy-Neyman ordered her held in custody.
In a motion filed Friday, attorneys Tim Bradl and Martha Coakley said the conditions imposed by McCarthy-Neyman were "generated under highly questionable circumstances."
In a previous filing, the lawyers had accused the judge of misconduct and sought her recusal from the case . The motion was denied and deemed moot because McCarthy-Neyman was not specially assigned to Fitzsimmons' case.
"These terms are beyond extraordinary for this case," the motion filed in Essex Superior Court on Friday reads. "There are no grounds for these onerous pretrial restrictions on her liberty."
Fitzsimmons seeks to modify the conditions of her bail, allowing her to live at her home, drive herself around from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and to lift the alcohol restrictions, which the lawyers say are "completely unwarranted."
While out on bail, Fitzsimmons has been living with her mother and stepfather in Methuen.
Fitzsimmons is charged with a single count of assault with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors have repeatedly described Fitzsimmons as a danger to the community and, at her arraignment, urged McCarthy-Neyman to keep her in jail.
Assistant Essex District Attorney James Gubitose told the judge in August that Fitzsimmons had struggled with aggression and alcohol abuse dating back to high school, citing testimony Fitzsimmons' longtime friend gave to North Andover police.
"This isn't new," he said.
Despite allowing her release, McCarthy-Neyman deemed Fitzsimmons a danger. The conditions she imposed, she said, were necessary to ensure the safety of the victim in the case — the police officer, Patrick Noonan, who shot Fitzsimmons — and the community.
A hearing in Fitzsimmons' case is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday.
More about the case
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