Person accused of machete attack near Boston school has case dismissed amid lawyer shortage
Several dozen more criminal cases were dismissed on Tuesday amid the ongoing crisis gripping the state's court system , including that of a person accused of a machete attack in a Dorchester school parking lot.
Judge Tracy-Lee Lyons, the chief justice of the Boston Municipal Court, heard 45 cases on Tuesday at a so-called " Lavallee hearing, " named for the emergency protocol that requires some defendants to be freed and others to have their cases dismissed. The protocol has been in place for more than a month as private defense attorneys, known as bar advocates, have declined to take new cases amid a pay dispute.
Lyons dismissed 39 cases pursuant to the protocol. The remaining cases were not dismissed either because a person was not eligible to have their case dismissed or because they had their bail revoked in another case.
Prosecutors are almost certainly set to refile the charges against all 39 defendants. They can now do so without filing a new criminal complaint altogether, after a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that prosecutors could simply file motions to reopen cases.
The Committee for Public Counsel Services, the state's public defender agency, had asked the judge to prevent any cases from being reopened while the protocol was in effect, but she denied the request.
The hearing before Lyons on Tuesday was the third time cases from the Boston Municipal Courts have come up for dismissal. Defendants are eligible to have their cases dismissed if no lawyer has entered an appearance in their case after 45 days.
And so during the largely procedural hearing, Lyons dismissed case after case, often without reciting the charges or facts of the case. A Suffolk County prosecutor objected to the dismissals, but largely did not speak up about individual cases.
But when the case of Genry Pache Baez was called, the prosecutor, John Blazo Jr., asked a lawyer for CPCS if there was anything more they could do to find a lawyer.
"I just do want to note this incident resulted in a school in Dorchester having to be locked down, where the defendant tried to attack the victim with a machete," he said, adding the incident took place in the parking lot when parents were picking up their children.
Baez was charged with a single felony count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. At their arraignment in June, Baez was released on their own recognizance and ordered to stay away from and have no contact with the victim, and to avoid the school.
Despite Blazo's request, Holly Smith, the lawyer for CPCS, said the agency was prioritizing the cases of those being held in custody and did not have the capacity to represent Baez. As a result, Lyons dismissed the case.
In dismissing the case, Lyons noted there was no evidence Baez had violated the terms of their release.
The bar advocate work stoppage began in late May and has dragged on throughout the summer, as the private lawyers push for a raise to bring the rate they are paid to represent indigent defendants in district court to $100 an hour. The Legislature last month unveiled a spending package that included a $10 raise this year and next to bring the hourly rate to $85.
Still, many bar advocates told MassLive the raises passed by the Legislature , and subsequently signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey , were not enough to get them back to work.
It remains to be seen if the raises will abate the crisis — thus far, neither CPCS, the state's trial courts, nor prosecutors have asked the justice of the state's high court to lift the protocol.
Lavallee Protocol
Read the original article on MassLive .
