The Mass Dump

28/08/2024

A former Stoughton police officer was arrested Wednesday in connection with the death of Sandra Birchmore, who he is accused of grooming when she was a teen girl.

Federal authorities wrote in an indictment that the police officer killed Birchmore while she was pregnant, that she told him he was the father, and that he staged her killing to look like a su***de.

A Massachusetts police officer was arrested in connection with the death of a woman the police department says he had an "inappropriate physical relationship" with when she was a teen.

05/08/2024

Boston police exposed a man's ge****ls in public in front of a preschool.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled today that Suffolk County prosecutors can't use the drugs police say they found hidden in a packet under a man's ge****ls as evidence against him, because the officers conducted their strip search on the side of Norfolk Street in broad daylight rather than first...

01/08/2024

James Carver has spent decades in prison for setting a deadly fire in Beverly, Massachusetts. However, his lawyers say scientific evidence proves he is innocent.

I discussed the case on The Young Jurks last night. Watch the interview here.

James Carver was sentenced to life in prison for setting a deadly fire. Is he innocent?

05/07/2024

July 4th was the 40th anniversary of one of Massachusetts's deadliest fires — the legacy of which is still with us all these decades later.

LINK: https://andrewqmr.substack.com/p/elliott-chambers-fire-40th-anniversary

04/07/2024

Today is the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Elliott Chambers Rooming House fire in Beverly. Fifteen people were killed, making it one of the deadliest fires in history.

The fire department cleaned up this monument at the site and left a note earlier this morning.

A man named James Carver was convicted of setting the Elliott Chambers fire after a 1989 trial. For the past 34 years, he's maintained his innocence and has been fighting for a new trial.

The Mass Dump published a story about Carver's efforts to overturn his conviction this year. A link to the story is in the comments.

24/06/2024

NEW: James Carver is serving a life sentence for what a local paper described as the "worst mass murder in Massachusetts history." But 34 years later, a judge heard arguments about whether to overturn his convictions due to new scientific evidence.

James Carver was convicted of setting a fire that killed 15 people — but his lawyers say they have scientific evidence that proves he’s innocent

23/06/2024

The interim Worcester police chief applied for a job at the company behind the discredited "gunshot-detection" service ShotSpotter after years of promoting its use in Worcester with misleading talking points.

"The hyper-localized nature of policing makes this strategy particularly effective"

21/06/2024

Incredibly disturbing video.

19/06/2024

The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office is on the hook for more legal fees after withholding public records about a deadly police shooting from the brother of the man who police killed.

On Friday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Eric Mack is entitled to an award of fees for work his lawyer performed while fighting the district attorney’s appeal.

The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office is on the hook for more legal fees after withholding public records about a deadly police shooting

18/06/2024

"A Superior Court judge has ordered state Auditor Diana DiZoglio to remove redactions from audits her office released last year involving medical care and inmate deaths in jails operated by two sheriffs’ departments."

A judge ordered state Auditor Diana DiZoglio to release unredacted reprots on two Massachusetts sheriffs' departments, ruling that public disclosure of the information that had been blocked would not pose a risk to public safety or cybersecurity.

17/06/2024

James Carver was convicted of setting a fire that killed 15 people but has maintained his innocence for the past 34 years while serving two consecutive life sentences. And this past April, the cause of the horrific blaze was contested in court, with a retired engineer testifying that the prosecutor’s theory of how it started was wrong.

Link to full story in comments.

13/06/2024

The unprofessional conduct Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor has admitted to on the stand in the Karen Read murder trial is now set to impact another high-profile homicide case he's connected to.

The attorney representing Brian Walshe — the Cohasset man accused of killing his wife, Ana, in early 2023 — has told NBC10 Boston he plans to file a motion over possible questionable conduct that names Proctor.

The unprofessional conduct Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor has admitted to on the stand in the Karen Read murder trial is now set to impact another high-profile homicide case he’s connected to. The attorney representing Brian Walshe — the Cohasset man accused of killing his wi...

12/06/2024

The Cape and Islands district attorney is suing the Duke's County sheriff for refusing to share disciplinary information about deputies that prosecutors are legally required to provide to defendants to ensure their right to a fair trial.

The office of Cape and Islands District Attorney Rob Galibois filed a lawsuit in the state's highest court on Monday, seeking a court order requiring a sheriff's office to disclose records.

11/06/2024

In a phone interview Wednesday, Quemere said he wasn’t surprised that Sullivan is continuing to shield some of his office’s Brady disclosures from public scrutiny.

“This shows the power imbalance in the public-records law because I am represented by a pro-bono law clinic, meanwhile the district attorney’s office has essentially unlimited money to spend on limiting transparency,” Quemere said.

Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan has released some of his office's "Brady disclosures." But he is still withholding the names of police accused of criminal offenses.

10/06/2024

In 1989, James Carver was convicted of setting fire to the Elliott Chambers Rooming House in Beverly and murdering the 15 people who died in the horrific blaze. But the prosecutor who convicted Carver used scientifically unreliable eyewitness testimony to place him and his distinctive car at the scene, a psychologist testified in April.

Link to full story in comments.

16/05/2024

“The fact that the DA’s office would make such an absurd argument just shows their obstructionism, their unwillingness to release information,” Quemere said. “Their motivation here is simply to prevent the public from finding out about allegations of police misconduct.”

Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan has released some of his office’s records of officers whose credibility has been challenged.

02/05/2024

Look to the words of Henry David Thoreau for the moral clarity needed to evaluate the actions of student protesters trying to stop the genocide in Gaza.

What’s a little disruption when the alternative is genocide?

30/04/2024

NEW: Law-enforcement agencies cannot withhold records related to investigations of alleged police misconduct under the privacy exemption to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Friday.

Link to full story in the comments.

11/04/2024

In 1989, James Carver was convicted of setting a deadly fire that a local paper described as the “worst mass murder in Massachusetts history.” But now, 34 years later, his lawyers say they have scientific evidence that proves he is innocent.

This is the story of a tragic fire that killed 15 people and of the investigation that put James Carver in prison for decades — and the hope he and his family now have for his exoneration.

Check the comments for the link to the full story.

18/03/2024

Another Sunshine Week goes by with no progess on secrecy in the State House.

Another Sunshine Week goes by with no progess on secrecy in the State House

26/02/2024

"A potential class-action lawsuit filed last week says Massachusetts State Police troopers secretly recorded nearly 200 people, a large scale violation of federal and state law that may endanger criminal cases across the state."

The nearly 200 recordings made without consent may involve cases across Massachusetts, district attorneys have been told.

07/01/2024

"Chest’s sister believes that police response, on March 30, 2020, led to her brother’s death. It’s one of many cases across the country where a Black man’s mental distress led to a claim of excessive police force."

It’s one of many cases across the country where a Black man’s distress led to a claim of excessive police force.

25/12/2023

So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

War is over
If you want it

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupHappy Xmas (War Is Over) (Ultimate Mix) · John Lennon · Yoko OnoImagine℗ 2018 Calderstone Productions Limited (a ...

23/12/2023

We called the cops to see what happened. A deputy told us, “At this time, we are unable to comment on the person going out the window.”

“If this claim is true ... what substance did the teenager actually take: was it mushrooms, a combination of substances, or something else sourced from the internet?”

14/12/2023

"A Worcester federal jury has found two former Massachusetts State Police troopers guilty of conspiracy and fraud in connection with an overtime pay scheme, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office."

A federal jury found former Lt. Daniel Griffin and former Sgt. William Robertson guilty of stealing thousands of dollars of federally-funded overtime pay as part of the state police traffic division.

11/12/2023

"The Supreme Judicial Court is wading into a drawn-out public records fight stemming from the Bristol County district attorney’s refusal to release documents, recorded interviews, and the names of officers involved in the fatal shooting of 30-year-old Anthony Harden – a Black man who was shot and killed in his bedroom by a Fall River police officer responding to a domestic assault complaint in late 2021."

Watch and read about the arguments here: https://andrewqmr.substack.com/p/eric-mack-sjc-oral-arguments

29/11/2023

"A Boston police officer who drove Mayor Michelle Wu at the time of a June crash contributed to the accident – but won’t face disciplinary action, according to records obtained by 25 Investigates."

A Boston police officer who drove Mayor Michelle Wu at the time of a June crash contributed to the accident – but won’t face disciplinary action, according to records obtained by 25 Investigates.

22/11/2023

"An analysis by 25 Investigates found that Marshfield has the highest valued acquisition of surplus military equipment of any police department listed in Massachusetts: with $952,401 worth of supplies including utility trucks and rifles.

"Marshfield is one of at least five police departments that has acquired mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles — alongside Rehoboth, Oak Bluffs, New Bedford and Haverhill."

The U.S. deployed thousands of the light tactical vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan from 2007 to 2012 in hopes of reducing deaths from IED attacks.

21/11/2023

The Mass Dump has filed its first amicus brief!

The Dump's team worked with the ACLU of Massachusetts and Committee for Public Counsel Services on a brief that asks the state's Supreme Judicial Court to reject the Bristol County DA's sweeping arguments for police secrecy in an important public records lawsuit.

Read about our brief, and the four other amicus briefs submitted to the court, here: https://andrewqmr.substack.com/p/mack-v-bristol-da-amicus-briefs

21/11/2023

A Marshfield cop driving a massive, military-style armored vehicle killed a 79-year-old woman in a crash.

An elderly woman was killed in a car crash with a Marshfield, Massachusetts, police vehicle on Monday, authorities said. The police vehicle, which the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office said was being driven by an officer, appeared to be a military-style armored truck that left a red SUV with maj...