Mass. Police Decry Judge For Quick Releases

In a sharply-worded press release, police yesterday criticized Superior Court Judge Janet Kenton-Walker for "releasing violent offenders" back on the streets.

"Investigators working these cases are very concerned that violent offenders are being granted low bail by Judge Kenton-Walker and released back into the community where they remain a threat to public safety," police said in the release, posted to the department's website late yesterday afternoon. "At this time, the Worcester Police feels obligated to inform the public when violent offenders are released back on the streets and pose a threat to the quality of life in our community."

The release does not have an officer or police official's name attached to it.

Joan Kenney, spokeswoman for the state Supreme Judicial Court, provided the following statement yesterday: "The purpose of bail is to ensure a defendant's return to court. In the recent Pineiro matter, Judge Kenton-Walker set cash bail at $55,000 with conditions that included (requiring that) the defendant wear a GPS monitor so that he would be confined to his house. There was no request by the prosecutor for a dangerousness hearing in front of her."

The police press release was prompted after Hector Pineiro, awaiting trial on charges stemming from a shooting last year in Fitchburg and unrelated gun and drug charges, was released from custody Wednesday on bail totaling $55,500 cash. His release came after a bail hearing held by Judge Kenton-Walker.

Mr. Pineiro, 20, of 16 Chamberlain Parkway, is one of four people charged in a Jan. 30, 2011, shooting on Mechanic Street in Fitchburg that the victim told police resulted from a drug deal. Mr. Pineiro has been identified by prosecutors as the one who shot the 27-year-old man in the abdomen.

The 22-year-old brother of the shooting victim was struck in the head with a firearm, according to authorities. Mr. Pineiro was indicted June 21 on charges of armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (firearm), carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, unlawful possession of ammunition and conspiring to violate the drug laws.

He had previously been ordered held without bail on unrelated gun and drug charges lodged against him after his sport utility vehicle was stopped by police March 16 in Worcester. Police said they found 29 grams of marijuana and a loaded .38-caliber revolver in the vehicle.

Investigators said they had been on the lookout for the 2004 Mitsubishi SUV because it matched the description of a vehicle used in a shooting five days earlier on Hermon Street. No one has been charged in the March 11 shooting.

Mr. Pineiro is charged in the Worcester case with carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, unlawful possession of ammunition, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and a drug violation near a school or park. He was ordered held without bail on those charges after a dangerousness hearing March 30 in Worcester Superior Court.

At the hearing Wednesday, prosecutors asked the judge to keep Mr. Pineiro in custody without bail or set a "substantial bail." Mr. Pineiro's lawyer made several arguments in her client's defense, including that the prosecution's case against Mr. Pineiro in connection with the Fitchburg shooting had weaknesses and she expected the evidence to show her client was not the gunman.

Police in the press release also criticized Judge Kenton-Walker for lowering bail from $25,000 to $5,000 on Lloyd Dey, an 18-year-old city resident police said was arrested in December and charged with numerous firearms and drug charges. Mr. Dey has numerous other arrests involving drug and violent offenses, police said in the release.

This is not the first time police have called out a judge. In June 2009, Police Chief Gary J. Gemme said a Central District Court judge "overstepped his authority" in a ruling involving a Rutland man who allegedly pointed a gun at an off-duty police officer earlier that year. Judge Thomas F. Sullivan dismissed charges of drunken driving, assault and firearm possession charges against 29-year-old Matthew R. Bailey.