This, should it occur, would strike me as a form of extortion, a brazen manipulation of the criminal-justice system in order to settle a civil claim by forgoing a criminal charge. This would be the reverse of the Powers Fasteners indictment, which raises the suspicion that the company was indicted in order to strengthen the Commonwealth's position in its civil litigation by deflecting blame from the Highway Department. In either case, one has to approach with healthy skepticism the prosecutors' charging decisions and analyze carefully any ulterior motives.
As the legal scenario unfolds over the coming months and years, appearances may not always reflect realities, and careful students and reporters will have to delve into the real motives of the players, rather than rely on what's said in news releases and at press conferences.
In other words, stay tuned, and don't rush to judgment.
Related:
Roast pork, While you were out . . ., Truth and illusion, More 
- Roast pork
Back in January, Governor Deval Patrick declared a "season of significant government reform" on Beacon Hill.
- While you were out . . .
When you’re a student, it can seem as if reality just freezes when you leave town for the summer.
- Truth and illusion
There is a word for when a private party threatens to get someone indicted unless money is paid: extortion.
- Deval and the lawmen
For the past few weeks, Kerry Healey has pounded the Bay State with the message that Deval Patrick is dangerously weak on crime. Soft on crime? Arrest rates for violent crimes have plummeted under the Romney-Healey administration. By David S. Bernstein
- Whatever happened to Memogate?
If the Big Dig tunnel collapse that killed Milena Del Valle is the biggest Boston news story of 2006, the media story of the year is the Globe reporting — incorrectly — that a safety officer at the site all but predicted Del Valle’s death back in 1999. Key moments in memogate: Anatomy of a gaffe. By Adam Reilly
- Mitt's Katrina
It seems callous to talk about the political implications of Milena Del Valle’s death Monday night, which came when she was crushed by a three-ton chunk of ceiling inside a Big Dig tunnel. The fallout: Monday's Big Dig collapse won't just affect Romney's national ambitions. By Adam Reilly
- AG screws up 'hoax' prosecution
In rushing to charge self-proclaimed "performance artists" Sean Stevens and Peter Berdovsky with disorderly conduct and placing a hoax device, Attorney General Martha Coakley's office violated a cardinal rule of the criminal-justice system.
- Rent-a-scab?
The employees have been complaining for more than a year about the exact kinds of wage and safety abuses that are supposedly so upsetting to the pols.
- The 12th Annual Muzzle Awards
With the era of repression and secrecy fostered by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney finally over, this should be the best of times for freedom of expression, open government, and civil liberties. Yet change comes slowly.
- Burn, baby, burn
The Phoenix opposed President Barack Obama's efforts to help Chicago win the 2016 Summer Olympics on the grounds that doing business with the International Olympic Committee is always bad news for the host community.
- Khazei, Like a Fox?
If there is to be a candidate in the Massachusetts US Senate race who inspires the sort of grassroots, progressive following that propelled Governor Deval Patrick into office three years ago — an insurgent candidacy, if you will — it figures to be idealistic public-service advocate Alan Khazei, co-founder of City Year and founder of Be the Change, Inc.
- Less
Topics:
This Just In
, Crime, Transportation, Accidents and Disasters, More
, Crime, Transportation, Accidents and Disasters, Milena Del Valle, Structural Collapses, Martha Coakley, Manslaughter, Massachusetts Highway Department, Less
