Jeannette Binton: Daley's cousin, announcing the reward

Relatives of Ramone Daley gathered at Boston Police headquarters to announce a $10,000 reward for information on whoever gunned down the young Dorchester resident as he left for work early on the morning of Feb. 27.

"Ramone was loved by many and we that are left to cherish his memory want and demand justice for his murder," cousin Jeannette Binton said. "We must all work together to protect our community. The only way we can do thi is to remove the ongoing threat and prevent this from happening to another innocent person."

Daley, 22, had just left his family's Floyd Street home on his way to work at Logan Airport when he was shot to death.

"Within minutes of Ramone leaving his childhood home, closing his gate and making his routine walk to the bus stop, he received gunshot wounds of which he succumbed to later that morning," Binton said.

More than a dozen family members attended the press conference, wearing T-shirts with Daley's photo on the front - and tattoos on their wrists reading "Ram1" in his honor.

Police say Daley is unique among Boston's 10 murder victims this year because he has no connection to violence or any reason to suspect somebody might want him dead.

Anyone with information can contact the anonymous tip line at 800-494-TIPS or by texting "TIPS" to CRIME.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that a convicted murderer got a fair trial and appeal even though his lawyer was sleeping with a prosecutor.

The court rejected John Stote's argument that his lawyer's affair during his 1997 murder trial in Springfield and subsequent appeal fatally harmed his case, because the assistant DA did not work on the case, because the two lawyers never lived together and because both swore they never discussed the case with each other or other assistant DAs - including the one who did prosecute Stote and who had had an affair with his lawyer almost two decades earlier.

Still, the justices warned lawyers that they really need to let their clients know of such matters - Stote said he learned only after the fact of the coupling.

In a ruling in which the justices considered whether the two lawyers actually had sex during their year-long relationship (the justices concluded: Yes, they must have), the SJC noted the assistant DA had nothing to gain professionally from the relationship:

Because the ADA was not handling the Commonwealth's case on appeal, there is no reason to believe that the Commonwealth's success in that appeal could have resulted in any professional benefit for her. In other words, [Stote's lawyer]'s relationship with the ADA gave him no incentive to provide less than fully vigorous representation of his client.

The court added:

Both [the lawyer] and the ADA swear that no confidential information about Stote was disclosed, and there is nothing in the record to suggest otherwise. The ADA further swears that she had no involvement in the Commonwealth's side of Stote's appeal and knew nothing about the case until she read our opinion. This is corroborated by the trial prosecutor, who swears that she worked alone on the Commonwealth's brief and never discussed the case with the ADA.

Second, as to any potential conflict of interest arising from [the lawyer]'s relationship with the trial prosecutor, the judge pointed out that [the lawyer] "had no hesitation whatsoever in lambasting [the trial prosecutor] for her alleged transgressions at trial" and concluded that "[the lawyer] vigorously represented the defendant both at trial and on appeal."

Complete ruling.

The boys of Chi Phi, 16 Ashford St., know how to par-tay (scan here and here). When fed-up nearby residents began flooding 911 with calls early yesterday morning about the blarin' BU boys, the constabulary rolled into action.

But because the fraternity brother have been mean to the cops in the past - they've slammed doors in the faces of uniformed men with guns - Boston Police report they took a different approach this time: They sent in a youngish plainclothes officer first to scout out the scene:

The officer was invited into the party and inside that address observed 75-100 partygoers, many of whom were underage drinking from red plastic cups. The officers observed alcohol being freely distributed without regard to age with a “beer pong” in the basement. The officer further made note that this house was an active Boston University frat house belonging to Chi Pi. The officer also noted evidence of drug use in the house, namely a glass bong with marijuana residue in plain view.

After observing the above, the plain clothes officer opened the door for fellow officers who were able to enter and disperse the large crowd of partygoers some of who were able to flee.

Police report arresting ten lads on charges of being minors in possession of alcohol and disturbing the peace.

City records list the house as having just three bedrooms, but a value of $635,000.

Innocent, etc.