Prosecutors allege gym teacher was drunk when he fondled four girls at East Boston school

By adamg on Thu, 05/17/2018 - 5:26pm

WBZ reports on today's arraignment for Nicholas Speller, a gym teacher at the Patrick J. Kennedy Elementary School in East Boston.

Speller, arrested yesterday, had bail set at $2,500 and was ordered to wear a GPS device, abide by a curfew and stay away from all children under 16, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Innocent, etc.

Neighborhoods:

East Boston

Topics:

Crime

Free tagging:

Patrick Kennedy School

Ad:

Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

Would the judge now care to explain

By anon on Thu, 05/17/2018 - 7:17pm.

to the public and the taxpayers why they chose to reduce bail from $10k to $2.5k. Or is it too much to ask for openness and transparency from someone whose job it is to deal with people accused of serious crimes like indecent assault on a child.

I know. Promise to appear and all that. But it still doesn't excuse the judge flagrantly disregarding the prosecution's recommendations "because I can, and I don't have to explain why I did it"

Here's the explanation

By adamg on Fri, 05/18/2018 - 10:45am.

Bail is not supposed to be a punishment but to ensure the defendant shows up for future court appearances, including, of course, trial. You might recall that phrase "innocent until proven guilty" (and if you stick around here on UHub, you will see this come up ALL THE TIME because people don't get this and people like me have this compulsion to try to explain it).

Judges take bail seriously, to the point where part of an arraignment is actually a hearing at which both the prosecutor and the defense attorney (and if somebody comes into court without an attorney, the judge will appoint one specifically for bail) make the case for how much bail should be set at. Typically, the prosecutor will go for a high amount; the defense attorney will argue for a low amount and then the judge will earn his pay by trying to determine for herself what the right amount it that will keep the defendant coming back to court until the case is resolved.

A 75% reduction in the bail amount

By anon on Fri, 05/18/2018 - 12:03pm.

recommended by the prosecution. Yah, that's taking things seriously - not.

And why do people have such severe objections to the suggestion that judges provide justification for their actions ON THE PUBLIC RECORD when they make a decision that is contrary to the recommendations they receive?

Adam, I have a suggestion for something to try

By anon on Sat, 05/19/2018 - 12:36am.

Rephrase "Innocent etc.", since, obviously, half of the UH commenters still don't get it.

And make the new phrase have a link to a page that explains the basics all Americans should know, and why it's important.

And then decide whether you want to tolerate any commenters who continue to ignore these important basics. It's worse than using vulgar language, and there's some similarities to hate speech or inciting violence.