Justin Jaleel Caterson is no stranger to the local court system - or to one of the two judges that are now overseeing the cases against him for an alleged two-month rampage in which he went around three Boston neighborhoods smashing car windows.
However, the resolution of an earlier case in which he was charged with breaking into a BPL branch and then transferred into one of Boston's three special "mental health courts," suggests that even when it tries, the system may not be able to help everybody - assuming he is found guilty on the new charges.
Around 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 28, 2021, Justin Jaleel Caterson was arrested inside the BPL Connolly branch, 433 Centre St. in Jamaica Plain, by an officer and a police dog investigating an alarm.
Caterson was arraigned later that day in West Roxbury Municipal Court on a charge of breaking and entering in the nighttime. Judge Catherine Ham released him on personal recognizance, according to court records.
At a hearing on Dec. 14, 2021, Judge Kathleen Coffey ordered a mental health evaluation, after which she concluded Caterson was eligible for the West Roxbury court's Recovery with Justice program.
West Roxbury is one of three Boston Municipal courts with a dedicated "mental health court" for "defendants who have serious mental illness or co-occurring mental health or substance use disorders," with the goal of helping defendants break a cycle of confinement by "providing intensive social services and mental health treatment."
Participation requires enrollment into a medically-based treatment program for at least three months. Court records show Caterson enrolled in the Boston Outpatient Assisted Treatment (BOAT) program at Boston Medical Center, which is set up specifically for people going through the Boston Municipal Court system.
In addition to her work in West Roxbury, Coffey serves as BOAT's project director - and she has also helps oversee the other two Boston Municipal Court mental-health sessions and a special homeless court at the Pine Street Inn.
Court records show that between February, 2022 and June, 2023, Caterson attended both BOAT and monthly reviews of his progress in West Roxbury court.
On June 27, 2023, Coffey dismissed the library break-in charge against Caterson upon his successful completion of the BOAT program.
But then, starting in January, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office charges, Caterson began breaking car windows, starting, prosecutors say, on Jan. 5 on Vancouver Street on Mission Hill.
On March 28, Boston Police officers arrested Caterson near the Stony Brook Orange Line station in Jamaica Plain, about two hours after they say he had smashed a window on Jamaica Street. In between, police and prosecutors say, were a couple dozen other incidents of car windows being smashed in Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill and Roxbury.
Later in the day, he was arraigned in West Roxbury court on charges of possession of a burglarious instrument - a specialized device meant specifically for breaking car windows - possession of a dangerous weapon (brass knuckles), trespassing and resisting arrest.
Coffey was the arraignment judge that morning. She ordered him held at the Suffolk County jail in lieu of $250 cash bail.
He is scheduled for a pre-trial conference in West Roxbury court on April 28.
Separately, police obtained an arrest warrant for Caterson on March 24 in Roxbury court on charges of breaking and entering a vehicle in the nighttime, larceny under $1,200 and two counts of vandalism, according to court records.
He was arraigned March 29 - the day after his West Roxbury arraignment.
Judge Maureen Flaherty increased his total bail to $500.
He is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on the Roxbury charges on May 14. Prosecutors say they will file additional charges against him for 14 car break-ins on Mission Hill on March 19.
Innocent, etc.
