New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Unit to Increase Confidence in the Integrity of the Criminal Prosecutions and Convictions Handled by the AG’s Office.
In the interest of ensuring integrity and increasing public confidence in her office’s criminal prosecutions and convictions, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today the creation of a new Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU).
The CIU will re-investigate cases involving claims of innocence and claims that call into question the integrity of the office’s investigation and/or prosecution. Examples of potential conviction integrity concerns include police or prosecutorial misconduct, the unfairness of the process the defendant received, and newly discovered or available evidence that makes the conviction unreliable. After review and investigation, the CIU Director, Assistant Attorney General Mary L. Nguyen, will recommend appropriate steps to remediate any wrongful convictions or other forms of misconduct to the Attorney General.
“Our office has been committed to enhancing our integrity practices and ensuring justice and public confidence in our judicial system,” said AG Healey. “With the creation of this internal unit, it is our goal to hold criminal prosecutions and convictions to the highest standards and allow for further review and investigation when appropriate.”
The CIU will consider cases where a person:
• was prosecuted in a criminal case by the Attorney General’s Office in a Massachusetts district or superior court;
• was found guilty after trial, pleaded guilty to an offense, or had a guilty plea imposed after initially receiving a continuation without a finding (CWOF);
• has exhausted all their state-level post-conviction appellate rights (ex. filed an appeal in the appeals court and a decision has been issued); and
• makes a claim of actual innocence or claims that the integrity of the conviction is in question.
If the applicant meets all these criteria, the CIU will conduct a preliminary review. If there is substantial evidence to support an applicant’s innocence or if there is substantial evidence affecting the integrity of the investigation that resulted in a conviction, a full re-investigation of the case will proceed. Priority review will be given to those currently serving an incarcerated sentence because of the challenged conviction.
The creation of this unit reflects the culmination of work that the AG’s Office has done alongside co-chairing the Massachusetts Conviction Integrity Working Group, which included criminal justice leaders and stakeholders. In March 2021, the group issued a comprehensive Best Practices Guide on how to address and prevent wrongful convictions in Massachusetts, which includes the creation of Conviction Integrity Units in each prosecutorial office.
For more information, visit the AG’s website or email AGO-CIU@mass.gov.
Question, If Healey is elected Governor and takes the Oath of Office, which in part says to “Protect and Defend the Constitution” isn’t she going to e immediately breaking that oath once she starts trying to dismantle the 2nd Amendment, which, in my head, says she should be re,oved from office. Its NOT her job to change the Constitution is it????
He lack of knowledge regarding guns, the right to self defense and the number of times a gun is used by a lawful, licensed, gun owner out numbers the number of crimes committed by criminals. Do you know how many peoples lives have been saved because of a Licensed and trained person with a gun? How many rapes have been prevented. How many murders, armed robberies and assaults on elderly as well as the swarm of home invasions by criminals in the wee hours of the morning. Even if you are NOT a gun owner, and would never try to convince anyone to become one if they didn’t want to, please let the legislators know that you still defend OUR rights as Lawful Gun Owners to not be infringed by a Politician who has a hatred and zero knowledge of firearms and no basis for her werd ideas about guns and good people with guns who have jumped through all the hoops to get the permits. Adding to that list will only make some lawful gun owners become criminals because they will have had enough of the gun laws, most which seem to have little effect on crime rates. I know of one criminal who won’t do any more gun crimes. He was shot dead by a senior citizen home owner when his home was, by force and violence, broken into in the early morning hours. The bad guys gun was recovered, the good guy was not charged, and there was one less violent person on the streets.
Somhow, Healey would have this senior’s gun taken away.