Judge grants ex-cop new trial on perjury charges

By Andrea Estes

June 29, 2000 Web posted at: 1:42 PM EDT (1742 GMT)

BOSTON, Massachusetts (The Boston Herald) -- Slamming prosecutors for ``misconduct'' in the case, a federal judge yesterday ordered a new trial for convicted ex-Boston cop Kenneth Conley.

It was an extraordinary step by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Keeton, who had presided over the jury trial that resulted in a perjury conviction that had withstood appeals all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

``I determine that it is in the interests of justice that a new trial be allowed,'' wrote Keeton, who accused prosecutors of withholding key documents.

Conley, 31, of South Boston was the only officer convicted in the 1995 attack on Michael Cox, a black plainclothes detective mistaken for a suspect. Though he never threw a punch, Conley was facing a 34-month prison sentence for lying to a grand jury about what happened.

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``Myself and my family are ecstatic we're getting a chance for a new trial,'' said Conley, who was terminated by the department just a month ago.

He has been free while his new trial motion was pending.

``I'm very thankful the judge did see certain things were not done right and he's given us this opportunity. I haven't seen the paperwork . . . I'm just happy,'' said Conley, whose cause has been championed by many police officers and public officials.

In June, 1998, a jury found that Conley witnessed the near-fatal attack but refused to rat on his brother cops. Conley denies seeing anything.

United States Attorney Donald Stern and the prosecutor in the case, Theodore Merritt, said they were reviewing the decision and declined comment. They didn't say if they will retry Conley.

Commissioner Paul Evans said Conley was essentially a victim.

``I have said in the past that the officers responsible should come forward,'' said Evans. ``It never should have reached him. But there is a trial system and a jury did find him guilty.''

Cox, now a sergeant in Internal Affairs, couldn't be reached for comment.

But Stephen Roach, who represented Cox in his civil suit against several officers, said, ``It's fortunate for the citizens of Boston that Sergeant Cox pressed forward with the civil case because at least a jury came back with a verdict of liability for those who actually did beat Michael and abandon him that night.''

A jury found two officers, David Williams and James Burgio, liable for the beating in December, 1998. Conley was cleared. The city agreed to pay Cox $900,000 to settle a civil rights suit brought against the department.

In his 32-page ruling, Keeton actually rejected most of the arguments put forward by Conley's lawyer, Willie Davis.

He instead offered his own conclusion that evidence surfacing since Conley's criminal trial is so different from what Davis had in 1998, he couldn't mount a proper defense.

In addition to information unearthed at the civil trial, Keeton wrote, there are also documents recently disclosed to him that persuaded him Conley deserves a second chance.

He didn't reveal the content of the sealed records, believed to be internal police documents, but hinted they've made him believe it would be unjust for Conley to be imprisoned while other officers who beat Cox or saw the attack but kept silent remain free.

One or more officers beat Cox, Keeton said the evidence shows, and others refused to come forward ``out of a misguided purpose of protecting a fellow police officer from consequences that would flow from criminal charges.''

Cox was one of several officers, including Conley, drawn into a high-speed chase Jan. 25, 1995, by four suspects fleeing a Roxbury restaurant after a shooting.

Cox and Conley were among the first to arrive at a dead-end Mattapan street, pursuing the suspects as they fled from a gold Lexus and dashed for a fence at the end of the street.

As he tried to scale the fence after one of the suspects, Robert Brown, Cox was struck on the head with an object, believed to be a flashlight.

He was hit again, kicked in the face and kidneys and left unconscious and bleeding on the street.

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