Suffolk County, Boston | featured news

Federal prosecutors told a judge today they intend to appeal the dismissal of the cases against two City Hall aides after the charges were thrown out.Judge Leo T. Sorokin dismissed the case yesterday just days before the trial was scheduled to begin, saying prosecutors' evidence did not meet the legal standard for a conviction after both prosecutors and defense attorneys asked him to rule. 

FALL RIVER — Two Massachusetts men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a drive-by shooting last year.No one was hurt in the shooting in Attleboro last July, but two homes and a vehicle were struck by bullets.The Sun Chronicle reports that 18-year-old Jason Rocha and 19-year-old Keyshawn Johnson pleaded guilty Thursday to weapons charges. Rocha was sentenced to four to five years in state prison. Johnson received a three- to four-year term.Charges against a third man are still pending.The shooting was sparked by an argument with someone.

BROCKTON, Mass. — A Massachusetts State Police dispatcher is under internal investigation for allegedly posting information about criminal investigations on social media before some of that information has been public.State police confirm to The Enterprise of Brockton that Carla Grant, who has been a civilian dispatcher for the agency since 1999, has been placed on leave pending a status hearing scheduled for next week.

HATFIELD — Authorities say a man whose body was found burning in a western Massachusetts field earlier this month has been identified and they are investigating the death as a homicide.The Northwestern District Attorney's Office said Friday the victim was identified as 44-year-old Daniel Cruz, of Northampton.Cruz's body was found burning in Hatfield on March 10, on a road adjacent to a popular walking trail.

AMHERST  — A Massachusetts college has launched a criminal investigation into what the school's administration calls "an act of blatant and deplorable anti-Semitism."Hampshire College President Jonathan Lash said in a message to the campus community that the act occurred in a residential area on Tuesday morning.A spokesman for the school in Amherst says no additional information is being released because it's an ongoing investigation by campus police.

QUINCY — A Massachusetts woman has been charged in the death of her 11-month niece.Shu Feng Hsu, of Quincy, was held on $200,000 bail after pleading not guilty Thursday to assault and battery on a child causing serious bodily injury in the death of Chloe Chen.Prosecutors say Hsu was Chloe's sole caregiver when the child was injured Feb. 15. The baby was taken to the hospital for surgery on her head but went into cardiac arrest during surgery and died two days later.

CAMBRIDGE  — NFL players are joining attorneys, professors and others at Harvard Law School for a summit on criminal justice issues.The Players Coalition members participating in Friday's event include the New England Patriots' Devin McCourty and the Philadelphia Eagles' Malcolm Jenkins. Retired player Anquan Boldin also will attend.The Players Coalition is a group formed by Boldin, Jenkins and others advocating for changes to further social and racial equality.

Facebook is in a nosedive, with the hashtag #DeleteFacebook gaining steam and the stock slipping fast over blowback from the social media giant’s carelessness with user data.The poor PR has lit up rival Twitter, where users were calling for a boycott.“Don’t trust Facebook. Your info is in the Cloud and will be given to anyone on Earth,” one person tweeted, echoing countless others.

An embattled western Massachusetts judge will fight for his job in front of the state’s highest court next month after admitting that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a courthouse employee.Judge Thomas Estes, previously the presiding judge at Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown, admitted in a filing with the Supreme Judicial Court that he had numerous sexual encounters with former specialty court clinician Tammy Cagle in his chambers and at her home.

Yesterday’s dismissal of the Boston Calling case is just the latest of several setbacks for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston when it has dipped its toe into political and union cases.Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found that federal prosecutors overstepped their bounds when they brought charges against Probation Department chief John J. O’Brien and two of his top deputies.