Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins Announces Investigations of MBTA and Former Det. John Brazil
Actions come as DA leaves to be US Attorney for Massachusetts
BOSTON, Jan. 6, 2022 — In one of her final acts as District Attorney of Suffolk County Rachael Rollins said today that her office is launching a criminal investigation into the MBTA as a result of the Green Line crash last summer that injured 27 riders, and another one into disgraced former Boston Police Det. John Brazil to determine if he committed perjury in cases in which he testified on behalf of the Commonwealth.
MBTA INVESTIGATION
“As I leave the position of District Attorney, it is vital the public be kept informed of the ongoing work of this exceptional office to keep the communities we serve safe. There is perhaps no single state agency that impacts the daily lives of the millions of people who live and work in the greater Boston area more than the T,” said DA Rollins. “Therefore, it is imperative that if we see a continued lack of oversight or negligence at the MBTA that it is exposed and corrected.’’
Last October, Green Line trolley operator Owen Turner was charged with negligence of a person having care of public conveyance and gross negligence in management of a train for causing the July 30, 2021, trolley crash. “Mr. Owen was operating at three times the speed limit at the time of the crash. As his colleagues and supervisors were aware, he had a reputation for speeding and a history of violations. The MBTA had a duty to address its employee’s reckless behavior. The agency failed to fulfill its legal obligation to take meaningful action in light of the real safety risk these acts created. We will be looking into whether the T’s behavior, or lack thereof, merits criminal action.”
Under state law, to prove corporate liability prosecutors must show an individual committed a criminal offense as the Commonwealth alleges Owen Turner has done, the individual who committed the offense was involved in the business to be charged, and the individual was vested with authority to act on behalf of the business. Suffolk prosecutors have previously charged multiple employers for their actions putting their employees and the public at risk.
This is not the first time DA Rollins has held corporations responsible in connection with the behavior of its employees or owners.
In 2019, Suffolk prosecutors secured a conviction against Kevin Otto and the company he owned, Atlantic Drain Services Company, for manslaughter in the deaths of employees Robert Higgins and Kelvin Mattocks in a trench collapse at a South End excavation site in 2016. Otto and his company failed to use cave-in protections at the worksite, despite their knowledge of the grave danger this failure created for workers, given their past OSHA violations which mandated employee training for these very same safety violations.
The Commonwealth also indicted Securitas Security Services and its employee, Mohammad Khan, in 2020, in connection with Khan’s assault of an 11-year-old girl suspected of shoplifting. He allegedly punched the child in the face and pinned her to the ground during a seven-minute assault. At 11 years old, this child could not have even been prosecuted for her alleged crime as the age of entry into the Massachusetts state criminal legal system per our legislature is 12 years old. The investigation revealed that Securitas had repeatedly reprimanded Khan for his excessive use of force but failed to take any meaningful action to address his aggressive and physical behavior, effectively permitting it to continue. As a result of this prosecution, Securitas entered into a court approved multi-year, statewide agreement with the DA’s Office that has significantly improved the company’s training on excessive force as well as reduced the number of excessive force incidents committed by Securitas personnel.
And less than two months ago, Atlantic Coast Utilities, owner Laurence Moloney, 57, of Quincy, and a vendor were indicted on three counts of perjury for falsifying safety affidavits filed with the City of Boston. That company employed two workers who died on February 24, 2021 on High Street in Boston, Jordy Romero, 27, and Juan Carolos Gutierrez, 33. While no criminal violations were found regarding the deaths of the two men, our investigation revealed willful omissions in the Mattocks-Higgins Affidavit of Workplace Safety the company was obligated to file with the City to obtain their permit.
“When an employer willfully turns a blind eye to one of their employee’s dangerous and reckless actions, they become complicit in behavior. When those employee’s actions rise to the level of criminal conduct, there are circumstances where an employer can and should also be held criminally responsible for the acts of an employee,’’ said DA Rollins. “Owen Turner presents one of those circumstances.”
“Everyone in Suffolk County deserves to be safe. The Commonwealth has a duty to those who use and therefore entrust their safety to our public transit system. The events of July 30 violated that duty and trust. This was a preventable crash that put the safety and wellbeing of Green Line passengers and MBTA employees at risk.
“Beyond that, the July 30, 2021 Green Line crash also came at the start of a terrifying two-month period during which: Boston University professor David Jones lost his life on September 11, 2021 while jogging on a staircase on MBTA property at JFK Station that had been blocked off but neglected and unrepaired for more than a year; dozens of individuals were sent tumbling down to the concrete floor of Back Bay station when the escalator they were on malfunctioned and nine people were injured (September 26, 2021); and a Red Line train derailing impacting service for several hours (September 28, 2021). This list of failures and tragedies appropriately makes the T-riding public and all of us question the value the MBTA is placing on safety. State agencies are accountable to the public they serve. And this two-month period shows that we deserve better from the MBTA. When their acts and omissions put the safety of community members and their own employees at risk, sometimes the only means of driving change is through the courts, and public demands for action. That is why we make this formal announcement today.”
INVESTIGATION INTO PERJURY BY DET. BRAZIL
With regard to former Boston Police Detective John Brazil, DA Rollins’ Integrity Review Bureau has examined two murder convictions – against Sean Ellis and James Lucien – in which Brazil’s involvement and testimony was material and suspect, so much so that in a December 7, 2021, hearing, Superior Court Judge Robert Ullmann made a finding on the record that Brazil committed perjury in the Lucien murder case. While under oath, Brazil lied about evidence he secured and held following the 1994 murder of Ryan Edwards. Remarkably, his perjury was missed by both the prosecutor and defense attorney but recognized by the jury, who informed the trial judge that Brazil’s testimony was not – and could not be – consistent with the physical evidence submitted as exhibits during the trial.
We know now that Brazil participated in a sprawling corruption scheme from 1990 to 1996 with other Boston Police officers – Kenneth Acerra, Walter Robinson and John Mulligan whose murder on September 26, 1993, ultimately exposed their crime syndicate. These police officers dishonored their badge and conspired to lie, rob, and steal from drug dealers by submitting false warrant applications and then would seize cash, representing drug trade proceeds, and keep it for themselves. During this six-year period, they lied about confidential informants and secured search warrants with that fabricated information. All of these actions where felonies and frauds upon the court. By all definitions, these individuals were in a gang and RICO charges should have been levied upon them. Instead, Brazil turned on his colleagues and cooperated in a federal investigation, testifying against fellow criminals and disgraced BPD detectives Acerra and Robinson, both of whom pled guilty. They served a total of three years for dozens of separate felonies. In 1996, Brazil was given immunity in exchange for his testimony. He served no time and is currently collecting a pension to this day.
“The corruption of John Brazil continues to harm people in Suffolk County still some three decades later,’’ said DA Rollins. “His criminal conduct and lies have now undone two separate murder convictions – against Sean Ellis and James Lucien. And it isn’t the police or John Brazil that had to call the family of Ryan Edwards to explain that the Commonwealth would be assenting to Mr. Lucien’s Motion for a New Trial due to Brazil’s perjury and disgraceful record of criminality. I made that phone call. The DA’s office has to pick up the pieces and speak to the families, who are justifiably outraged and retraumatized. I spoke with Ryan Edwards’s sisters Judith and Dionne. I spoke with the Mulligan family to explain that the corruption which infected the investigations and subsequently the murder trials made clear that justice was not done in those specific cases. When the Commonwealth – which includes law enforcement – lies, cheats and steals, the Commonwealth should not be able to benefit from those unconstitutional, unethical or criminal acts. Brazil was complicit in the criminal actions for which detectives Acerra and Robinson served three year federal sentences. We do not believe any federal immunity agreement covers his act(s) of perjury in a state murder trial, but that will certainly be part of this active investigation.
All charged individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles some 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.