Fresh from this afternoon, Boston Herald found guilty of libeling a Superior Court judge.

The reporter, sadly, admitted to misquoting the judge because he was never actually interviewed. Poor judgy-wudgy received death threats, nasty letters, and threats to his daughters in internet chat rooms.
According to the article, the reporter went on television and:

“When host Bill O’Reilly asked Wedge if he was sure Murphy said that the rape victim should “get over it,” Wedge replied, “Yes. He made this comment to three lawyers. He knows he said it, and everybody else that knows this judge knows that he said it.”

Thus began the media frenzy. Too bad “Easy Ernie” had a bad reputation to begin with, as the Herald’s lawyer points out:

“Twice in the same day in December 2001, he allowed two men convicted in fatal drunken driving cases to begin their sentences in January to allow them to spend the holidays at home, Dushman said. Murphy also allowed several men accused of rape to go free without bail before trial, Dushman said.

He pointed out that Murphy expressed sympathy for the rapist of the 14-year-old girl, saying, according to court transcripts, “I know what happens at state prison when people like (the defendant) show up at 17 years old. I am going to do justice in this case as I perceive it.”

I bet picking the jury for this trial was fun. Three years later, the appeals process can begin.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 18th, 2005 at 16:01 by melissa and is filed under Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.