Remarks of Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley: Release of Report on Gang Violence and Witness Intimidation February 1, 2005 Thank you, Senator Barrios, Lt. Governor Healey, and members of the Joint Committee on Public Safety. In the summer of 2002 two reputed members of the Magnolia-Intervale-Columbia gang -- named for the streets that are the heart of their turf - allegedly fired a shotgun at their rivals, a gang called the Big Head Boyz, in what by that time was a blood feud that had been going on for some 10 years. The dozens of shotgun pellets did not hit a single Big Head Boy gathered in a park in Roxbury. Instead, they struck the head and face of a 10-year-old girl named Trina Persad who had gone there to play with her brother and sister. Trina Persad died. We took the defendants to trial late last fall with the case built around the testimony of two other former gang members. One the very first day of jury selection, the defendants' friends showed up to court. Two of them had the same T-shirt on. The words on the T-shirt read "Stop Snitchin'." Was this an isolated incident? Hardly. One night last summer Boston police came across a group of young men gathered outside a school in Mattapan. The men were filming a mock documentary. Officers saw three items in plain view: A handgun. A stack of transcripts from a federal court hearing that included witness names. And a Stop Snitchin' T-shirt. We confiscated the documentary the men were filming. Its theme was a warning about the consequences of cooperating with police. I could go on. I could talk about the hearing in an upcoming Dorchester murder case where we will fight to introduce as evidence a CD made by the defendant's rap group. The CD's lyrics list names of informants and cooperating witnesses and promises violent consequences. I could tell you about the witness we have had to move not once, but twice, out of fear for the gang members he is providing information about. I could tell you about the young woman who told us she might as well have a bulls eye on her back if she testified in a gang case. I could go on all day. But the story of witness intimidation adds up to so much more than stories that shock or sadden. In Suffolk County prosecutors handling homicide, gun and gang related cases say that some form of intimidation factors into about 90 percent of our cases. These are cases where the victims are disproportionately people who are poor and of color. These are crimes where victims often live in close proximity to those who commit violent crimes and who spread fear. Witness intimidation represents one of the largest obstacles to our criminal justice system making good on its promise of fair and equal justice for all. Witness intimidation is a criminal justice issue, but at its heart, it's also a civil rights issue and that fact cannot be ignored. Victims of crime in our cities have a right to justice, and that right is denied them when crimes are not solved, or cases cannot go forward, because witnesses are scared. Those most vulnerable to the problem, the residents of our inner cities, are often the least able to escape it. For most people in our neighborhoods who know first-hand what is like to be threatened, to feel fear for themselves or their children, to feel the glare of a gang member on a corner or in a courtroom, moving themselves out of harm's way is not an option. They just do not have the money to do it. Despite these obstacles, courage exists in these communities. I see it every day. Ask any prosecutor or victim advocate in my office and they'll tell you about people who hold off their fear and tell the truth because of their love of a victim, their belief that the truth should prevail, that their neighborhoods should belong to law abiding residents, and because they recognize that justice is worth fighting for. But the residents who display this kind of courage are feeling isolated and under fire. They need our help and they need it now. So I'm pleased and proud to stand here today with Senator Barrios and Lt. Governor Healey - elected officials from two branches, from two parties, who recognize the problem and who are doing hard, serious work to do something about it. With their continued leadership, I'm hopeful that this will be the year when resources will be committed to fight intimidation, to better serve victims and witnesses, to enhance the tools we use, and to give those of us in law enforcement the new tools we need. Witnesses have felt the terror of promised or implied retaliation too many times. Fear has spread like a disease in too many city blocks. 'Stop snitching' is the creed on too many streets. Justice has been denied because of it, and victims' rights have been unfulfilled. With the support of people like Senator Barrios, Lt. Governor Healey and their colleagues on Beacon Hill, we are going to change that. Thank you. Return to the previous page.