Human Rights Commission Dismisses Case Against Bianchi

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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The Human Rights Commission dismissed the case on Thursday.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Human Rights Commission dismissed the accusations that Mayor Daniel Bianchi engaged in racist actions against a Medford woman looking to open a business in the city.
 
The commission opened an investigation into claims from Doreen Wade that Bianchi was hostile and racist toward her last year. The complaints date back to 2013.
 
But the investigation ran out of steam and Wade became uncommunicative with the commission.
 
That lack of communication and inaction from the investigating subcommittee led the state to order the release of some 200 pages of evidence to iBerkshires.
 
"I don't agree with what the state said in terms of coming to this determination. But, I understand it," said member Pamela Malumphy. 
 
That determination and iBerkshires' two-part story laying out all of the evidence for the public led Malumphy to feel that the ad-hoc committee was "futile" in moving forward.
 
The investigating committee failed multiple times to reach Wade in Medford and it was just a few weeks ago when they found out she had moved to Framingham. Human Rights Commission Chairwoman Cecilia Rock said Wade stopped responding to emails and hadn't asked about or attended any of the hearings. 
 
"This has been tough in the last month and a half between not hearing from the complainant and this letter hanging out there from the state," Malumphy said.
 
The ad-hoc committee cited the state's determination that there is not an ongoing investigation as grounds to dismiss the case. Member Churchill Cotton, however, said he wouldn't dismiss it unless the commission itself found grounds to do so. Wade's lack of communication was the tipping point for Cotton.
 
"If we decide to dismiss the case, that is one thing. But for us to dismiss it based on what an outside agency says, I have a problem with that," Cotton said.
 
The full commission accepted the committee's report but ultimately dismissed the case based on Wade's lack of communication as well as the secretary of state's determination.
 
Member Robert Sykes said he was disappointed that they were unable to follow the case through to the end. 
 
"I think it would have been a good trial balloon for who we are and what we stand for. But it vaporized," he said. "I was hoping we would have had to deal with it and benefit from it even if the growth was painful."
 
Sykes wasn't upset with iBerkshires' reporting and public records request, saying, "the media did us a great service with their reasonable explanation of what took place," but rather that the case fell flat. 
 
He said the committee will certainly be acting more efficiently with the next complaint. 
 
Related Stories:
Documents Detail Conclusion of Bianchi Complaint
PITTSFIELD - 01-06-2015 - "I do not believe he is going to be able to handle the affirmative action part but I will give him the benefit of the...
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PITTSFIELD - 01-05-2015 - "This was the most strange conversation with anyone in a little over a year that I've met." — Mayor Daniel...
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PITTSFIELD - 01-05-2015 - "It is my finding that the City has failed to satisfy its burden in responding to this records request." —...

 


Tags: civil rights,   human rights,   public records,   racism,   rights complaint,   

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Dalton Man Accused of Kidnapping, Shooting Pittsfield Man

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton man was arrested on Thursday evening after allegedly kidnapping and shooting another man.

Nicholas Lighten, 35, was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday on multiple charges including kidnapping with a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder. He was booked in Dalton around 11:45 p.m. the previous night.

There was heavy police presence Thursday night in the area of Lighten's East Housatonic Street home before his arrest.

Shortly before 7 p.m., Dalton dispatch received a call from the Pittsfield Police Department requesting that an officer respond to Berkshire Medical Center. Adrian Mclaughlin of Pittsfield claimed that he was shot in the leg by Lighten after an altercation at the defendants home. Mclaughlin drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries. 

"We were told that Lighten told Adrian to go down to his basement, where he told Adrian to get down on his knees and pulled out a chain," the police report reads.

"We were told that throughout the struggle with Lighten, Adrian recalls three gunshots."

Dalton PD was advised that Pittsfield had swabbed Mclaughlin for DNA because he reported biting Lighten. A bite mark was later found on Lighten's shoulder. 

Later that night, the victim reportedly was "certain, very certain" that Lighten was his assailant when shown a photo array at the hospital.

According to Dalton Police, an officer was stationed near Lighten's house in an unmarked vehicle and instructed to call over the radio if he left the residence. The Berkshire County Special Response Team was also contacted.

Lighten was under surveillance at his home from about 7:50 p.m. to about 8:40 p.m. when he left the property in a vehicle with Massachusetts plates. Another officer initiated a high-risk motor vehicle stop with the sergeant and response team just past Mill Street on West Housatonic Street, police said, and traffic was stopped on both sides of the road.

Lighten and a passenger were removed from the vehicle and detained. Police reported finding items including a brass knuckle knife, three shell casings wrapped in a rubber glove, and a pair of rubber gloves on him.

The response team entered Lighten's home at 43 East Housatonic before 9:30 p.m. for a protective sweep and cleared the residence before 9:50 p.m., police said. The residence was secured for crime scene investigators.

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