News & Notes: Harriman Snags $5.5M; Lee Man's Conviction Overturned
North Adams Airport Getting Federal HelpBOSTON — U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Edward Kennedy, together with U.S. Rep. John Olver, have announced that the city of North Adams will receive $5,451,959 from the U.S. Department of Transportation to repair the runway at Harriman-West airport.
Plans to upgrade the airport runway to meet federal safety regulations have been in the works for some time.
"These federal funds will allow the airport to make upgrades and repairs to the runway that have been needed for more than a decade," said Olver. "The construction will create jobs and the final product will be safer and more environmentally friendly."
Appeals Court Throws Out O'Laughlin Verdict
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A federal Appeals Court panel has overturned the conviction of a Lee man in the near fatal beating of a woman in 2000. The ruling reversed a March 2006 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision which upheld the conviction.
Michael M. O'Laughlin, 43, was convicted of several assault charges, including armed assault with intent to murder, in the brutal beating of 58-year-old Annmarie Kotowski on Nov. 17, 2000. He sentenced to 35 to 50 years in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Cedar Junction.
"I strongly disagree with the reasoning and application of the pertinent legal standard by the federal Appeals Court panel. There was ample evidence, albeit circumstantial, to convict O'Laughlin of this horrible crime," said Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless. "We have discussed the situation with the Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley, which handles federal habeus petitions on behalf of the commonwealth, and they will be filing a petition for a review by the full bench of the Appeals Court."
The prosecution had postulated a botched robbery to fuel a drug habit as motive for the crime and offered O'Laughlin's aluminum bat as the assault weapon; O'Laughlin's defenders claimed he had three jobs and cash in his apartment, and no need to rob.
The state Appeals Court initially reversed the convictions, ruling that the state had failed to link O'Laughlin to the crimes, despite proving, according to the district attorney's office, that he had a motive, the opportunity, and the means to commit the burglary and violent assault, as well as exhibiting consciousness of guilt by providing false information to investigators.
The state appealed that finding to the Supreme Judicial Court, which affirmed the convictions in 2006.
O'Laughlin then filed for a federal review in District Court, which was initially denied. He appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year.
The three-judge panel ruled that the state did not provide sufficient evidence identifying O'Laughlin as the perpetrator of the crimes and that, as a matter of law, the trial court should have entered a not-guilty finding.
North Adams Police Officer Cleared of Sex Assault
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A city police officer has been cleared of sexual assault charges.
Sgt. James Foley, 44, was found not guilt by a jury Tuesday afternoon on two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person under 14 years of age, which were charged against him in January and October 2008. Foley has been on unpaid administrative leave since then.
It took the jury less then two hours to acquit Foley of the charges. He had allegedly slipped his hand into the underwear of a 13-year-old girl and friend of his son's who was sleeping over at his house.
