Letter: Choose Harrington Over Opponent's Spin
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To the Editor:
Paul Caccaviello is running a write-in campaign. I hope the following information illustrates the irony his campaign is spinning as "experience."
Paul is running a "write-in" campaign under the mostly false premise that "not everyone had the chance to vote in the primary." Some colleagues wrote a Letter to the Editor last week to the general effect that Republicans and Independents did not get the chance to vote.
Half correct. Independents can choose between the Democratic and Republican ballots in the primary. Paul's concerns for the electorate are a moving target but from what I gather he is purportedly concerned that approximately 9% of the Berkshire County population, Republicans, did not have the chance to "vote for him" in the primary.
Paul didn't even lose within a margin of error in the primary election, yet his supporters are apparently concerned that the race was "close." What is most astounding about this spin is that none of them were concerned that one person was deciding our county's fate a mere six months ago. David Capeless and his bizarre retirement/Paul's anointing were acceptable as long as their establishment benefited from the blatant disregard for the Berkshire County voters.
The "experience matters" mantra and deceiving spin campaign attempt to hide the public from some startling information regarding Paul Caccaviello.
In 2008, a criminal defendant was convicted of second-degree murder in the Berkshire County Superior Court. The prosecuting attorney was Paul Caccaviello. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts overturned the conviction due to ADA Caccaviello's "improper exclusion of an African American juror from the jury pool." "Because we conclude that the Commonwealth did not meet its burden of demonstrating a race-neutral, individualized basis for its peremptory challenge, we reverse the defendant's conviction." Commonwealth v. Tyson J. Benoit 452 Mass. 212.
If the ADA's racial discrimination doesn't bother you, this should — where did that murderer go after his conviction was overturned?
Long-standing prosecutors, such a Paul Caccaviello, should have a basic grasp of the criminal law so that murderers are not released back on the street. In an effort to hide Paul's shortcomings, his campaign has made catchy signs that tout his "experience." Sadly, his "by the numbers" spin sends a deceptive narrative to Berkshire County.
There's other misleading information coming from Paul's campaign: that Paul in any way reversed District Attorney Capeless' policy of pursuing drug charges contaminated by the lab chemist. The Supreme Judicial Court required by an order that the District Attorneys must dismiss drug cases because of misconduct by the lab chemist. There is nothing voluntary about it. More spin to deflect from what Paul's "experience" has gotten us — the highest crime rates in the commonwealth, North Adams as No. 1 and Pittsfield in the top 10.
I urge all of Berkshire County to vote for Andrea Harrington for district attorney on Nov. 6. Our community has already nominated her in the primary so you do not need to write in her name.
She is on the ballot for a reason. Just fill in the oval and let's move on.
Jennifer M. Breen
North Adams, Mass.
The writer is a local attorney.
Tags: district attorney, election 2018,
