Crime

Judge Seeks to Determine Man’s Competence to Stand Trial for Westgate Bank Robbery

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A Superior Court judge Tuesday ordered an evaluation of a 37-year-old Methuen man, alleged to have robbed a Westgate bank branch, before deciding on whether to proceed to trial. Essex County Superior Court Judge Kathleen McCarthy-Neyman, during a hearing, sent Ryan Messina back to Bridgewater State Hospital for 20 days for an evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial. At his last hearing in January, Messina said through his attorney he is interested in a possible plea deal. Yesterday’s change of plea hearing, however, was cancelled, according to court documents. Messina spent 20 days in Bridgewater in October for a similar evaluation.

Crime

Police Arrest Haverhill School Janitor Who Allegedly Took Videos in Women’s Restroom

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A 32-year-old janitor working for Haverhill’s Greenleaf Academy was arrested last week after he allegedly secretly planted a cellphone and took photographs of a partially nude coworker in the women’s bathroom at the school. Jake T. Robinson was arrested the night of Tuesday, Feb. 3 at his Haverhill apartment on a charge of “photographing, videotaping or electronically surveilling partially nude or nude person or the sexual or other intimate parts of a person around the person’s clothing.” He was arraigned the next day in Haverhill District Court, held on $2,000 cash bail by First Justice Cesar A. Archilla and ordered to return to court March 10 for a pre-trial hearing. According to a Haverhill police report, a 22-year-old staff member of the public school on Chadwick Street said, while using a staff restroom around 1 p.m. that day, she discovered something “shimmering” through a slit in a trash bag where a plunger is typically stored. On inspection, she found the shimmering came from the lens of cellphone, positioned to face the toilet.

Crime

Superior Court Chief Justice Says Different Judge Will Now Hear North Andover Police Case

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Judge Kathleen McCarthy-Neyman will no longer preside over the case of a North Andover police officer charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon. A day after a request by the officer’s lawyers that the judge be removed from the case, Essex County Superior Court Chief Justice Michael D. Ricciuti said McCarthy-Neyman will be assigned elsewhere, according to lawyers for Police Officer Kelsey E. Fitzsimmons. Attorneys Timothy J. Bradl and Martha Coakley said in a release Tuesday the chief justice did not rule specifically on their question of whether McCarthy-Neyman displayed “a lack of impartiality.”

“In the court’s order, the chief justice determined that the recusal motion was moot in light of some unspecified intervening administrative action, noting that ‘The judge is scheduled to sit in another session during the period of the remaining pre-trial and trial of this case…,’” Fitzsimmons’ lawyers said. As WHAV reported, Bradl and Coakley filed a motion Monday asking that McCarthy-Neyman, whom they said has been a resident of North Andover for about 25 years, be recused. They argued the judge inexplicably took over the North Andover case despite being assigned elsewhere, prevented potentially favorable family court custody or visitation orders, displayed a “prejudiced demeanor and actions” at a pre-trial hearing last Sept.

Crime

Counsel for North Andover Police Officer Fitzsimmons Seeks Judge’s Removal

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Lawyers for North Andover Police Officer Kelsey E. Fitzsimmons, who was shot after allegedly pointing a gun at a fellow officer, filed a motion Monday in Essex County Superior Court to require the judge overseeing the trial to step aside. The motion, filed by attorneys Timothy J. Bradl and Martha Coakley, ask that Judge Kathleen McCarthy-Neyman—who they say has lived in North Andover for about 25 years, be recused. “As grounds, it is apparent that a reasonable disinterested observer, being apprised of the facts of the judge’s involvement in the case, would conclude that there is a lack of impartiality or at a bare minimum, an appearance that the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” lawyers wrote in the filing. Fitzsimmons is facing a charge of assault by means of a dangerous weapon. Lawyers wrote McCarthy-Neyman was assigned to handle civil business in Salem Superior Court, but inexplicably “appeared and handled both the bail petition and the arraignment) of Fitzsimmons) in the criminal session without any verbal or written explanation in court or on the docket.”

Further, they argue, the judge prevented any potentially favorable family court custody or visitation orders, displayed a “prejudiced demeanor and actions” at a pre-trial hearing last Sept.

Crime

Federal Judge Sends Haverhill Man to Prison 10 Years for NH Methamphetamine Dealing

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A 54-year-old Haverhill man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking in New Hampshire. Christopher Davis of Haverhill was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe to 10 years imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release. Last October, according to U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan, Davis pleaded guilty to distribution of methamphetamine, after selling the drug during a controlled purchase. This was his third felony conviction for distributing controlled substances in the Lakes Region. “The defendant has persistently and brazenly distributed drugs throughout the Lakes Region across multiple decades,” said Creegan in a press release.

Crime

Methuen Man Faces Sentencing in May for Sending Narcotics to Prison

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A Methuen man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Boston to sending a package containing drugs to a federal prison. Forty-three-year-old Tuere Barnes pleaded guilty to providing contraband in prison. U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for May 11. Barnes was charged last month. In January, according prosecutors, Barnes sent a package containing 460 sublingual strips laced with narcotics to be shipped to an inmate at a federal prison in Danbury, Conn.

Crime

State Renews Grants for Haverhill, Methuen, UMass Lowell to Tackle Gang, Youth Violence

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Haverhill and Methuen are again sharing in a $314,785 state grant aimed at reducing youth and gang violence. The cities are among 15 program sites sharing $8.5 million on the 20th anniversary of the Sen. Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative. Haverhill and Methuen will work with UMass Lowell, which was also awarded $38,156 to provide strategic analysis and support to maintain and improve operations and meet program goals. “No agency can do this work alone,” said Public Safety and Security Secretary Gina K. Kwon. “For 20 years, the Shannon grant has demonstrated what is possible when nonprofits, police, prosecutors and community stakeholders work together.

Crime

Alleged Westgate Bank Robber Messina Ponders Plea Deal

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Ryan Messina, the Methuen man alleged to have commandeered a car at gunpoint in Lawrence and then robbed a bank in Haverhill last June, is considering changing his plea. Ryan’s attorney, Amy Sixt, appeared in Essex County Superior Court Friday and requested a change of plea hearing. The date was set on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 2:30 p.m.

Messina, 37, is charged with unarmed robbery, larceny over $1,200, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and receiving a stolen motor vehicle. He is being held in the Essex County House of Correction in Middleton on $300,000 cash bail.