Legal counsel for Dukes County Sheriff Bob Ogden confirmed in court Monday that the sheriff’s office does in fact record its booking room, which some Island defense attorneys and top state prosecutors have said is valuable evidence they haven’t been privy to for years.
Whether the sheriff has recorded video in the booking room has been a key question as part of an ongoing dispute between Ogden and Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois II. The dispute, DA officials have said, threatens to compromise current and past cases, potentially leading past defendants to request new trials — how many so far remains unclear.
The issue surfaced last month in the year-old Commonwealth vs. Holmes case, in which a young man was arrested for allegedly driving a stolen moped while intoxicated.
A prosecuting party, here the DA’s office, is required by law to provide exculpatory material to a defendant’s lawyers. A video of a defendant being booked at the county jail, for example, could help show their innocence — or exculpate them — by showing them less intoxicated than a police report describes.
But the DA’s office and Holmes’ defense attorney have said they were under the impression, for years, that the booking room was not recorded, and therefore they thought that no booking videos were available.
On Monday in district court, Ogden’s lawyer Jack Collins stated that of the county jail’s 30 cameras, one is in its booking room. The camera only records low-quality video, he said, and does not record audio. He also stated that the recordings are overwritten over time, but said that the office would preserve and provide any video it had if asked to do so.
But Holmes’ defense lawyer, Robb Moriarty, on Monday said that Collins had just confirmed for him that the booking room is recorded, despite deputy sheriffs stating otherwise.
“I asked deputies on the stand during bench trials … I asked if there was a video and they said no, or that there were cameras in there but they didn’t record,” Moriarty said in court. “For years it’s been ‘We don’t record’ or ‘We don’t have booking videos’ … Everybody kind of went for that,” he said.
He added that deputies had likely answered to the best of their knowledge, but that he has never been able to ask Sheriff Ogden or anyone who controls the video system.
Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Sweeney also told Hurley that her office as well as other defense attorneys were under the impression that the booking room was not recorded.
“It appears as though people went to court under the assumption, as known then by our office, that a video doesn’t exist,” Sweeney said. “Some people relied on representation from our office and didn’t ask for [a video] because we said the sheriff’s office doesn’t record.”
She added that defendants in past cases should be notified that they may be entitled to a new trial. “This doesn’t mean that everyone that pleaded and didn’t receive a booking video is entitled to a new trial,” she added. “They are entitled to file a request.”
Moriarty is also preparing to submit a motion for sanctions against the Sheriff’s office for the destruction of potentially exculpatory evidence.
Hurley noted that if Moriarty files those motions, it would lead to a hearing prior to Holmes’ trial in which the officers who booked Holmes would be summoned to testify.
“We look forward to that,” Collins said, also stating that he doubts the officers will know how long bookings have been videotaped.
Hurley also withdrew Ogden’s motion to quash summonses for himself and three sheriff’s deputies, which were issued by the DA. Due to information provided by Collins on Monday, testimony from Ogden and the three deputies was no longer needed.
On Monday, Edgartown District Court Judge Joseph Hurley gave Ogden’s office 30 days to state its recording policy, or declare that it does not have a policy.
The DA’s office also plans to send an investigator — likely Massachusetts State Police officer Dusty Shaw — to take photos of the booking room, located in the Dukes County Jail, Regional Lock-Up & House of Correction in Edgartown.
I get it… the DA is trying to make the sheriff look bad. And he does look bad. The sheriff’s goal should be to have the best cameras with audio (when permissible) to aid in the pursuit of saftey and fair justice. It would cost much less than $1000 to have a great camera with months of recording ability in that room. He should want it installed for his own staffs safety and legal protection. He should want more than one for multiple angles. He should also want body worn cameras for all of his staff to be on when dealing with inmates.
That being said, the DA is slimy and is trying to make the sheriff look bad because the DA is a woke anti-cop hypocrite that is butt hurt about his own criminal hit and run accident being publicized as well as other stories that have not publicly come to light.
So please, Mr. Sheriff, clean up your act, install the cameras and then get back to making the DA look like the clown he really is. The DA got one on you this time but I’m sure you can live to see another day and win this war you two have got going.
Interesting take but on the other hand, it also shows that almost all law enforcement people are corrupt. Unfortunately everyone seems to lie like police officers, sheriffs,DAs and the public. Who can you trust not even your lying eyes? This is not a game. It is real life with real consequences and plenty of innocent people have been harmed. And plenty of guilty people have been let off because of who they know for instance, you’re the son of a police chief most likely you’re driving under the influence never makes it to the light of day as an example.
“… almost all law enforcement people are corrupt.” I initially thought you were being facetious, but apparently you’re serious. Yes, as a person of color I’m not unfamiliar with the issues of police corruption, but I would never even consider making such a sweeping statement. I’m not in the ACAB group, and I’m dismayed by people who are. As with almost any grouping of humans that you can imagine, there’s the good, the not-so-good, and the downright evil. And, before you suggest that I’m looking through rose-colored glasses, I had a family member who was shot in the back by police-after they disregarded the order to disengage.
As with any group, take them one at a time, and let them show you who they are.
I believe the camera’s went up in the booking area of the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office in either 2013 or 2014. I would know because I worked the 11pm to 7am shift for most of my career there from 2002 to 2014.
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