BOSTON - The state's top court official yesterday rejected suggestions that the judge who released a convicted killer who police say then murdered a newlywed couple should publicly explain why she made that decision.
Margaret Marshall, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, said Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman of Andover is forbidden by the rules of judicial conduct from commenting about her handling of the case, despite a growing public outcry.
"A judge's responsibility is to the law," said Marshall. "Section 3B, subsection 9 (of the Canons of Judicial Conduct) prohibits public comment."
Tuttman released Daniel Tavares Jr., 41, from prison on July 17 after he finished a 16-year manslaughter sentence for stabbing his mother to death, rebuffing efforts by prosecutors to keep Tavares behind bars on $100,000 bail until he could be tried on two charges of assaulting prison guards.
A lower court judge had imposed bail at the request of the Worcester County district attorney. That decision was appealed to Tuttman, and she released Tavares on personal recognizance, with the requirement that he check in by phone with a probation officer three times weekly until the assault charges were settled in court.
Tavares phoned twice, then fled to Washington state, where police said that on Nov. 17 he shot to death newlyweds Beverly and Brian Mauck over a $50 debt and a comment that "disrespected" him, Tavares told authorities.
He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in Washington and faces a possible death sentence.
Tuttman has been besieged by the news media for comment ever since the case came to light. She called Andover police over the weekend to remove reporters and television cameras from in front of her house, and has disconnected her personal phone.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney, who appointed Tuttman to the court, has called for her to resign. Romney is running for the Republican nomination for president, and at least one of his rivals, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, has cited the Tavares case as an example that Romney is not as tough on crime as he claims.
Marshall, speaking yesterday at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association in Boston, urged the public and the press to keep in mind the circumstances, including the state law on bail, that confronted Tuttman.
Margaret Marshall, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, said Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman of Andover is forbidden by the rules of judicial conduct from commenting about her handling of the case, despite a growing public outcry.
"A judge's responsibility is to the law," said Marshall. "Section 3B, subsection 9 (of the Canons of Judicial Conduct) prohibits public comment."
Tuttman released Daniel Tavares Jr., 41, from prison on July 17 after he finished a 16-year manslaughter sentence for stabbing his mother to death, rebuffing efforts by prosecutors to keep Tavares behind bars on $100,000 bail until he could be tried on two charges of assaulting prison guards.
A lower court judge had imposed bail at the request of the Worcester County district attorney. That decision was appealed to Tuttman, and she released Tavares on personal recognizance, with the requirement that he check in by phone with a probation officer three times weekly until the assault charges were settled in court.
Tavares phoned twice, then fled to Washington state, where police said that on Nov. 17 he shot to death newlyweds Beverly and Brian Mauck over a $50 debt and a comment that "disrespected" him, Tavares told authorities.
He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in Washington and faces a possible death sentence.
Tuttman has been besieged by the news media for comment ever since the case came to light. She called Andover police over the weekend to remove reporters and television cameras from in front of her house, and has disconnected her personal phone.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney, who appointed Tuttman to the court, has called for her to resign. Romney is running for the Republican nomination for president, and at least one of his rivals, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, has cited the Tavares case as an example that Romney is not as tough on crime as he claims.
Marshall, speaking yesterday at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association in Boston, urged the public and the press to keep in mind the circumstances, including the state law on bail, that confronted Tuttman.
The primary purpose for imposing bail in Massachusetts is to ensure that a criminal suspect will not flee to avoid prosecution, and the burden is on prosecutors to convince a judge that the person is a flight risk.
A review of the transcript of the Tavares bail hearing showed that prison authorities said he assaulted prison guards on Dec. 1, 2005, and Feb. 27, 2006, but no charges were brought against him until he was due to be released from prison in June of this year.
The transcript also shows that Tavares had a pending federal civil rights violation case against the prison guards who claimed he had assaulted them.
Additionally, prosecutors did not seek a so-called dangerousness hearing in court to hold Tavares, even though such proceedings are commonplace when authorities feel someone is a violent person and a threat to public safety.
Tuttman also was informed that Tavares intended to live with his sister in Dighton, that he was the father of a 24-year-old daughter, and that he had a fiancee in Washington state whom he had met and corresponded with online. (Police in Washington said he married her after arriving there in July.)
It also was stated by his court-appointed attorney, Barry Dynice, that Tavares was a certified welder who intended to work and report to court whenever required to do so on the assault charges, and would not object to an electronic monitoring device.
"He is entitled to personal recognizance," declared Dynice.
William Loughlin, an assistant Worcester County district attorney, argued that Tavares had a record of violence throughout his life, including being charged with robbery and assault as well as manslaughter before he was sent to prison.
"So he has a history of crimes of violence, and he committed crimes of violence while he was even serving a crime of violence," Loughlin told Tuttman. "I'd suggest high cash bails are needed to secure his appearance, Your Honor."
Tuttman, however, saw it otherwise and used this reasoning to release Tavares, according to the transcript:
"It is the court's view that Mr. Tavares has wrapped his sentence on the underlying offense (manslaughter). He doesn't have a history of any (court) defaults on his record. And there is no indication before the court based on the representations of counsel and the record before me that he is a risk of flight, other than the nature and circumstances of the (assault) charges.
"And in light of what I've heard and the age of the charges and the circumstances surrounding his civil case as well, the court is not of the view that this defendant poses a flight risk at this juncture."
