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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn, in a statement to The Enterprise on Wednesday evening, said his office had no role in the case. “However, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office told the court they could not prosecute the case because the defendant’s first lawyer failed to properly investigate and present witnesses at trial,” Quinn wrote. “In addition, the Plymouth DA’s office made it clear that the case was thrown out because of evidence that someone else confessed to the crime and a new defense expert called into question their forensic evidence. They made no mention whatsoever about emails sent by Karen O’Sullivan as a reason for dropping the prosecution.” While the nolle prosequi does not mention the emails, they were a central part of the reason Giles vacated Choy’s convictions."
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GIST: "Frances Choy was prosecuted three times for the murder of her parents — the first two trials resulted in hung juries and the third in May 2011 resulted in her conviction.
Choy, who was 17 at the time her parents died in an April 17, 2003, arson fire on Belair Street in Brockton, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at the age of 25.
Choy was imprisoned for 17 years, only out on $20,000 bail for three months after her second mistrial in February 2011.
But Choy is now free.
The Plymouth County district attorney’s office on Tuesday filed a nolle prosequi in the case, meaning prosecutors won’t prosecute Choy again or seek another trial.
Choy, now 34, was released from custody in April after Plymouth Superior Court Judge Linda Giles stayed her sentence. Choy’s arson and murder convictions were vacated by Giles on Sept. 17 in light of “newly discovered evidence of racial bias established that justice may not have been done,” court documents state.
“Frances was an innocent crime victim who was instead treated like a criminal suspect,” said attorney Sharon Beckman, director of the Boston College Innocence Program. “Her wrongful conviction resulted from racism and other official misconduct and systemic failures. Frances can never get back the 17 years the criminal legal system took from her, but we are overjoyed at her exoneration and hope her case will inspire meaningful reform.”
The new evidence included “racially and sexually offensive emails sent and exchanged by the trial prosecutors,” Assistant District Attorneys John Bradley and Karen O’Sullivan, according to Giles’ written decision vacating Choy’s convictions.
Giles said the emails show “intentional racial bias by prosecutors against a defendant,” including images of Asian people accompanied by pejorative comments, “jokes” about Asian stereotypes and mocking caricatures of Asians using imperfect English.
“If this Court were aware of the trial prosecutors’ emails and images demonstrating their anti-Asian bias against the Defendant, her family, and all Asian-Americans, this Court would have declared a mistrial and directed that those Assistant District Attorneys be removed from the case and that District Attorney (Timothy) Cruz be made aware of their racially and sexually degrading emails,” Giles wrote.
The decision to vacate Choy’s convictions was also made because of new “exculpatory scientific evidence” discovered by an analytical chemist; newly disclosed admissions by Kenneth Choy; newly discovered, but previously undisclosed, evidence of additional fires set at the Choy residence while Choy was incarcerated; and newly discovered evidence and post-conviction discovery contradictory to trial testimony of now-retired Brockton police Detective Eric Clark regarding the availability of recording devices at the Brockton Police Department, according to Giles’ ruling.
Cruz, in a written statement, said “justice and fairness dictated that this nolle prosequi must be filed.”
“This outcome was the culmination of hundreds of hours of diligence by prosecutors in my office working cooperatively with appellate counsel to identify a number of significant legal issues that we could not ignore,” he said. “The role of every prosecutor is to ensure that justice is done. Fairness not only dictated our decision, but is central to every decision we make.”
During post-conviction court proceedings, an assistant district attorney conceded that the emails were “reprehensible” and that O’Sullivan and Bradley’s emails proved they “were biased against Asians.”
O’Sullivan, who left the Plymouth County district attorney’s office in 2012 and now serves as the first assistant district attorney in Bristol County, was found in 2015 to have sent racist emails over the course of several years using her government-issued email address. The emails were introduced during another Brockton murder trial, which ultimately was declared a mistrial after a jury could not come to a verdict.
Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn, in a statement to The Enterprise on Wednesday evening, said his office had no role in the case.
“However, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office told the court they could not prosecute the case because the defendant’s first lawyer failed to properly investigate and present witnesses at trial,” Quinn wrote. “In addition, the Plymouth DA’s office made it clear that the case was thrown out because of evidence that someone else confessed to the crime and a new defense expert called into question their forensic evidence. They made no mention whatsoever about emails sent by Karen O’Sullivan as a reason for dropping the prosecution.”
While the nolle prosequi does not mention the emails, they were a central part of the reason Giles vacated Choy’s convictions.
“I have gotten to know Karen during the past eight years and have found her to be a person of high moral character and integrity,” Quinn wrote. “There has not been a single complaint about Karen’s professionalism, conduct or attitude during the time she has served the people of Bristol County. I hold her in very high regard, as do other members of the Bristol County District Attorney’s office.”
Bradley, who was fired from the Plymouth County district attorney’s office in 2012, couldn’t be reached for comment.
Attorney John Barter, who represented Choy along with Beckman, said he is grateful Choy was exonerated and is now home with her family.
“However, it is tragic that Frances lost her parents, and was then charged with their death, pursued through repeated trials, and deprived for years after her conviction of access to evidence that supported her innocence,” Barter said in a statement.
Choy, in a statement through her attorneys, thanked her attorneys for always believing in her innocence.
“It has been a tough and long journey, but their support helped me stay strong and never give up hope,” Choy said. “Nothing can erase the pain of losing my parents and how they suffered. I miss them every day. Even in prison I tried to live my life in a way that honored them. I’m relieved that the truth has been revealed and to have my life back beyond prison walls.”
Barter, who was also part of the legal team for Darrell Jones, a Brockton man who last June was found not guilty in a 1985 murder, after being in prison for 32 years, said Choy is the first woman of color and Asian-American to be exonerated in Massachusetts.
The 2003 fire claimed the lives of Choy’s parents, Anne Trinh-Choy, 53, and Ching “Jimmy” Choy, 64. Choy’s nephew, Kenneth Choy, who was 16 at the time and also living in the home, was acquitted of murder charges in 2008."
