Baker Wants To Make It Easier To Hold Defendants Without Bail

MASSACHUSETTS — A bill introduced Thursday by Gov. Charlie Baker would make it easier for prosecutors to hold people accused of violent crimes in jail while they await trial.

The bill would make it easier for prosecutors to have people accused of a crime declared "dangerous," allowing them to be held without bail indefinitely.

Under current state law, defendants can be held 180 days if they are charged in superior court and 120 days if they are charged in district court, unless they are declared "dangerous" after a hearing. Baker's bill would expand the types of offenses that could lead to a defendant being declared dangerous.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court twice ruled that state law does not allow people accused of crimes to be held without bail if those crimes do not involve overt physical force, meaning judges often have no choice but to set bail for people accused of nonviolent sex offenses, including child abuse. The state Legislature's Joint Committee on the Judiciary has been looking at proposals to overhaul the state bail system for the past two years.

"Taking away someone’s freedom while they await a charge is a serious matter, which is why I understand the need for careful deliberation," Thomas A. Turco III, the state's public safety secretary, said in a letter to lawmakers. "But after nearly two years' worth of such deliberation, and following these recent developments, I ask that the committee report out the Governor’s bill favorably as soon as possible.

Baker made his proposal amid efforts by the Massachusetts Bail Fund to raise money to free people awaiting trial. The Cambridge-based nonprofit organization, which seeks to free "individuals serving pre-trial sentences," paid $15,000 to free Shawn McClinton, a twice-convicted rapist. After he was freed, he was accused with committing another sex offense.

The group also paid the $30,000 bail for a Melrose man with a long history of sex crimes. Tyler Jacquard, 34, is a convicted, Level 3 sex offender who is awaiting trial after being accused of exposing himself to girls as young as 13 at a shopping center in Lynnfield in June.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).