Convicted Killer in 2011 Medford Murder Appeals to SJC

BOSTON - A Charlestown man serving life in prison for the 2011 murder of John Hatch of Medford will ask the state's highest court to reduce his murder conviction claiming the jury was prejudiced by evidence that his DNA was in a national crime database.

Attorney Leslie W. O'Brien will argue before the state Supreme Judicial Court on April 7 that convicted murderer Gerald Sullivan, 45, of Charletown, should have his 2013 first-degree murder conviction reduced to second-degree murder, allowing him to be eligible for parole after 15 years.

After a trial in Middlesex Superior Court, Sullivan was found guilty of: first-degree murder, armed assault with in the intent to murder; armed home invasion; assault and battery by a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury; armed assault with intent to rob; unlawful possession of a firearm; and unlawful possession of ammunition.

On Feb. 18, 2011 at 10:30 p.m., Medford Police received a 911 call for a robbery in progress from a woman who resided at 55B Jerome St. Upon arrival, officers found the female and discovered two men - Hatch and his father John Vieira - with serious injuries, according to published reports.

The two victims were transported to the hospital where Hatch, 37, died as a result of being shot in the chest. Vieira, who was shot in the head survived, although he still has bullet fragments in his head., according to published reports.

Through a joint investigation by Medford Police and the Massachusetts State Police, they learned that the male victims and the female caller were inside their home when there was a knock on the door. One of the victims opened the door and two masked men pushed through the doorway and immediately demanded money and jewelry.

A struggle ensued and Sullivan shot both victims, according to reports.

Authorities processed the scene for evidence and located several items, including a hat, mallet and pipe, that were subsequently tested for DNA. One consistent profile was extracted from three items and that profile was run through the national CODIS system, which is funded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The profile was found to be a match to the DNA profile of the defendant that was stored in the database.

O'Brien argues in her court brief that the jury heard no evidence to substantiate the armed home invasion charge which was an element of the first-degree murder charge. But jury did hear that Sullivan's DNA was in CODIS, suggesting that he had committed other crimes, prejudicing the jury against her client, she said.

"The evidence constituted the type of testimonial hearsay that is precluded...'' O'Brien wrote.

But Assistant District Attorney Jessica Langsam countered in her brief that for the home invasion charge there was sufficient evidence for the jury to surmise that two victims were shot so either Sullivan or his accomplice entered the home with a gun.

As for the DNA evidence, Langsam argued that using information from the database was only one way Sullivan was identified as being in the apartment. A buccal swab taken from Sullivan's mouth provided a DNA sample that matched items retrieved from the crime scene, she said.

But that test was complicated when the former Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab Chemist Erik Koester, who compared the buccal swab, had "non-conformities'' in other cases. A motion for a new trial was filed, On June 28, 2016, Middlesex Superior Court Judge Edward Liebensperger denied the motion for a new trial.

Liebensperger wrote that Koester's work in other cases has no bearing on his work in this case.