Gov. Baker To Fill Newton District Court Judge Seat

NEWTON, MA —Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday nominated an assistant clerk magistrate to a judgeship in Newton District Court.

James Murphy, a trial court assistant clerk magistrate in Woburn, is nominated for the judgeship.

Murphy will take the vacancy left by Judge Daniel Crane who retired in October last year.

Murphy, a Lexington resident, clerked for the Superior Court in 1998 and 1999 and then got his start as an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County under District Attorney Ralph Martin, before working under DA Daniel Conley as deputy chief of the office’s Safe Neighborhood Initiative.

In 2003, Murphy specialized in litigation and criminal defense with the Brighton firm Bletzer & Bletzer before beginning at the Woburn courthouse in 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He graduated from Belmont High School and then College of the Holy Cross before getting his law degree at Boston College Law School in 1998.

The Governor’s Council will hold a public hearing for Murphy on March 3 at 11 a.m.

There has been a vacancy in Newton District Court since 2015, when Judge Dyanne Klein, the first woman justice there, left the bench after 16 years on it, according to the state website.

The nomination also comes after Newton District Court Judge Shelley Joseph was accused of helping an undocumented man escape from Newton District Court on April 2, 2018.

The investigation and suspension of Joseph and a court officer made national headlines and became a test case in the immigration debate when she was indicted for obstruction of justice for her role. Both Joseph and MacGregor pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Baker nominated Joseph in 2017. A year later he supported her suspension saying through a spokesperson that "no one should obstruct federal law enforcement officials trying to do their jobs" at the time.

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.