West Roxbury Resident Named Prosecutor of the Year

WEST ROXBURY, MA - West Roxbury resident John Pappas was honored with the William C. O’Malley Prosecutor of the Year award at the annual Massachusetts Prosecutors Conference on Thursday.

Pappas, an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, received the prestigious statewide honor for both his expertise as a prosecutor and his professionalism when working with other lawyers, investigators and victims.

According to a press release, the O’Malley award "recognizes the special combination of talents embodied in a truly outstanding prosecutor: extraordinary courtroom advocacy skills; a gift for mentoring new prosecutors; compassion for victims; and dedication to the highest standards of professionalism in investigations and in all dealings with defense counsel, the judiciary and the public at large."

Pappas has prosecuted several high-profile cases in the Greater Boston Area, including the 2013 kidnapping, robbery and murder of Amy Lord, the beating and stabbing of a Boston Celtics player in a nightclub in 2000 and the death of off-duty police officer Sean Waters.

"Each case was more challenging than the last, with intricate fact patterns and challenging witnesses," Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said during his introduction, according to the release. "But all of them demonstrated John’s ability to unify many disparate details into one big picture – and to marshal the facts and evidence allowing juries to find the truth. With each case, he drew from the experience to become an increasingly talented, sophisticated prosecutor and leader."

Recently, Pappas successfully prosecuted the killings of Julio Ceus and Natalie Sumner during a robbery in a Brighton apartment; the murder of teenager DeAndre Barboza on a street corner in Dorchester; the death of 15-year-old Soheil Turner, who was killed as he waited for a bus to school; and two double murders.

Despite being named chief trial counsel in 2011, where he began providing legal and tactical guidance to Superior Court trial teams in investigative, grand jury, and trial matters, he continues to take on homicide and death cases.

"Receiving this award is an incredible honor," Pappas said at the ceremony, according to the release. "I want to thank everyone I’ve been so fortunate to work with over the years, especially District Attorney Conley and our victim-witness advocates, civilian investigators, and support staff. In so many cases, our success in the courtroom would not have been possible without their hard work and dedication."

Photo Credit: Suffolk County District Attorney's Office