ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9702030057
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BOSTON
SOURCE: The Boston Globe
Mass. judge dismisses charges because abortion clinic gunman died before appeal
In what may be the ultimate legal technicality, abortion clinic gunman John C. Salvi III's two murder convictions have been wiped out, and all criminal charges have been dismissed, because he died before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court could review his trial.
Norfolk, Mass., Superior Court Judge Barbara Dortch-Okara, who presided at Salvi's trial and sentenced him to life in prison after a jury convicted him, voided the indictments and convictions Jan. 21 at the request of Salvi's appellate attorney, James Sultan.
Ruth Nichols, whose daughter, Lee Ann, was shot 10 times by Salvi in one of two clinics he attacked in Brookline in 1994, Friday said she was ``outraged'' by the ruling and angered that Sultan would seek it.
``That piece of paper wipes his slate clean,'' she said of Dortch-Okara's order. ``I have a piece of paper that tells me she had to have an autopsy after he pumped 10 bullets into her. They had to take her body apart. I can't wipe her autopsy clean. It's there. And so should his conviction be there.''
Sultan said Friday he invoked a little-known legal principle after Salvi apparently committed suicide in his cell at Walpole state prison Nov. 29. For at least 25 years, the Supreme Judicial Court has held that if a defendant dies before a conviction is reviewed, the charges are dismissed.
``Mr. Salvi is no longer with us, so I think he has suffered the ultimate punishment,'' Sultan said. ``In our legal system, everybody is entitled to have the fairness of their conviction reviewed on appeal before it is considered legally final and binding. John Salvi never had that opportunity.''
The judge's ruling has no practical effect, because Salvi is dead. But the idea that the criminal justice system that convicted Salvi has now reversed itself and set aside the verdicts infuriated relatives and co-workers of the victims.
The parents of Salvi's second victim, Shannon Lowney, could not be reached for comment. Nicki Nichols Gamble, president of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts for whom Lowney worked, was stunned Friday that Salvi's criminal record has been expunged. Still, she viewed it as a ``minor footnote'' in the context of what Salvi did.
``I think it's really important to remember that although the families of the victims are never going to achieve real peace, the conviction and the sentencing did as much as could be done to help them achieve a position of peace,'' Gamble said. ``From my point of view, absolute justice was done in that trial and there can be no doubt about that.''
Sultan said Salvi's parents, John and Ann Marie, were ``thrilled'' to learn that Dortch-Okara had approved the motion, which Sultan said ``vindicates'' Salvi's memory. He said the request to erase Salvi's convictions was not designed to help the Salvis if they sue the state as a result of their son's suicide in prison.
``I don't think this has any practical effect or legal consequence other than to give them some peace of mind as they grieve for their son,'' he said.
Sultan said they had planned to argue in a court appeal that Salvi was mentally incompetent and should never have been tried. The Norfolk Superior Court jury had rejected an insanity plea.
``Those were critical issues in this case and those were the issues which our state supreme court will never have an opportunity to review,'' Sultan said. ``Nobody has, from day one, ever contested the fact that John Salvi killed these innocent individuals. That was a terrible thing.''
The day after the fatal shootings, Salvi was arrested in Norfolk, Va., after firing at least 23 shots into an abortion clinic.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB