A Democrat from Cohasset is “exploring” a run for Norfolk County district lawyer, an elected place that has confronted intense scrutiny over the previous yr for the prosecution of Karen Learn and the investigation into Sandra Birchmore’s demise.
Craig MacLellan, a former prosecutor in Suffolk County and practising protection lawyer, filed paperwork Thursday to mount a bid for Norfolk County district lawyer, a race that’s not on the poll till 2026 and has been held by Michael Morrissey since 2011.
Each the prosecution of Learn on expenses she murdered her Boston cop boyfriend and choices made following the demise of Birchmore, a 23-year-old who authorities stated was strangled to demise by a Stoughton cop whereas pregnant, have thrust Morrissey and the Norfolk County District Legal professional’s workplace into the highlight.
MacLellan stated these instances didn’t affect his determination to run for the workplace, although they function “a few examples of why the public has lost confidence in the office.”
“Both cases give rise to serious concerns relative to the objectivity and integrity of the investigative process, which is extremely damaging to the overall mission of the office. Despite the failures that these cases have revealed, it is simultaneously important that, as a community, we don’t allow the drama and controversy to overshadow the tragic loss of human life in each case,” MacLellan stated in a press release.
MacLellan graduated from Windfall School in 2002 with a advertising and marketing diploma earlier than heading to Suffolk College Legislation Faculty. After incomes his Juris Physician, he labored on the Suffolk County District Legal professional’s workplace for eight years as a prosecutor.
He additionally served as an investigating employees lawyer on the Massachusetts Fee on Judicial Conduct, the state company liable for wanting into complaints that state court docket judges have engaged in misconduct or have a incapacity stopping them from doing their jobs.
He labored as a litigation affiliate at a Boston regulation agency and as a litigation supervisor for his personal observe. MacLellan has served on the Cohasset Faculty Committee for the previous six years.
MacLellan stated he filed paperwork to run for Norfolk County district lawyer to revive “trust and confidence in this impactful public office.”
“In doing so, I have taken the important step of forming an exploratory committee, to meet with residents across the county and have conversations about the challenges we face and the potential solutions,” he stated.
The transfer comes roughly two years earlier than voters head to the polls for the 2026 election and will put him up in opposition to Morrissey — if the incumbent decides to run for reelection.
“Regaining the public’s trust will be a long-term process that must start at the constituent level. Forming the committee this far in advance of the election will give me the time necessary to do something that is too often overlooked in our political system — to listen,” MacLellan stated.
District attorneys serve four-year phrases and Morrissey has not confronted a challenger in additional than a decade, simply gliding to reelection in uncontested races.
Morrissey confronted his final problem in his first election in 2010 after then-District Legal professional Invoice Keating determined to mount a profitable run for Congress.
Morrissey gained 47% of the vote within the 2010 Democratic major in opposition to two opponents and 60% of the vote within the basic election in opposition to an impartial candidate months later, in accordance with state knowledge.
A spokesman for Morrissey didn’t instantly reply to a Herald inquiry despatched Saturday.
MacLellan declined to weigh in on Morrissey’s dealing with of the Learn and Birchmore instances, telling the Herald it “would be irresponsible of me to cavalierly broadcast an outsider’s perspective which could, to some, masquerade as informed fact.”
Learn was accused of killing Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe two years in the past when she allegedly rammed her automobile into him after an evening out. She denied the accusations and a nine-week trial ended with a deadlocked jury.
Attorneys for Learn are within the strategy of taking their efforts to drop the homicide cost in opposition to her to the Supreme Judicial Courtroom, the best state court docket in Massachusetts.
Morrissey has confronted criticism for taking the unprecedented step of creating a public remark in Learn’s case. Some noticed his push-back in opposition to “baseless” on-line commentary in regards to the case as an assault on the protection’s third-party killer idea and unethical use of his place to affect the end result.
Morrissey has additionally been below fireplace from some observers for not mounting a prosecution in Birchmore’s demise, even after inside Stoughton Police Division investigations discovered questionable habits by certainly one of their officers.
Greater than three years after her demise, federal prosecutors have leveled expenses in opposition to former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell that accuse him of grooming, raping, impregnating, after which killing Birchmore.
