Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins will get his day in court docket to argue that his federal extortion prices ought to be dismissed.
Boston federal Decide Myong J. Joun scheduled a listening to for Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. for Tompkins to argue that the 2 counts of extortion beneath coloration of official proper, relating to his dealings with a Boston-based hashish firm, be dismissed. Tompkins may also argue to strike two paragraphs of the indictment, which his legal professional argues embody language associated to state ethics legal guidelines and never federal legal guidelines.
Tompkins, 67, of Boston, is accused of bullying an government at a Boston hashish firm to return his pre-initial public providing funding of $50,000 after the inventory tanked following the IPO. The Suffolk County sheriff was charged and arrested Aug. 7 whereas on trip in Florida and made an preliminary look in court docket in Fort Lauderdale earlier than returning to face the fees in Massachusetts.
Tompkins pleaded not responsible to the fees.
Tompkins is represented by legal professional Martin Weinberg, who has filed a flurry of motions difficult the fees on a number of fronts. Two are scheduled to be argued on the subsequent court docket date.
On Oct. 9, Weinberg motioned to strike paragraphs three and 4 of the indictment, arguing that “these paragraphs relate exclusively to the Massachusetts state ethics laws and his alleged violations thereof (…), which have no relevance to the charges of Hobbs Act extortion at issue in this case.”
The subsequent day, Weinberg filed a movement to have each counts dismissed, arguing that they’re “predicated upon a number of factual infirmities, which Mr. Tompkins categorically denies.” He added that even when the allegations had been true, they nonetheless don’t help the fees: “they are legally insufficient to support a quid pro quo agreement.”
“Mr. Tompkins made an investment as did many others, paid full value for it, and received no financial benefit not conferred to other buyers,” Weinberg wrote.
Weinberg has additionally argued that proof seized from Tompkins’ Comcast and Google e mail accounts be tossed, however that movement just isn’t scheduled to be argued on the listening to.
Tompkins took medical go away from the Sheriff’s workplace in late August after Gov. Maura Healey introduced the sheriff had agreed to “step away” from the put up because the case continues.
This can be a growing story.
