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By Neal Simpson 
The Patriot Ledger

Posted June 13, 2018
Updated June 14, 2018

BOSTON – The state Appeals Court has upheld the civil commitment of a former Duxbury man who has spent more than two decades behind bars for raping and molesting a half-dozen South Shore boys in the 1990s.

Lucas Ortiz, better known locally as Michael P. Nickerson, had argued in his appeal that a judge was wrong to exclude evidence during a trial six years ago that led to his commitment as a sexually dangerous person under a state law that allows for the indefinite detention of convicted sex offenders who are deemed unable to control their sexual impulses.

In a decision issued Tuesday, the state Appeals Court ruled that the judge had the discretion to exclude the evidence, which included the results of a sexual arousal test, because the test has not been standardized and its results had been found to be unreliable.

Oritiz grew up in Duxbury with the name Michael Nickerson but is referred to only as Lucas Ortiz in Tuesday’s decision. His entry in the state’s sex offender registry uses both names.

Ortiz, now 43, was 17 years old and a senior at Duxbury High School when he was arrested in 1992 and charged with raping or molesting four Boy Scouts between the ages of 11 and 13, in one case at knifepoint.

In some of the assaults, which took place in Hingham, Pembroke, Duxbury and Brockton, prosecutors said, Ortiz told the boys that he had a son who had been kidnapped and would only be released if they had sex with him.

While out on $20,000 bail, Ortiz sexually assaulted a fifth boy, this one 12, by claiming he had to conduct a physical exam on the boy before he could join a gang.

Ortiz was convicted in both cases and sentenced to three years in prison, much to the outrage of the boys’ parents and state lawmakers, including some who called for stricter penalties for child sexual abuse.

Ortiz was released in 1995 – six months early – but was only free for months before he was arrested and returned to prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy at knifepoint. This time, Ortiz would spend another 18 years behind bars.

Then in 2012, with Ortiz due to be released, prosecutors filed a petition to have him committed indefinitely in a state hospital as a sexually dangerous person.

Two experts who examined Ortiz concluded that he was likely to commit additional sexual crimes, diagnosing him with pedophilia and other sexual and personality disorders.

Two experts hired by Ortiz concluded that he could not be diagnosed with a mental illness.

One of Ortiz’s experts based his conclusion in part on a test that measures a man’s sexual arousal in response to various images, which in this case purported to show that Ortiz was not aroused by children.

But the judge overseeing the trial barred Ortiz’s attorneys from presenting the test results, noting that the expert himself admitted that the test was frequently unreliable and often produced false negatives for rapists.

The Appeals Court on Tuesday agreed with the judge’s conclusion and upheld Ortiz’s continued detention.

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A Brockton man was arrested after police caught him with nearly 400 grams of Fentanyl and $51,000 in cash, according to Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz and Massachusetts State Police Col. Kerry Gilpin announced Wednesday, June 6, 2018. (MGN)

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By Andy Metzger / STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

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May 30, 2018

https://www.fox25boston.com/news/-when-they-get-out-it-s-too-late-new-bill-would-notify-family-of-rehab-release/759657123

By Travis Andersen GLOBE STAFF  MAY 30, 2018

Thomas Berry thought his son was safe.

Stephen Berry, 20, had been civilly committed to the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center for up to 90 days to get treatment for his opiate addiction. Two weeks later, he was released without notification to his family and suffered a fatal overdose on April 5, 2017.

On Wednesday, Thomas Berry, 52, of Pembroke fought back tears at the State House while testifying in favor of a bill that would require health providers to notify families of patients released early from their court-mandated treatment under the state’s Section 35 law.

Had he known his son was on the street, Berry said, he would have brought him to a facility in Falmouth to continue his treatment, which had been the original plan.

“My family was fighting hard for his recovery,” an emotional Berry told lawmakers on the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Recovery. “Instead of recovery, he received only a train ticket” and money from his canteen at Bridgewater.

Under state law, addicts can be forced into in-patient treatment under Section 35 — at the request of relatives, police, or medical professionals — if a judge determines the person is at risk of serious harm.

Currently, the superintendent of the treatment facility must notify the judge in writing when a patient is released before the 90-day maximum term. The pending bill, sponsored by state Representative Josh S. Cutler, a Duxbury Democrat, would require that the person who had a patient civilly committed in the first place — often a close relative — be notified as well.

Cutler told the committee that the bill would close “a very important gap in the law.”

He said he doesn’t believe his bill would violate federal medical privacy laws because the patient’s civil commitment is publicly adjudicated in the courts, and the bill would merely require notification of release to the relative who initially sought the commitment.

Cutler was joined by Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz, who also testified in favor of the bill. He said his office works daily to punish drug traffickers and help addicts get treatment.

“But every day, families wage their own less public and much more personal battles against addiction,” Cruz said. “The least we can do now is to show those people, who know their loved ones best, that they matter enough to notify them when their loved one is released, in order to be prepared to wage their battle anew.”

It’s unlikely that lawmakers will take significant action on the bill before the current legislative session ends.

But Representative Denise C. Garlick, the House chair of the committee, assured Berry that the proposal would be a priority for lawmakers.

Noting the scourge of opiate addiction that continues to ravage the state, Garlick said, “We have a great deal of work to do.”

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By James Kukstis
[email protected]

May 25, 2018

Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer; in Marshfield, as boats begin to hit the water to have fun in the sun, town officials are encouraging safety and responsible operation of watercrafts.

On Friday, May 25, Marshfield F.A.C.T.S. unveiled a new banner the organization donated to the harbormaster’s office now on display at the town pier, urging boaters not to operate under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

“We have different issues in the summer than we do the rest of the year,” said F.A.C.T.S. co-chair Jen Cantwell. “We felt like impaired boating is not an issue that people are familiar with.”

Alcohol and drugs are involved in almost 50 percent of accidents on the water, and over 75 percent of vessel accidents have a human factor contributing to the cause. Given these statistics, Marshfield Harbormaster Mike Dimeo said it’s crucial that boaters operate responsibly.

“I think they’re out on the water and they forget about everything,” said Town Administrator Mike Maresco. “There’s a lot of focus now on drinking and driving but I don’t think that extends to drinking and boating.”

Cantwell said stressors while boating, like wind, sun and vibration can intensify the effects of alcohol, making the situation even more dangerous.

“It’s a beautiful place down here,” said Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz. “We’ve got great weather and we’re only just starting the summer, so this reminds everybody that there are still rules and regulations that we need to keep people safe. Alcohol and drugs should not be on the waterway. Everybody kind of thinks sometimes that there are no rules, that you can go out and do what you want, but there are and we need to keep people safe.”

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May 25, 2018

Drinking and driving is never a good combination, but that doesn’t just apply to motor vehicles. Safety on the water is just as important, Plymouth County D.A. Tim Cruz spoke with Christine James.

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Erin Tiernan
May 17, 2018

An undocumented Brazilian immigrant who was convicted in the 2011 stabbing death of his girlfriend was seeking a new trial.

BOSTON — The state’s Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction of a Marshfield man serving a life sentence for the 2011 stabbing death of his on-again off-again girlfriend.

Marcelo Almeida, an undocumented immigrant from Brazil, was convicted in 2015 of murdering 24-year-old Patricia Frois in her Marshfield apartment complex three years earlier. In his appeal, Almeida argued that he deserved a new trial because the judge who oversaw his first one had given the jury bad instructions and had failed to reign in prosecutors when they mischaracterized evidence in their closing statements and presented evidence about Almeida’s history of fights with Frois, which he said prejudiced the jury against him.

In a decision issued Wednesday, the state’s highest court said the judge did nothing wrong in allowing the evidence about previous fights in which Almeida had threatened to kill and stab Frois because, the justices said, it established a pattern of hostility in the couple’s relationship and hinted at intent and motive for the murder. The justices also rejected Almeida’s claim that a conversation he had with a state trooper after he was arrested was mischaracterized. In the conversation, Almeida confessed to killing Frois.

Almeida, who was 45 when he was convicted, has long admitted to repeatedly stabbing Frois, his former girlfriend, after months of what prosecutors described as desperate attempts to get her to return to him. Instead, Almeida’s attorney argued at trial that the stabbing was an act of passion — ignited when Frois told him that she had seen other men — and amounted to manslaughter, which carries a lighter sentence than murder.

At the trial, prosecutors argued that Almeida’s confession with the trooper, in which he made no mention of Frois seeing other men, was proof of premeditation and grounds for conviction on first-degree murder. Almeida argued this was a mischaracterization of his words, but state supreme court justices disagreed.

“The prosecutor’s comments would not have created a substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice,” the court stated in its decision. “The commonwealth presented overwhelming evidence of the defendant’s premeditation.”

In the days and weeks leading up to the stabbing, Almeida on multiple occasions told family and friends he wanted to kill Frois after she refused to move back in with him. One witness testified that Almeida said that what he was going to do to Frois, “not even his own mother would forgive.”

On Sept. 26, 2011, Almeida stabbed Frois 11 times in her Marshfield apartment building.

During the trial, prosecutors said Almeida told multiple people he planned to kill Frois “for love,” but didn’t tell any of them that he wanted her dead because she had sex with someone else. Prosecutors said Almeida only brought up that part of his story when it came time to defend himself against murder charges.

The court also ruled the judge’s instructions to the jury were sufficient.

District Attorney Timothy Cruz, whose office prosecuted the case, said he was pleased with the supreme judicial court’s decision.

“This was a particularly gruesome and senseless crime, and a family was broken by the loss of their sister and daughter,” Cruz said in a statement. “Today’s SJC decision will hopefully reinforce the fact that justice was done for the family of Patricia Frois and that family can now find some peace.”