
Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden blasts Boston judge over case involving ICE midtrial arrest
Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden is blasting a Boston judge over the case involving ICE’s midtrial arrest outside a courthouse.
Judge Mark Summerville of Boston Municipal Court last month issued a contempt finding against ICE Agent Brian Sullivan for arresting Wilson Martell-Lebron outside the city courthouse in the middle of his jury trial.
Summerville dismissed the case, ruling that the prosecution team engaged in egregious prosecutorial misconduct — and he referred his contempt findings to the Suffolk DA’s Office for potential prosecution of Sullivan.
Hayden announced on Thursday that the DA’s Office had determined that Summerville’s contempt finding was “without adequate factual or legal basis and barred by the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.”
“Therefore, this Office finds that criminal charges based upon Judge Summerville’s patently illegal contempt finding and referral are not warranted,” Hayden said in a statement. “Additionally, there was no factual or legal basis to dismiss Wilson Martell-Lebron’s criminal case for prosecutorial misconduct.”
The Suffolk DA’s Office has filed a notice of intent to appeal Summerville’s dismissal of the charges against Martell-Lebron.
Meanwhile, Hayden also requested that the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security conduct an investigation into ICE’s actions in this case.
“Although the Commonwealth lacks a factual or legal basis to prosecute Officer Sullivan, we do not condone ICE’s conduct in this case,” Hayden wrote. “The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office endeavors to protect the public in holding offenders accountable through ethical, fact-based prosecutions. The unprofessional and unnecessary detention of the defendant midtrial in this case undermines those important goals.”
“We do not know why ICE decided to take the unprecedent step of arresting the defendant midtrial, interfering with a state criminal prosecution and preventing this office from holding the defendant accountable, but it certainly was not to protect the public,” the DA added.
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This case goes back to 2020 when Martell-Lebron was charged with falsely applying for a license, and forging an RMV document.
On the day the trial began last month, Martell-Lebron was taken into ICE custody outside the courthouse.
The next day, ICE officers did not bring the defendant back to court. The DA’s Office moved for a writ of habeas corpus for the defendant, which was allowed “but inexplicably never issued by Judge Summerville despite the statutory requirement,” Hayden said.
Summerville ended up allowing Martell-Lebron’s motion to dismiss with prejudice, and found Sullivan in contempt of court.
“Judge Summerville’s finding of contempt was premised upon the false conclusion that only ICE’s arrest of the defendant prevented him from being present at his trial,” Hayden wrote. “In reality, Judge Summerville himself also prevented the defendant from being present at his trial by refusing to issue a writ of habeas corpus for the defendant after he was taken into ICE custody. Therefore, the factual basis for his finding of contempt was flawed. Moreover, the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution bars this office from prosecuting Officer Sullivan for arresting the defendant pursuant to federal law.
“Judge Summerville’s dismissal based on prosecutorial misconduct was also improper,” the DA added. “Judge Summerville expressly found that the assigned prosecutors did not engage in any misconduct. Instead, he found that two Massachusetts State Police sergeants and Officer Sullivan were members of the ‘prosecution team,’ and engaged in egregious misconduct, which he wrongly imparted to the Commonwealth.”