Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden has misplaced a number of high staffers over the previous month, along with his normal counsel, first assistant and chief of workers all departing, based on sources.
The exodus started with General Counsel Spencer Lord, whose precise employment standing stays unclear as he’s nonetheless on the payroll, two sources with direct information of the scenario informed the Herald.
But Lord, whose job successfully was to be the lawyer for the workplace, hasn’t been doing work since a Feb. 14 assembly with Hayden and the DA’s division of human assets, and he’s solely been again since to select up objects from his workplace, sources mentioned.
The subsequent day, First Assistant DA Kevin Mullen resigned. The first assistant, primarily the No. 2 within the workplace and answerable for day-to-day operations, had begun to butt heads with Hayden — and was pissed off with what went down with Lord the day prior to this, sources mentioned.
They have been adopted by Padraic Lydon, Hayden’s chief of workers, resigning not lengthy after, per sources.
Contacted for this story, Mullen acknowledged he’s not with the workplace however declined to remark additional. Lord additionally declined to remark, and Lydon couldn’t be reached.
Hayden’s spokesman Jim Borghesani declined to remark in any respect on the trio or any “personnel matters,” together with questions on whether or not they’re presently employed.
As for the operations of the workplace, Borghesani mentioned, “Everything is being handled.”
The workplace put out a press launch Feb. 15 — the day Mullen resigned — touting a raft of recent hires, together with a brand new 2nd Assistant DA and a brand new “chief legal counsel.”
Hayden on the time mentioned in an accompanying assertion, “I’m extremely fortunate to have such an accomplished group of professionals helping me to achieve the many objectives I have for the office, including greater community engagement, continued emphasis on firearm crimes and juvenile and young adult alternative resolution initiatives, data-based prevention and intervention strategies, and conviction and sentencing integrity.”
Sources mentioned there’s nothing catastrophic occurring within the workplace — this isn’t to do with any shoe about to drop in a federal look into the way in which the workplace, particularly Hayden and Mullen, dealt with a Transit Police case, as an example. Hayden’s workplace mentioned it hasn’t acquired something from the feds on that matter.
But reasonably the shakeup concerned a number of slow-burn points which have usually triggered strife among the many higher administration and the workplace writ giant.
Chief amongst them is the case of Robert Foxworth, a wrongly convicted man who had his conviction vacated in 2021. Complaints from Foxworth, who was freed in 2020, have led to Hayden, on the suggestion of Lord and Mullen, suspending longtime murder prosecutor Mark Lee because the workplace commissions an out of doors investigation — a transfer that’s led to stress in an workplace the place Lee nonetheless has many supporters.
By the time of the departures, Hayden and Mullen — “the Kevins,” as some name them — had been more and more at loggerheads over an assortment of points and administration choices. And Lord, as is typical for normal counsels, was the one that needed to ship dangerous information to Hayden and nix concepts that didn’t go authorized muster, sources mentioned.
“Sometimes he — anybody — has to be told ‘no,’ and he doesn’t like that,” one supply immediately acquainted mentioned of Hayden.
“He’s got some management problems,” one other supply mentioned, including that Hayden, in good religion, tried to become involved in each difficulty and was detest to delegate. “That Jimmy Carter management style just doesn’t work.”
Hayden’s workplace declined to remark additional on the state of the workplace or the DA’s administration skills.
Hayden was inaugurated in January for his first full time period as DA, although he’d been within the place already for a 12 months following his appointment. Formerly the top of the Sex Offender Registry Board, Hayden acquired the appointment from then-Gov. Charlie Baker after then-DA Rachael Rollins took the place of U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts.
Hayden, a first-time candidate for elected workplace, rapidly introduced his intentions to run for a full time period, with Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo additionally leaping in, organising a dynamic of the extra politically left Arroyo versus the extra centrist Hayden.
After a sleepy spring, the DA contest then devolved into as nasty a race as the realm’s seen in latest reminiscence, with each candidates hurling accusations of wrongdoing on the different. Hayden took flak over the aforementioned Transit Police case, the place he was accused of brooming an investigation towards an officer who Transit Police division heads wished prosecuted. Hayden has mentioned the case was by no means closed and that he by no means acted inappropriately.
And Arroyo got here beneath fireplace for the truth that he as a teen was investigated following an allegation of sexual assault.
Arroyo, who was by no means charged and maintains that he did nothing mistaken, fired again allegations that Hayden illegally leaked sealed juvenile information to the Boston Globe for political acquire.
Eventually, Hayden emerged victorious within the September main and didn’t face an opponent within the November normal election, successful a four-year time period that began two months in the past.
The sources who have been vital of Hayden did have good issues to say concerning the workplace total — notably work beneath Hayden to construct up sexual violence and different special-victims models.
“It’s a good place to be a lawyer,” one supply mentioned. “Hell, if you’re going to be prosecuted, it’s as good and fair a place as any for that.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”