A high prosecutor within the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office has his job again after an impartial investigation discovered he “did nothing improper” concerning a decades-old homicide conviction.
Mark Lee returns to workplace as assistant district lawyer after being positioned on paid depart final November amid allegations he withheld info in a case involving the 1992 second-degree homicide conviction of Robert Foxworth.
“Mark’s character, prosecutorial experience and dedication to the people of Suffolk County equip him well for this extremely important position,” District Attorney Kevin Hayden stated in a press release Thursday. “We welcome Mark back to the office and we look forward to his strong leadership of the homicide unit.”
Foxworth spent almost three many years in jail for a 1991 homicide in Dorchester earlier than being exonerated in December 2020.
The months-long suspension got here after Foxworth’s lawyer filed a criticism with the Massachusetts Office of the Bar Counsel alleging Lee for withholding proof that Foxworth didn’t commit the homicide, beginning as early as 2007.
Independent investigator Comprehensive Investigations and Consulting concluded the data Lee was accused of not bringing ahead “had been known to Foxworth and his counsel for many years”, and that info didn’t result in his dismissal, in keeping with officers.
CIC additionally discovered Foxworth’s workforce didn’t share the data that finally led to his dismissal with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office “for many years.”
“The report showed that when Foxworth’s counsel finally brought forward that information, which involved a recantation by an eyewitness, Lee played an instrumental role in the ensuing investigation,” the discharge states. “The report found that Lee led the interview of the eyewitness and that his assessment of the witness’s credibility proved pivotal in the dismissal of Foxworth’s charges.”
The state Board of Bar Overseers is conducting its personal investigation which stays in progress.
CIC carried out 23 interviews and reviewed 84 paperwork and 54 displays.
Hayden promoted Lee from deputy chief of murder, a task he had held since 2008, to the chief of the murder unit upon his return to the workplace. Lee helped play a lead position within the prosecution of former Patriots participant Aaron Hernandez’s homicide case.
“We have always been confident that the office’s actions in the Foxworth case were proper, ethical and instrumental in addressing the problematic 1992 trial and conviction,” Hayden stated. “We’re pleased that this investigation and report soundly rejects any suggestion of improper conduct by Mark Lee, and we’re glad to have this matter resolved.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”