NEW VOICES: Massachusetts DA Asks that the Death Penalty Be Avoided

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley has sent a let­ter to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft request­ing that the Justice Department not seek the death penal­ty for a Dorchester drug deal­er charged with mur­der­ing a rival. Ashcroft has indi­cat­ed that the 25-year-old defen­dant, Brima Wurie, could be a can­di­date for the fed­er­al death penal­ty. Conley believes a fed­er­al death penal­ty case against Wurie would alien­ate com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers whose assis­tance has been a valu­able part of efforts to elim­i­nate vio­lence in Boston. ​“The dis­trict attor­ney feels much of the suc­cess in com­bat­ing urban vio­lence was achieved through part­ner­ships between law enforce­ment, com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers, and faith orga­ni­za­tions. He fears that because the death penal­ty is a sen­si­tive issue among some of those part­ners, its pur­suit could jeop­ar­dize those part­ner­ships,” said Conley’s spokesper­son, David Procopio. (Boston Globe and Boston Herald, August 9, 2004) See New Voices. See also, Federal Death Penalty.