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.