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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 85 NO. 35
“We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we have lived.” — PAUL BOURGET
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016
3 DEAD IN 6 DAYS
Deadly heroin strain spurs action By DENNIS HOHENBERGER Correspondent WESTFIELD – Mayor Brian P. Sullivan convened a summit Wednesday afternoon about the spike of heroin and opioid deaths in the past week, including the death of a 16-year-old high school girl. Sullivan invited law enforcement, first responders, school and state officials, and educators to his City Hall office to strategize about the ongoing opioid epidemic, which continues to devastate communities across the Pioneer Valley and around the nation. Fire and medical crews treated at least a dozen known overdose victims in the past week alone. Three of the overdoses were fatal. “Westfield has been hit rather hard in the last week or so,” said Sullivan, who was joined by Police Chief John Camerota, State Rep. John Velis (D-Westfield,) School Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion, fire department officials and police commission members. He called the 12 overdoses a “soft number” as not all overdoses are reported to authorities or health officials. “We have a problem here and I wanted the community to know that the decision-
Mayor Brian P. Sullivan convened a summit Wednesday afternoon about the spike of heroin and opioid deaths in the past week, including the death of a 16-year-old high school girl. makers and the people responding to this are all talking with each other and on the same page,” he said. “And finding ways to combat the problem, address the problem.” Sullivan called for more open communication about the escalating epidemic. “We have people in the room who are leaders in the community in regards to this,” he said. “To get a group together like this should show people that we understand the problem.” Scallion said “prevention is our greatest defense” to combat the epidemic. “What we have in our mayor and chief of police is a team approach, that this is a community problem and we’re going to have to find a solution as a community,” she said. “We are all stunned and saddened by the loss of a 16-year-old, but this is happening all over the Commonwealth, it is happening all across the
3rd state justice in 1 week announces retirement By BOB SALSBERG Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court justice Fernande Duffly said Wednesday she would retire in July, making her the third member of the state’s highest court in the past week to announce plans to leave the bench and providing Gov. Charlie Baker a rare chance to shape the court’s long-term future. Duffly, 66, is four years shy of the state’s mandatory retirement age for judges. She said in a statement that she was moving up her retirement date to devote more time to help her husband recover from recent surgery. The announcement leaves Baker with three vacancies to fill on the seven-member court in the upcoming months. Justices Francis Spina and Robert Cordy both announced plans last week to retire this summer. Two other justices, Geraldine Hines and Margot Botsford, will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 next year, meaning that Baker will have the opportunity to nominate five members of the court during his first term as governor. Founded in 1692, the SJC is considered the oldest continuously sitting appellate
court in the Western Hemisphere. Baker named a 12-member commission on Wednesday to recruit and screen applicants for the upcoming vacancies. The panel, he said, would include the court’s former chief justice, Roderick Ireland, the governor’s chief legal counsel Lon Povich and other prominent attorneys. “This is really a unique and I’d say unprecedented opportunity for Gov. Baker to put his indelible mark on our third branch,” said Martin Healy, chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts Bar Association. “Even if he decides to serve only one term, he’ll have people making decisions which can set policy for the state for decades to come.” Duffly was named to the SJC by thenDemocratic Gov. Deval Patrick in 2011 after serving on the state appeals court since 2000 and earlier as a probate and family court judge. Born in Indonesia, Duffly is the first Asian-American to serve on the state’s highest court. “My years on the bench confirm for me that broad and diverse perspectives make an enormous contribution to the decision making process,” Duffly said. See Justice, Page 3
country. We’re not going to put our heads in the sand. We’re going to use this as a rallying point and we’re going to look at every possible scenario that we can.” The Westfield School Department’s website now includes links to the Anonymous Alert System and a link educating the community about the signs and symptoms of opioid abuse, including prescription and illegal drugs. The alert system has garnered over 100 alerts from parents and students who are concerned about a loved one or classmate. “We ask that parents take a look at it not only for their own child but for friends of their children,” said Scallion. Past alerts informed school officials about bullying incidents or suspected substance abuse. Scallion said the school department will
conduct an “information blitz.” A series of forums will be held on the subject of drug abuse and the impact it has on the community. Velis said treatment facilities in western Mass., including Providence Behavioral Health in Holyoke, lack beds to treat the growing number of addicts. Gov. Charlie Baker recently signed legislation that increases funding for in-patient treatment. While communities tackle the prevention aspect, more must be done in treating addiction, Velis said. In a recent conversation with administrators at Providence Behavioral, Velis said hundreds of people seek in-patient treatment at the facility but are turned away. http://www.schoolsofwestfield.org/ district/anonymous_alerts/
Man who spent 30 years in prison is freed pending new trial By DENISE LAVOIE Associated Press NEW BEDFORD (AP) — A man who spent three decades in prison for a rape conviction based in part on one strand of hair was freed Wednesday after a judge said he is “reasonably sure” the man is innocent and believes prosecutors cannot win a conviction at a retrial. George Perrot was convicted of raping 78-year-old Mary Prekop in her Springfield home in 1985. Last month, Judge Robert Kane granted Perrot a new trial after finding that an FBI agent’s testimony about microscopic hair evidence was flawed. The agent said in no uncertain terms that a hair found in the victim’s home was a match for Perrot’s. On Wednesday, the judge released Perrot on personal recognizance after saying he believes there is strong evidence that Perrot did not rape Prekop. After the judge’s ruling, Perrot gave his mother, Beverly Garrant, a long embrace as tears filled their eyes. Then, Perrot told his
Beverly Garrant, mother of George Perrot, cries yesterday in Superior Court in New Bedford after Judge Robert Kane ordered her son’s release from prison. (AP Photo/Denise Lavoie)
mother, “Come on, Mommy. Let’s get out of here.” Garrant said she was “so happy” her son was going home. “I’m just so glad that the Lord gave him another chance,” she said. Perrot, who was 17 when he was arrested, is now 48. He has always denied raping
Prekop. The U.S. Department of Justice flagged Perrot’s case in 2014 as one of hundreds that involved erroneous statements from FBI agents about hair analysis. Microscopic hair analysis has since been found to be far from exact. The FBI now acknowledges that the science is not conclusive and uses it only in conjunction with DNA testing. The judge said there were other problems at Perrot’s trial. Prekop repeatedly described the man who beat and raped her as a man without any facial hair. On the night of the attack, Nov. 30, 1985, Perrot had a beard and a mustache. Prekop refused to identify Perrot as her attacker in a lineup. When she was shown his lineup photo during his trial and asked if he was her attacker, she replied, “How can I say it when this man has a mustache and a beard?” Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris asked the judge to keep Perrot See 30 Years, Page 3