The state’s parole board has released 39 “emerging adult” murder convicts who were originally sentenced to life without parole, but who later became eligible after a court ruling.
The Massachusetts Parole Board has issued 51 parole decisions since the Supreme Judicial Court last year ruled that emerging adults who were 18 to 20 at the time of the offense cannot be sentenced to life without parole.
The board OK’d the release of 39 convicted first-degree murderers — and those guilty of accessory to murder — while denying parole to 12 inmates, according to state data. That’s a 76% release rate for this group so far.
The parole board continues to face criticism for the number of convicted murderers they’re freeing.
“Using the possibility of parole, and the excuse that the murderer was a young adult as a reason for granting parole, turns the parole option into an eventual get-out-of-jail-free card,” Plymouth DA Timothy Cruz said in a statement.
“The blanket granting of parole without any significant recognition or consideration of the suffering of the victims is at best ill-considered,” the DA added. “At worst, it disregards the part of the parole statute that not only requires for a prisoner not to violate the law, but in addition, that release should not be granted if ‘not compatible with the welfare of society.’ ”
Last January, the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Mattis made it unconstitutional to sentence emerging adults to life without parole — making more than 200 people eligible for parole consideration.
After 51 parole decisions so far, the state parole board has 159 decisions to go for this group of inmates.
“The Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Mattis requires that individuals serving life for offenses committed at ages 18, 19, or 20 be afforded an opportunity for parole consideration, and the Parole Board is obligated to comply,” a Massachusetts Parole Board spokesperson said in a statement. “These complex cases require careful deliberation to protect public safety, ensure the voices of victims and survivors are heard, and evaluate an incarcerated individual’s rehabilitation and readiness for supervised release.
“Guided by legal standards, established criteria, and best practices, the Board makes decisions that reflect accountability, rehabilitation, and public safety,” the board spokesperson added. “The Parole Board remains deeply committed to transparency and a process that respects victims and survivors while fulfilling its constitutional and statutory obligations.”
Allen Alston, 47 — formerly known as Allen Scoggins — was one of the convicted murderers granted parole. On May 16, 1997, a then-19-year-old Alston shot and killed taxi driver Ismael Rivera, 56, in Brockton.
Alston was seen entering Rivera’s vehicle and ultimately shot Rivera before fleeing on foot. Alston was arrested in South Carolina about five months after the fatal shooting and confessed to killing Rivera.
Roger Francis, 78, was another “emerging adult” inmate who was granted parole. On March 12, 1967, a then-20-year-old Francis shot and killed 15-year-old Marialice Pike, who was found unconscious by a Mass State Police trooper in a median strip on Route 3 in Hingham.
Francis fled to Canada and abandoned his vehicle, which authorities eventually recovered. The car contained evidence linking Francis to the murder. Blood stains in the vehicle matched Pike’s blood type. Francis was later apprehended in Canada.
“The Mattis ruling can have a traumatic impact on victims and pose public safety risks involving the release of defendants convicted of first-degree murder,” said Bristol DA Thomas Quinn III.
“Defendants who qualify as a Mattis defendant will now have an opportunity to be considered for parole,” the DA added. “My concern is that the Parole Board may view this change in the law as a right to parole for these defendants. Public safety and confidence in the judicial system, especially for victims’ families, requires a very strict and unbiased analysis of their suitability for parole given the gravity of the crime, which often involves brutal and premeditated murders.”
Cruz, the Plymouth DA, called for the governor to appoint a trial prosecutor to the parole board.
“Only family members of murder victims can truly appreciate how unfair the SJC Mattis decision, and the state Parole Board, have been to them,” the DA added. “It is the holidays. The Parole Board releasing these defendants delivers undeserved joy to convicted murderers and intensifies the grief and agony for families of victims. Those who want, can voluntarily visit murderers in prison, serving the lifetime that they were sentenced to spend behind bars – the lifetime they stole away from the true victims of crime and their families.”
Arnold Evans, now 65, was one of the 12 convicted murderers denied parole. He shot and killed 26-year-old Edward Bigham, III, an assistant district attorney, on Oct. 2, 1980, in Cambridge.
Evans and two others that night drove around the Boston-area, looking for someone to rob. The group noticed Bigham’s disabled car parked near the MIT boathouse and pulled up behind the car.
When Evans approached the driver’s side of the car with a loaded gun and asked Bigham for the time, a second male tried to pull the female passenger out of the car. Meanwhile, Evans pointed the gun at Bigham and shot him from about 2 feet away.
Evans has faced more than 190 disciplinary reports while behind bars, and the parole board ended up denying his release last month.
He’ll get another chance for freedom in a few years, as will the rest of the “emerging adult” murder convicts.
