Jared Remy will go on trial for allegedly murdering his girlfriend.
Credit: Globe pool
Prosecutors in the Middlesex district attorney’s office did not adequately consider all of the factors in Jared Remy’s assault and battery case a day before he allegedly killed his girlfriend after being released, an independent review found.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office released on Wednesday a summary of an independent review of the Remy case that was conducted by former state Secretary of Public Safety Kevin Burke and Norfolk First Assistant District Attorney Jeanmarie Carroll.
Remy, the son of Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy, was released on his own recognizance on Aug. 14 after being arrested for allegedly assaulting his 27-year-old girlfriend Jennifer Martel. Prosecutors did not seek to have Remy held during his arriagnment and the next day he allegedly repeatedly stabbed her to death inside their Waltham apartment.
“We found that Remy’s domestic violence criminal history, the facts in the August 13, 2013 police report, and the fact that there was a young child in the home were not given sufficient weight,” Burke and Carroll wrote in their review.
Authorities have said a child was home at the time of the killing. They also said that Martel had failed to come to court the day before she was killed to extend an emergency restraining order. Martel’s decision not to show up in court was “given excessive consideration in the evaluation,” Burke and Carroll wrote.
The review found that there were problems with the supervision of decision-making by assistant district attorneys and victim-witness advocates.
“A deficiency appeared at the pre-arraignment stage on the subjects of requesting monetary bail, whether to move for a dangerousness hearing, and what conditions of release might adequately protect a victim’s safety,” the review said.
Ryancalled for the reviewafter being questioned about her office’s handling of the case and after a state legislator called for her resignation.
The review said that because Ryan’s office initiated steps to improve issues within the office there was no need for an overhaul.
“We have worked internally to re-train our district court prosecutors on the bail statutes and how to use them effectively,” Ryan said in a statement. “We have also developed trainings in advanced techniques for risk assessment, and how to effectively assist victims with obtaining resources. It is extremely important to the work we do every day that we are constantly educating our staff about how to identify, reach out to, and assist victims.”
In a jailhouse interview with the Herald, Remy denied the killing and said he still loved Martel. He has pleaded not guilty.
Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.
