The Office of the Attorney General dropped yesterday its sexual abuse case against a retired Army reservist but it has the option to re-file the case in the future.<\/p>\n
The OAG reportedly had the case against Michael Barry Murphy dropped as it would be unable to prove its case at trial. Barry, 54, was accused of sexual abuse of a minor.<\/p>\n
Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio said the prosecution\u2014represented by assistant attorney general Betsy Weintraub\u2014sought the case\u2019s dismissal after being unable to present evidence that was not tendered during discovery and a challenge to witness competency.<\/p>\n
In addition to Weintraub\u2019s lack of diligence and case management, Kim-Tenorio said insufficient evidence warrants dismissing the case.<\/p>\n
Kim-Tenorio ordered Weintraub to appear in court on Aug. 29 to show cause as to why she should not be sanctioned for lack of diligence and dilatory tactics.<\/p>\n
The judge vacated the jury trial that was set for Sept. 11, 2017, as well as the pre-trial conference scheduled for yesterday, Aug. 15.<\/p>\n
According to court records, the case involves two alleged sexual assault offenses.<\/p>\n
In August 2016, the OAG charged Murphy with sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree and sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree. The trial was originally set for Feb. 13, 2017, and was moved to April 3, 2017, and finally to Sept. 11, 2017.<\/p>\n
Last July 7, Weintraub filed a motion to extend the discovery deadline. She argued that she was unaware of the discovery deadline until one month prior to the deadline.<\/p>\n
Last Aug. 2, Kim-Tenorio denied the government\u2019s motion.<\/p>\n
At the Aug. 8, 2017, status conference, Weintraub asked the court to reconsider.<\/p>\n
Kim-Tenorio denied this again, saying reconsideration would prejudice the defense and cause extreme delay.<\/p>\n
Last Thursday, Weintraub filed the motion to dismiss in which it indicated the government\u2019s inability to prove its case.<\/p>\n
Defense counsel Janet H. King argued that the Commonwealth failed to prosecute diligently and that the appropriate remedy is to dismiss the case with prejudice. <\/p>\n
In her order yesterday, Kim-Tenorio said she disagrees with the government\u2019s argument that public interest is better served by dismissal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis matter involves serious charges of sexual assault, which is a matter of great public significance in the Commonwealth, even more so to the alleged victim and\/or defendant,\u201d Kim-Tenorio said.<\/p>\n
Moreover, Kim-Tenorio said, a tremendous amount of resources have been expended in the prosecution and defense of this matter, including thousands of wasted taxpayer dollars and resources of already-overburdened agencies.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, she said, public interest requires a trial to vindicate the alleged victim or defendant.<\/p>\n
Clearly, she said, Weintraub needs to evaluate her definition of public interest.<\/p>\n
Murphy is currently out on a $50,000 bond. The government charged him with sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree and sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree, for allegedly sexually abusing a 4-year-old girl on Aug. 6, 2016.<\/p>\n
In the second case, the government charged him with two counts of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree, and one count of indecent exposure in the first degree. The incident allegedly happened from 1994 to 2004 when the victim was a minor. The victim is now 26 years old, according to court documents. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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