Man charged with 1983 arson has case dismissed

Antisemitism found at trial in old Berkshires case

Barry Jacobson, a former New York and Massachusetts realtor, lost nearly everything when he was charged with arson in 1983 when his Berkshires home caught fire.

Now, his name has been cleared after evidence emerged that the case was tainted with antisemitism.

“For nearly 40 years, he was haunted by this wrongful conviction,” said Jacobson’s attorney, Bob Cordy. “Time and again, it affected his career, business, family and his community. It was beyond painful, and as he has expressed to me many times, it is an experience he would not wish on anyone.”

Jacobson, a New York resident, owned a home in the small Berkshires town of Richmond. A jury found him guilty of committing arson at the property in 1984, alleging that he set his property ablaze to collect insurance money. Jacobson was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $10,000, but was released from prison after serving only a month of his sentence.

Two years ago, Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington received a call from Cordy requesting a complete review of the records for that case.

“Upon review of the court record, I was struck by the credibility of those jurors who came forward to record these antisemitic statements,” Harrington said. “It was clear to me that this verdict was tainted by stereotypes and bias and that there was absolutely no way that my office could ethically or morally defend Mr. Jacobson’s conviction.”

According to sworn statements from a juror and an alternate juror that they heard a third juror make an antisemitic comment about Jacobson, calling him “one of those New York Jews who think they can come up here and get away with anything.”

Several similar comments were reported throughout the trial, resting on stereotypes that Jews are greedy.

“Growing up here in Berkshire County, I’m very familiar with the way that antisemitism is manifested here in the community,” Harrington said. “Generally speaking, when somebody says, ‘Oh, those New Yorkers,’ you know, it’s shorthand, we know what that means here.”

In addition to evidence that the trial was biased, a carpet that allegedly was used to start the fire was sent to a crime lab, and there was no evidence of gasoline or another accelerant in its fibers.