DA WANTS ALLEGED KILLER BACK IN JAIL
Hub man was sent home to wait out coronavirus
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins is petitioning to return to jail a Boston man accused of second-degree murder who had been sent home to wait out the coronavirus pandemic.
Rollins filed an emergency petition late Monday with a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court seeking to bring William Utley, 40, who is charged in a stabbing death in Dorchester two years ago, back behind bars.
Rollins claims Judge Christine Roach, who ordered Utley released on his own recognizance last week “abused her discretion.” Rollins did not mention Roach by name in a press release.
Rollins argued Utley poses a “grave risk to public safety” given his “three serious and violent” open Superior Court cases and a history of defaults in criminal cases.
“I fully understand the risk that COVID-19 poses to everyone, including people who are incarcerated,’’ Rollins said in a statement Tuesday. “Mr. Utley, however, is accused of murdering someone while he was on pre-trial release for firearm charges and while on GPS monitoring. In addition to committing murder, in a separately charged incident he was also arrested for his 5th OUI, again, all while on pretrial release with a GPS monitor for the aforementioned firearm charges.”
Rollins added, “The significant danger this defendant poses to the people of Suffolk County far outweighs any claims he is making of a personal health risk. Mr. Utley absolutely deserves appropriate medical care for his underlying health condition. But, that care must be provided within a correctional facility as he has proven that he is incapable of complying with conditions set to keep our community safe.’’
Utley was arrested on Dec. 23, 2016, after firing multiple gunshots from a Colt semiautomatic pistol into the air on Brookledge Street in Dorchester. He was arraigned in January 2018 on multiple firearms charges and posted $8,500 bail. The case is scheduled to go to trail on June 1, Rollins’ office said.
While out on bail and with a GPS monitor, Utley is accused of stabbing Anthony Young multiple times on March 25, 2018, after the two got into an argument in a bar, Rollins’ office said. Utley was arraigned in January 2019 and held without bail on second-degree murder charges ahead of a trial scheduled to begin April 6.
Utley’s attorney, Michael Tumposky, told the Herald last week Utley was under house arrest at his mother’s home in Boston and said releasing him was the compassionate thing to do.