Guilty Verdicts Handed Down In Boston Calling Case

Guilty verdicts were handed down today in the Boston Calling case. Two aides to Mayor Marty Walsh, Kenneth Brissette and Timothy Sullivan, were convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion. Brissette was convicted of extortion itself. Sullivan was acquitted on that charge. Prosecutors argued that the two men illegally pressured Boston Calling organizers into hiring union labor. WGBH Radio’s Isaiah Thompson has been following the trial and spoke with WGBH Radio's Arun Rath about the verdicts from outside the Moakley Federal Courthouse. This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Arun Rath: So do these guilty verdicts come as a surprise?

Isaiah Thompson: You know, I guess the answer to that depends on a surprise to whom. But yes, I think a lot of people, including, I think, a lot of the press covering this closely, were surprised, I would say for two reasons. One was that after so much legal wrangling in this case — this case dragged on for three years — the prosecution had seemingly a hard time with their own witnesses. The defense elicited testimony that was favorable to the defendants from many, if not most, of the prosecution's witnesses, including testimony from the organizers of Boston Calling, who said that they didn't feel that the defendants meant to harm them, and who agreed that they had never been threatened.

The other reason this was somewhat surprising, I think, is that one of the things that came out in the trial was that defendant Timothy Sullivan's role was far less clear and far less robust in the testimony than defendant Kenneth Brissette. And, I think there were a number of people, including Mr. Sullivan's family, who did not believe that he would be found guilty of anything. He was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to extort.

Read more: Shock, Then Grief As Jury Returns Guilty, Partly Guilty Verdicts In Boston Calling Extortion Case

Rath: And he was acquitted on the charge of extortion itself, but Kenneth Brissette was convicted on that. Now how did the two defendants, Sullivan and Brissette, react when the verdict was read?

Thompson: I think that they were both surprised. I did watch their faces in the courtroom. Both maintained their composure, but both also looked somewhat stunned. Mr. Brissette exited the courtroom to embrace his family, who was openly weeping. Mr. Sullivan also had family there. I think they were both quite shocked at the outcome. I don't think they were expecting this.

Read more: Explaining The Revived Boston Calling Case

Rath: And then the federal prosecutors, who were fairly successful here, did they have anything to say about the outcome of the case?

Thompson: Yeah. The U.S. Attorney's Office held a brief press conference after the verdict came in and U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling addressed reporters. He didn't say a lot. He said he was satisfied by the outcome. He said this was a hard fought case, including the years of legal wrangling between both parties that went on throughout the duration of this — three years now since they were charged. He also said in terms of the outcome, I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but he said it's one thing to pursue a political agenda if you're a public official, but it's another to use the threat of financial ruin to force citizens to do your bidding. That was, he said, what I think he wanted the public and I suppose the defendants to take away from this case.

Rath: Now when we spoke yesterday, when this was first sent to the jury, you told us that the defense basically filed a motion with the presiding judge asking him to acquit Sullivan and Brissette regardless of what the jury does. Could that still happen?

Thompson: Yes. So this is a real wild card in this case. As I told you before, it is pretty standard practice for the defense in these cases to make a motion after the trial is concluded and say to the judge, 'Hey, you have to dismiss this because the evidence wasn't enough to prove the case.' Usually the judge just declines to do that. In this case, the judge withheld a ruling. So he gave the case to the jury, the jury has obviously delivered a verdict, but the judge has yet to rule on this motion of what is called a judgment of acquittal — essentially the judge acquitting the defendants by himself. He could still grant that motion — I don't know how likely it is, but it is still possible — and he's told the defense that they have one week to submit any new arguments, and that he will then consider that motion.