Man released in 12-year-old's murder is arrested on drug charges
January 27, 2011 07:00 PM
Travis Andersen
Globe Staff
A Fall River man who won a $14 million judgment in a civil suit after being wrongfully convicted in an infamous 1988 murder case has been arrested on drug charges, authorities said.
Shawn Drumgold, 45, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment today in Roxbury District Court to charges including possession of a Class A substance with intent to distribute, and was released on $500 cash bail, according to Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley. Drumgold is due back in court on March 15.
His attorney, Rosemary C. Scapicchio of Boston, said in a phone interview that she believes he is innocent of the new charges.
‘‘It appears that he was back in Boston hanging around the wrong crowd,’’ said Scapicchio, who also represented Drumgold during his civil suit. ‘‘It was a poor choice of his to put himself in that situation, but I don’t believe he was out there selling drugs, no."
According to a Boston police report, an informant told police earlier this month that drugs were being sold out of an apartment on Cardington Street in Roxbury. Police raided the apartment on Wednesday, the report states, and recovered several bags of heroin and crack cocaine, as well as $304 cash from Drumgold’s person. He was arrested along with several other suspects, authorities said.
In 2003, Drumgold was released from prison after spending more than 14 years behind bars for the shooting death of 12-year-old Darlene Tiffany Moore, who was struck by gunfire as she sat atop a mail box near her mother’s home in the Grove Hall section of Roxbury.
The killing, which police investigated as a gang shooting gone awry, stunned the city and spurred a massive investigation to hunt down those responsible. Drumgold, then 23, was charged with the murder on Aug. 29, 1988, 10 days after the slaying. He went on trial the following October with an alleged accomplice, Terrence ‘‘Lug’’ Taylor.
While Taylor was acquitted after a judge said there was insufficient evidence to sustain a murder charge against him, Drumgold was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
However, Drumgold was released in November 2003 after prosecutors said they believed he was wrongfully convicted because he did not receive a fair trial. In April 2008, a federal jury in Boston ruled that a city police detective violated Drumgold’s civil rights during the investigation by concealing that he gave money to a key prosecution witness before that witness testified in the murder trial. The jury awarded Drumgold $14 million, plus interest, in October 2009.
A call to a number listed for Drumgold was not returned today.
‘‘I’m excited,’’ he said in the courthouse lobby in 2009 after the jury announced the award. ‘‘It’s been a long battle, but we’ve still got a long way to go.’’
Scapicchio said Drumgold has been working as a day laborer but has not received any job training or counseling from the state, which is required by law under the wrongful conviction statute.
‘‘I’m sure that 15 years of demons [in prison] takes a lot of counseling to take care of,’’ she said.
William Sinnott, corporation counsel for the city, said tonight in a statement that the city is awaiting the court’s final judgment on the verdict before deciding whether or not to appeal the $14 million award. Drumgold has not yet received any of the money, city officials said.
The Moore case remains open but no additional arrests have been made, according to Wark.
He said tonight that the Roxbury apartment — not any one suspect — was the primary target of the most recent drug investigation. At today's arraignment, Wark said, a prosecutor referenced Drumgold’s four-page rap sheet, which included several drug and motor vehicle offenses.
May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008