Request for phone records of Bristol County ADA alleged of sexual affair with judge denied

NEW BEDFORD — Relative to anonymous accusations that a prosecutor and judge who'd worked on some of the same cases had been having a sexual affair, an attorney's requests for the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office to disclose a prosecutor's cell phone records, and for two retrials, has been denied.

The request, by attorney James P. McKenna, came after anonymous notes were sent to two defense lawyers, as well as the director of the Committee for Public Counsel Services Criminal Trial Support Unit and the executive director of Bristol County Bar Advocates, alleging that former Judge Douglas J. Darnbrough and an assistant district attorney from Bristol County were having a sexual relationship.

After receipt of the notes, McKenna — who was assigned to handle matters around the anonymous notes through the Special Projects Unit of the Committee for Public Counsel Services — filed motions for two new trials based on Darnbrough having presided over them, and the ADA named in the notes having been the prosecutor. In both of those cases, the defendants were found guilty and received prison time.

What does the decision say?

A court document dated Thursday, Feb. 15, shows First Justice David E. Frank, of Cambridge District Court, denied McKenna's requests based on insufficient evidence.

Get some background: 'No evidence' of alleged affair between New Bedford judge, prosecutor in appeals case

"Despite his argument to the contrary, the factual foundation for the defendant's claims rest almost exclusively on the anonymous, unsigned, and unsworn notes attached in his filings," Frank wrote in his decision.

"Given the information now before the Court, including the Commonwealth's denial of a relationship between the judge and a trial prosecutor, I find the inferences the defendant asks me to make are speculative, insufficient, and not reasonably supported by the evidence."

What does the Bristol County DA's office say?

According to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, an investigation by the Massachusetts Trial Court into the allegations found no evidence of a relationship between Darnbrough and the ADA.

In a Jan. 29 filing with the court, the DA's office stated, "When the Trial Court investigation concluded, the Trial Court informed the District Attorney's Office that their investigation found no evidence of a relationship between our employee and the judge."

The DA's Office also stated that the ADA, as well as more than one other employee in the DA's office, were being targeted by the same "harasser," with a "personal animus against them."

McKenna had also suggested that the timing of receipt of the notes "on or about" September or October 2023 relative to Darnbrough's transfer from Bristol to Plymouth County, and then his resignation on Nov. 2, 2023, was suspicious.

Darnbrough's attorney told reporters that his resignation came due to health issues.

Quinn: Anonymous letters part of 'longstanding harassment campaign'

“I’m very satisfied with the judge’s ruling, which is consistent with the facts and the law," ​Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said in a statement released Thursday. "These anonymous letters are part of a longstanding harassment campaign and are likely being sent by someone with personal animosity towards the individuals involved in this matter.

"It is very sad and a sign of the state of our society that anonymous letters alone could result in the smearing and maligning of individuals. As stated in our previous court filing, our pre-existing criminal investigation into this harassment campaign continues.”

What were the two indecent A&B cases about?

The defendants in the two unrelated indecent A&B trials that were denied a retrial were Gerson Pascual-Santana and Jonathan Rascao.

Get some background: A young female's testimony leads to conviction of New Bedford child molester

Pascual-Santana, 50, was sentenced to 2½ years at the House of Correction on a charge of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 by Darnbrough on March 1, 2023. The investigation that led to that charge stemmed from a 10-year-old girl's school presentation back in 2020, in which she shared accounts of abuse with her teacher and class.

Rascao had been sentenced by Darnbrough on July 12, 2023, to 2½ years at the House of Correction on a charge of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Lawyer's requests for retrials, ADA phone records denied