Trial 4: The Tragic Tale of Sean Ellis

Sean Ellis was a 19-year-old Bostonian when he was arrested and charged with the cold-blooded murder of a Boston police detective. The case is the subject of an 8-part Netflix documentary, called "Trial 4", which I watched recently.

The detective had been shot between the eyes while he was sleeping in his car outside a Walgreen's store, where he was working nights as a private security guard. The shooting was clearly an execution-style shooting, not a robbery gone bad.

The investigation focused on Sean Ellis after Ellis was interviewed in connection with another, unrelated, crime, and volunteered that he had been at the Walgreen's that night to buy pampers. Ellis was tried three times, the first two ending in mistrials when the jury was deadlocked, one time 9-3 for acquittal, and the other 10-2 for acquittal.

Ellis spent 22 years in prison, until finally an absolutely amazing defense attorney named Rosemary Scapicchio took on his case and won him a new trial. Her tenacity in this case is simply astounding. For example, she spent nine years trying to get documents that had been covered up and never revealed to Sean's earlier attorneys. The authorities stonewalled her at every step of the way, throwing one roadblock after another in her path, when they bothered to even respond to her requests at all.

When she finally got the documents, they revealed the rampant corruption of the deceased and three of his fellow detectives, who would regularly rob drug dealers of money and drugs, manufacture evidence, lie to obtain search warrants, etc. The other big finding from the documents was that witnesses were paid (bribed) for their testimony. Most concerning was a woman who claimed to have seen Ellis crouching outside the deceased's car. This ID was made after the detectives had coached her on what to say. The detectives working the case were the same three crooked detectives that were "partners in crime" with the deceased.

The camera follows Rosemary and Sean as they prepare for the fourth trial. She's been able to get him out on bond, so Ellis is now able to visit her at her office and help in his defense. This goes on for a considerable length of time, until the Boston DA's office finally decides not to go ahead with the fourth trial.

My main takeaway from all this is the absolute corruption of the Irish Catholic culture in Boston. The Irish Catholic hierarchy, the same type of people who tolerated and covered up the rampant abuse of altar boys by Catholic priets in Boston, are seen to be coarse, corrupt, dishonest, authoritarian jerks. The three crooked detetvices are not shown--they were convicted and did federal time for their crimes. However, others in the PD were interviewed, like the chief of police, the head of the Homicide Bureau, and other detectives on the force. All are detestable human beings who are unable to admit that a grave error had been made in purusing Sean Ellis for a crime he clearly did not commit.

Another takeaway is the valuable service provided by the news media in subjecting injustices like this to the light of day. The Boston Globe was instrumental in exposign the corruption of the four crooked detectives, just like it had been instrumental in exposing the corruption in the Cathlic Church regarding the sexual abuse of altar boys (as depicted in the movie "Spotlight"). And, of course, Netflix itself is acting here as part of the news media in bringing this injustice to light. Many Kudos to Netflix!

A third takeaway is the valuable role played by the Innocence Project, which apparently funded the defense so Ellis could finally achieve some semblance of justice. The attorney's persistence is the stuff of legends.

Another takeaway is the evil influence of the Boston police union. When the prosecutor on the case sought to have one of the corrupt detectives removed from the case, the pollice union vociferously objected, and tried to get the prosecutor removed from the case and fired. The defense of corrupt detectives illustrates the downside of unions. I'm reminded of the case where Albert Belle viciously elbowed second baseman Fernando Vina in the face. When the players union took up Belle's cause, Vina responded, "What about me, I'm a memebr of the union too". It seems unions get caught up in the weeds defending the indefensible actions of a few bad apples, and lose sight of the bigger picture of what is good for the membership as a whole.

The case illustrates the "tunnel vision" that law enforcement gets when it focuses on one suspect, and then follows up all leads pointing to that suspect and disregards leads pointing in other directions. Here there were actually two other credible accounts of how the murder actually occurred, but the police simply ignored them.

The racism in pursuing a black man for this crime is obvious, and I can't help but think back to when Boston was the worst Northern city in fighting the integration of its pubic schools. Boston might be a good place to visit due to its rich history, but I sure wouldn't want to live there.