February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Conley, who is now 36, was convicted in June 1998 of lying to a federal grand jury about what he saw during the early morning hours of Jan. 25, 1995 when a black fellow officer, Michael Cox, was severely beaten by other cops who mistook him for a fleeing murder suspect. Jurors concluded that Conley neither witnessed nor participated in the beating, but they agreed with assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Merritt, the chief prosecutor, that Conley lied when he said he did not see Cox at the scene moments before the beating. In September 1998, Conley was sentenced to 34 months in prison for perjury and obstruction of justice.
His conviction and sentencing set off a firestorm of protest in his native South Boston, where legions of supporters claimed that the Irish-American cop was scapegoated by prosecutors frustrated with the “blue wall of silence” that surrounded this high-profile case for several years.
The controversial case has been the subject of recurring appeals by both the defense and the prosecution for the past eight years. Last July a federal judge ruled that prosecutors had withheld FBI evidence which cast doubt on the veracity of a key witness against Conley, prompting US Attorney Michael Sullivan to drop all charges against him last month.
Conley told the Irish Echo that he was relieved and gratified by the tremendous support he has received throughout the long ordeal. He was contacted recently by Boston police commissioner Kathleen O’Toole, the former member of the Patten commission on police reform in Northern Ireland, who told him he would be welcomed back onto the force if he decided to return.
Last Tuesday, Conley stood for roll call inside District 4 in the South End, reporting for duty after nearly a decade of anguish and uncertainty.
The Boston Police Patrolman’s Association, meanwhile, reportedly plans to request that the Department of Justice conduct a federal investigation into the actions of prosecutor Merritt, who withheld the evidence from Conley’s defense team.