Boston judge accused of helping illegal alien evade ICE agent, escape courthouse faces hearing
A Boston judge accused of helping an illegal alien evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and escape out of the courthouse in 2018 is facing a misconduct hearing on Monday.
The judge, Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph, is currently facing a civil misconduct charge from a 2018 incident in which she allegedly helped Jose Medina-Perez, a Dominican national who had been deported twice, leave Newton District Court undetected. Medina-Perez, who had been prohibited from re-entering the United States until 2027, had appeared in court on drug possession charges and a fugitive warrant from Pennsylvania and an ICE agent was waiting to take him into custody.
Joseph is appearing before the Suffolk Superior Court in Boston on Monday and the hearing is ongoing. Presiding Judge Denis McInerney said that he will issue a report after the hearing concludes of his findings and recommendations.
At the start of the hearing, Joseph's counsel emphasized that her client had not been convicted of any crime.
"If you were to walk down the street and take a survey of the people you meet, 100% of them would tell you Judge Joseph let an illegal immigrant out the back door of the district court," her counsel said in an opening statement. "Fifty percent of them would tell you that she's a criminal, and she should go to jail. Fifty percent would tell you she's a folk hero for what she gave. But 100% would tell you she did it. It has become such a part of local lore in Boston that the media, for the most part, have dropped the niceties of alleged or charged, and they report and make references to this incident as if a dozen people had seen Judge Joseph get off the bench, escorted the defendant to the door, gave him a hug and wished him Godspeed."
Medina-Perez's attorney, David Jellinek, has also taken the stand for cross-examination. He struck an immunity deal with federal authorities to testify against Joseph.
In 2019, the Justice Department indicted Joseph and former trial court officer Wesley MacGregor on obstructive of justice charges. Both pleaded not guilty.
Federal prosecutors alleged Joseph instructed a court clerk to tell the ICE agent present to wait in the lobby, claiming that if the defendant was released, he would come out through the courtroom door into the lobby. Later, Joseph allegedly ordered the courtroom clerk to "go off the record for a moment" and the courtroom audio recorder was turned off for 52 seconds.
Once the audio record was back on, Joseph said she would release the defendant. Federal prosecutors said Medina-Perez's defense attorney had asked to speak with the defendant downstairs and Joseph responded, "That's fine. Of course." When reminded by the clerk that an ICE Officer was in the courthouse, Joseph allegedly stated, "That's fine. I'm not gonna allow them to come in here. But he's been released on this," according to court documents.
Prosecutors said MacGregor allegedly escorted the defendant, his attorney and an interpreter downstairs to the lockup and used his security access card to open the rear sally-port exit and release the defendant.
The Justice Department agreed to drop the charges against Joseph in September 2022 after she referred herself to the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct (CJC) and admitted to certain facts related to the case.
The Massachusetts CJC filed formal charges accusing Joseph of "willful judicial misconduct" and conduct "prejudicial to the administration of justice."
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