FOX 25 News Boston @fox25news 1m
Jared Remy changes plea to guilty in first degree murder of Jennifer Martel #BREAKING
FOX 25 News Boston @fox25news 1m
Jared Remy changes plea to guilty in first degree murder of Jennifer Martel #BREAKING
Remy did ask to clarify the court’s understanding of the events that led to Martel’s death. He claimed that Martel had a knife and was threatening their daughter prior to the attack.
Remy also pleaded guilty to assault and battery, violating a restraining order, and other charges, some of which stemmed from multiple violent altercations while he was being held in prison. Two charges, assault and battery as well as assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, were dismissed after Remy’s attorney argued they were covered under the murder charge.
IpswichSox said:It's difficult to believe Jared Remy chose this moment to act selflessly, especially when there's no history of that in his life up to this point, including the last few months in jail. Still, this is as good an outcome as could be expected for all parties.
PaulinMyrBch said:I'm mildly surprised he's pleading guilty to M1. The very nature of domestic violence killings usually gives rise to facts that fit the lesser included offenses. You go to trial on M1 in a domestic situation and you've got a pretty good chance of the judge charging the jury with homicides down to manslaughter. So in that aspect I'm surprised.
If he's truly doing this to spare the families, I'm even more surprised. Hopefully the jailhouse lawyer bar hasn't got him thinking one of the few scenarios RR outlined is a probably path. I'm hoping this is what it seems. A crappy guy going away quietly.
Rovin Romine said:It sounds a little odd, but it looks like Remy did the right thing here, insofar as he chose a path that would offer the greatest amount of relief and least amount of pain to everyone closely associated with the case (the Martels, the Remys, the neighbor witnesses)
Reverend said:Even after getting off the juice, this is a guy who still threatened and assaulted a corrections officer. To be honest, I'd be surprised if he survives long enough in prison to make any of the discussion as to why he didn't work harder on a plea bargain more than academic.
Myt1 said:Well, he did claim that the murder victim was threatening to kill her own child with a knife, so "selfless" and "right" may be bridges just a bit too far.
Steve Dillard said:
Roviin,
One can't overlook the fact that Remy's attorney was paid for by Jerry, who had every interest in making this go away. I know that far fewer attorneys willingly sell their client down the river than one sees in media portrayals. However, they can influence, and highlight the benefits of a deal, while fulfilling their duties of disclosure by "fine print" disclaimers that it's Jared's choice. Without calling the particular attorney into doubt without any evidence, have you seen such scenarios play out elsewhere?
Bleedred said:I see in the Martels statement that they were represented by Mintz Levin, one of the more connected law firms in the city of Boston. I wonder what, if any, influence that had on his pleading to murder 1? I don't really understand the criminal bar, so maybe none, but I thought it was interesting that they were represented by a big firm in some capacity.
They needed counsel in the recently concluded custody dispute.Hank Scorpio said:
Admittedly, I don't know a whole lot about law - but unless the Martels are going after the Remys in a civil suit, what legal representation would they need here? My assumption was that the DA's office serves as the prosecution in such cases. Would their representation basically just be working with the DA to add more muscle to the prosecution in an effort to make sure their daughter's killer doesn't walk?
Yes, this was how I read the initial account as well.Hank Scorpio said:Everything else I read said Martel "threatened him with his daughter" - and that she had a knife in her hand.
It seems more like she threatened to take the daughter and leave him, possibly while holding a knife because she felt she may need to defend herself. Her threats pushed him over the edge, and he killed her.
He still looks like a thumb.Smiling Joe Hesketh said:Look how deflated he appears after a few months off the juice.
Yeah, I listened to the actual audio, and you're right. Lousy summary by the Globe there.Hank Scorpio said:
Everything else I read said Martel "threatened him with his daughter" - and that she had a knife in her hand.
It seems more like she threatened to take the daughter and leave him, possibly while holding a knife because she felt she may need to defend herself. Her threats pushed him over the edge, and he killed her.
Sprowl said:Yes, this was how I read the initial account as well.
My wild-ass guess is that pleading guilty was:Rovin Romine said:...During the plea, Remy brought up a potential defense/mitigator to the judge (Martel threatening child)...
Steve Dillard said:
Roviin,
One can't overlook the fact that Remy's attorney was paid for by Jerry, who had every interest in making this go away...
The suggestion that his lawyer was really doing the parents' bidding and steered him in this direction is interesting. I'm on the side that says absolutely no way. No good or even average lawyer would put up with that. "I don't give a crap who is writing the checks, you're not my clients. If you want to stop writing the checks, fine. But if not, I'm going to do my job" is really the only correct answer for a client charged with murder unless the guy is a complete hack.
One of the 2 ML attys for Martels:Brickowski said:Mintz Levin does seem like a curious choice for family law matters. However, someone there may have agreed to do it pro bono under the aegis of a victims' assistance program or something of that sort.
When you are guilty of that level of insane violence, you don’t get to say your victim did anything to make it happen. Ever.
bakahump said:Might this have any bearing on the custody?
Maybe Jerrys lawyers told him that paying for a long trial would minimize their chances at custody? So jerry tells Jared to take the plea so that Jerry keeps his resources to fight / provide for the child?
I think the next time Jerry Remy talks about his son publicly will be the last time. And I think the last time Jerry Remy talked to his son is the last time he will ever talk to him.I like to think that Jared pleaded guilty to spare his parents the expense and embarrassment of a trial. If he ruins the relationship further with them, he won't have anyone to visit him or to give him money for the prison store, etc.
I don't think there's anything to indicate that Remy was insane, either legally or colloquially, at the time he made this statement.Rovin Romine said:Some people are never happy. http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/05/27/yvonne-abraham-remy-plea-was-maddeningly-defiant/GsPCe1NgcvBb7UAvIksT4K/story.html
The guy plead guilty and explained (in his mind) why he did what he did. The reasons were (if true) deeply fucked up. However, I don't get the outrage at the fact that Jared was forthcoming, or the "bewildering mix" of allowing that someone is deeply fucked up, a drug addict, mentally ill, and currently on medication YET expecting them to write some kind of deeply moving mea culpa. The best quote from the article:
Yes you do. Because you're insane.
She's a columnist. Her job is to comment on the news stories of the day and this is the position she's taking.Rovin Romine said:
Myt1 said:I don't think there's anything to indicate that Remy was insane, either legally or colloquially, at the time he made this statement.
Lose Remerswaal said:She's a columnist. Her job is to comment on the news stories of the day and this is the position she's taking.
My Dixie - Wrecked! said:One thing that my Criminal Law professor said, which resonates over 30 years later:
"Remember . . . a psychotic is nothing more than a son of a b*tch."
Reverend said:
Your Criminal Law professor sounds like a jerk whose ignorance in this area creates the kind of prejudice that inhibits real researching, understanding and engaged policies that could actually improve things for all of us.
Actually, it sounds like a pithy one-liner from a professor who had taught this class a few times and grown tired of naive law students explaining away monstrous acts with vague references to mental illness (which I know is something that bothers you as well).Reverend said:
Your Criminal Law professor sounds like a jerk whose ignorance in this area creates the kind of prejudice that inhibits real researching, understanding and engaged policies that could actually improve things for all of us.
maufman said:Actually, it sounds like a pithy one-liner from a professor who had taught this class a few times and grown tired of naive law students explaining away monstrous acts with vague references to mental illness (which I know is something that bothers you as well).
And from the standpoint of the subject the professor is teaching (criminal law), he's right -- psychopaths like Jared Remy are nothing but SOBs. Figuring out what made them broken in the first place and how we might prevent that from happening to others has little relevance in a class devoted to the study of the rules society has created to deal with these folks after the fact.
If the professor were teaching psychology instead of criminal law, I might be more inclined to agree with you.