TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: Joe Nee

  • Change of venue requested in one of the Marshfield trials

    Nee trial is going through motions:

    The ever-humorous attorney of Joseph Nee, Thomas Dreschler, appeared in court today with his client in an attempt to get the venue changed. He complains that media scrutiny has been too intense against his client. I’ll have to take his word for that since I’m not there. However, I do have to take issue with this statement made by Mr. Dreschler…

    Drechsler also said that the media has maintained too strong a focus on Thomas Nee, Joseph’s father who is president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association. He said Nee has been frequently referred to as “the son of a powerful police patrolman.”

    “He’s (Nee) an extremely visual person for reasons completely unrelated to this case,” Drechsler said. “He has no relation to this case other than that of a concerned parent.”

    I disagree Mr. Dreschler. I think he has a lot of relation to this case actually. Well, at least the fact that he’s not only a Boston cop but also the head of the Patrolmen’s Association is very relative to the case. Mr. Dreschler keeps saying how Tobin Kerns has a criminal record but Joe Nee does not. Yet I’ve heard rumors of alleged criminal behavior that was swept under the rug due to people in a position of authority. I’m sure it has been but if it hasn’t it needs to be investigated to see if Joe Nee ever received special treatment by law enforcement because of his father’s position.

    No date has been given on when the judge will decide.

  • Marshfield trials to start soon

    Nee, Kerns heading to trial:

    This is the first news we’ve hard out of Marshfield in a while. It basically just states that both Joe Nee and Toby Kerns are due back in court shortly for the charges filed against both of them in planning a Columbine-like attack against their school. But again what kills me is what defense attorneys have to say. In this case Joe Nee’s defense attorney Thomas Drechsler…

    Drechsler pointed out that while Toby Kerns has a criminal history, having been arrested on breaking and entering charges, and has been treated in a psychiatric facility, Nee has never been in trouble with a law or treated for mental illness.

    Like I’ve said before that’s great that Joe Nee doesn’t have a “criminal record”. His dad is a Boston cop. As much respect as I have for the police, I know that there is special treatment for family members of cops. It’s not that much of a stretch to think that Joe Nee has gotten out of trouble by saying his dad was a Boston cop.

    The article refreshes our memory again on the whole situation…

    Toby Kerns was arrested on Sept. 17, 2004 after Nee and two other teens, Joseph Sullivan and Daniel Farley, went to the police and said Kerns had hand drawn maps of the school, had looked up how to make bombs on the Internet and was trying to order guns. Nee told police that most of the information was kept in a black binder in a spare room at the Kerns home.

    Police found the binder and evidence that Kerns’ computer had been used to look at Web sites like the Anarchist’s Cookbook, which explains how to make explosives.. Nee was arrested Oct. 18, 2004 after other students came forward with information implicating him in the plan.

    Nee lived in the Kerns home for several weeks late last spring, and Toby’s father, Ben Kerns said he noticed the older boy seemed fascinated with Nazism and appeared to be a bad influence on his son. Ben Kerns said Nee stayed in the spare bedroom where the black binder was found.

    Kerns claims Nee, not his son, created the maps of the school and looked at bomb making Web sites while he was staying in their home. But Nee’s attorney argued that the plan was Toby’s and his client went to police to prevent him from carrying it out.

    What the article leaves out is that Joe Nee wore a t-shirt to school that had pictures of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold that said: “Remember the Heroes”. Joe Nee went to school for Halloween one year dressed as Eric Harris. Joe Nee was witnessed bring a gun to school even though it’s in doubt whether or not the gun was real. The reason Joe Nee was staying at the Kernses’ was that he assaulted his father and his father threw him out. Toby Kerns did nothing like that. Like I’ve said before it sounds like to me that Joe Nee went to police before Toby Kerns could. It also sounds like to me that Joe Nee was one the planning this attack and Toby decided to bail on the plan after he got help.

    Not only that but I received an e-mail today from someone in the Marshfield area that said there’s a rumor going around that a friend of Joe Nee’s was arrested for having a hit list and hand-drawn maps of Marshfield High.

    As far as I’m concerned Toby Kerns’ only crime was trusting Joe Nee and talking his dad into letting Joe Nee stay at their house. I only hope a jury can see that as well.

  • Nee’s lawyer files for change of venue

    Attorney seeking venue change for massacre-lot trial:

    The attorney for Joe Nee, the always amusing and pervert cop defender Thomas Drechsler, is trying to get the venue changed for his client’s trial…

    Drechsler said the change of venue is needed because of the extensive media coverage the case has received. Drechsler has repeatedly said that news coverage, particularly by The Patriot Ledger after Nee’s arrest, would prevent his client from receiving a fair trial locally.

    You don’t see Toby Kerns’ lawyer filing for a change of venue. Running scared perhaps?

  • Marshfield Follow-Up

    One year later, Kerns case crawling forward:

    This is basically just the local media report of what I told you about yesterday. I still don’t see how Joe Nee can be considered a reliable informant when he was arrested for the exact same crime that Tobin Kerns was. I still say it reeks of preferential treatment.

  • Search Warrant Ruled Admissible in Marshfield

    Back in August I told you that the attorney for Tobin Kerns, William McElligott, was trying to get the search warrant of Kerns’ house suppressed because the police informants were not reliable. One of those informants, Joe Nee, was also arrested for the same plot. If you remember Kerns was arrested in conjunction with a plot to commit a Columbine-like assault on Marshfield High in Mass. Well, I heard from someone close to the case today who said that the Judge has ruled the search warrant is admissible. This hasn’t made the media yet and according to the person who gave me the information it’s unlikely that it will. Anyway, in my opinion, this ruling stinks. Outside of the arrest of Joe Nee it still seems like he is receiving preferential treatment since he’s the son of a Boston cop. A pre-trial date has been set for September 27th.

  • Marshfield trial not until Fall

    Kerns, Nee trials won’t start until fall:

    This just basically an article about the Marshfield incident that says that neither Toby Kerns or Joe Nee will be going to trial until the fall. What was interesting about this article was this…

    Kerns was in Plymouth Juvenile Court last week where his attorney William McElligott argued the search warrant Marshfield Police procured to search Kerns’ home and computer was invalid because they obtained it based on information from three confidential informants who did not meet accepted court standards. Court documents have since revealed that Nee was one of those informants, as were two other Marshfield teens, Dan Farley and Joe Sullivan.

    McElligott argued that police had no reason to believe the three teens since they had not proven themselves as reliable informants in the past.

    Judge Louis Coffin said he would rule on the motion on September 12th. Hopefully, he will rule in favor of Kerns. To refresh yourself on the Marshfield case go here.

  • Lawyer seeks to suppress evidence in Marshfield case

    Lawyer seeks to suppress evidence in Marshfield case

    Exclusion of evidence sought in massacre-plot case; Teen’s attorney wants warrant for search of home nullified:

    Tobin Kerns’ attorney, William McElligott, said that he is going to file a motion to suppress evidence taken from the Kerns’ home. His argument is that the search warrant was obtained on information from Joseph Nee who is now a co-defendant. From the article…

    McElligott said he will seek to nullify the search warrant Marshfield police obtained for their search of Kerns’ home. Search warrants should be based on the statements of an ‘‘informant who is reliable,” he said.

    While I think this is great news for Toby, I can’t help but ask, wouldn’t this also mean that evidence seized couldn’t be used against Joe Nee either?

    Mr. McElligott is also looking into Joe Nee’s “no criminal record” by looking into an alleged assault at a skate park where no charges were filed against Nee, but the victim required medical treatment. He is also looking into the police histories of Daniel Farley and Joseph Sullivan, two teens who will testify as witnesses, but some say are also involved.

    UPDATE: According to this article, Nee’s attorney, the always amusing and perverted cop defender Thomas Drechsler, plans to file for a change of venue. He says the media coverage would make it impossible to find a partial jury in Plymouth County.

  • 1/30/05 From The Mail Sack

    1/30/05 From The Mail Sack

    The mail has been piling up here, and I’ve been putting it off for so long I’m now two weeks behind on it. I’m in the middle of posting my replies, but it’s probably going to take me all week to finish up.

    However, I got a comment today that I felt required my immediate attention. For those of you that have been following the events in Marshfield, Mass. you’ll know that I’ve been saying that I’ve gotten a ton of responses in support of Tobin Kerns but none for Joe Nee. Well, that changed today. I got a comment from someone claiming to be a relative of Nee on my “Lost Boys” entry…

    It’s really to bad that when something like this happens people are really quick to point fingers. All the boys are just as responsible for all that happened. Joe Nee is not the ringleader he’s an easy target for angry parents. What you should really be doing is thanking him for preventing disaster. Toby might say he was going to tell but he didn’t Joe did. Joe is such an easy target because of who his father is and his problems. We should be just as angry with all the other boys. They cant possibly be such angels if they were at all involved in this. So what i’m trying to say is Joe is a kind-hearted kid who made a stupid choice he along with his friends will pay for it. I highly doubt this was all Joes’ idea. And just so everyone who reads this knows Joes family is great, as any family with a troubled kid has they have made mistakes but they still remain some of the nicest caring people I have ever met. Thank You —April (Joes cousin) we all make mistakes some bigger than others nobodies perfect!!!!

    Comment by april Nee — Sunday Jan 30, 2005 @ 10:34 am

    My opinions on Joe Nee have been well documented on this site, so in the interest of fairness I am going to refrain from commenting on this except for saying this is the first time since Joe Nee’s arrest that one of his supporters has commented. I had someone on my site defending Tobin Kerns within a week of his arrest.

  • More on Joe Nee’s release

    More on Joe Nee’s release

    Teen held in massacre plot freed on bail to parents:

    Joe Nee out on $20K bail:

    These are two more articles on Joe Nee’s release, and it seems like to be the Massachusetts media is starting to side with Joe Nee. So let me reiterate my opinions on the matter.

    His father, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association Tom Nee, threw Joe Nee out of his house. Kids aren’t usually thrown out of the house for being good kids.

    Joe Nee was the one who wore a homemade shirt with the date of the Columbine massacre and “Remember the Heroes” written on it in German to school several times. Nee also dressed as Eric Harris for one Halloween.

    Joe Nee was the one who was witnessed bringing a gun to school. Whether or not the witness could tell whether the gun was real or not is irrelevant. If the gun looked real, the only other way to tell it’s real is if it’s being fired. Luckily, that didn’t happen.

    In my opinion, Joe Nee turned in Toby Kerns to cover his own ass before Toby could turn him in.

    Just because he’s a cop’s son doesn’t automatically make him an upstanding citizen. According to previous reports, the reason Joe Nee was thrown out of his house was that he assaulted his own father.

    After the Kernses took Joe Nee in, it was in Nee’s room where the plans were found and where Nee had placed a giant swastika on the wall.

    And like I’ve said many times before, when this story first broke, and I was being pretty rough on the Kernses, a number of people from the Marshfield area came to his defense. And again, I have yet to get one comment or e-mail in defense of Nee. I think that speaks volumes.

    I just hope that the jury can see through the diversionary tactics that Nee’s attorney is using.

  • Joe Nee released on Bail

    Joe Nee released on Bail

    For those of you who have been following the Marshfield saga along with me, Joe Nee was released on $20,000 bail today…

    Nee Free on $20,000 Cash Bail

    The second suspect in the alleged plot to commit murder at Marshfield High School is out on bail.

    The parents of 18-year-old Joseph Nee posted the 20-thousand cash bail at the Brockton Superior Court Clerk’s office shortly after Judge Suzanne Delvecchio set the bail. Nee’s father Tom says he is happy to have his son free, especially since the boy’s grandfather is near death. Defense attorney Tom Dreschler argued that circumstances have changed involving his client. He cited the fact that Nee’s co-defendant Toby Kerns is free on bail and that Kern’s has a lengthy juvenile record. Judge Delvecchio says the fact that Kerns is out on bail was one reason she set bail on Nee. The judge also ordered that Nee’s release be based on conditions set by the probation department.

    Source

    As usual, Nee’s attorney, Tom Dreschler, has been trying to deflect blame away from his client by citing that Toby Kerns has a criminal record.

    I find the term “lengthy” to be a bit overdramatic. As I said before, one does not have to have a criminal record to be a criminal. How many of us know someone who had a relative in an authoritative position that allowed them to escape any kind of punishment?

    Toby Kerns didn’t have that luxury. Who’s to say that Joe Nee’s criminal record might have been more sordid than Toby Kerns’ if his father wasn’t a Boston cop? Also, like I mentioned the other day, the witness who said she saw Joe Nee bring a gun to school changed her testimony and said she didn’t know if it was real or not. It seems very suspicious to me.