Tag: school shooting plot

Kerns trial slated for Oct. 15:

Excuse me, but I’ve heard this before…

I’m just over it,” Tobin “Toby” Kerns said last April.

With these words, Kerns, 18, captured the frustration and exhaustion he and his family have suffered through over the past two years-two long and cumbersome years peppered with bumps, curves, holdups and setbacks since his 2004 arrest.

But come October, it will all be over.

On Thursday, Judge Louis Coffin announced an Oct. 15 start date for Kerns’ trial, which will take place in Plymouth Juvenile Court. The trial will take place over the course of five days until Oct. 20, Coffin said.

Kerns was arrested for his alleged connection to a detailed plan to orchestrate a Columbine-like attack on Marshfield High School in September, 2004 after three students-Joseph Nee, Daniel Farley and Joseph Sullivan- all former MHS students, gave Kerns’ name to police in connection with the plot.

Nee, 20, was arrested in October of that year after Farley and Sullivan later came to police implicating his involvement in the planned attack. According to Kern’s father, Ben, Nee lived with them for a few weeks during the spring of 2004. He claims Nee, not his son, was the one behind the planned attack and was the one surfing dangerous sites on the Web.

Kerns and Nee are being tried separately on charges of promotion of anarchy, conspiracy to commit murder and threatened use of a deadly weapon, but both have maintained their innocence since their arrests. Nee, who was 18 at the time of the incident, is set to be tried in Brockton Superior Court while Kerns, who was then only 16, will be tried as a juvenile. If convicted, both could serve up to 43 years in prison.

Still no word on when Joe Nee goes to trial.

Kerns case will go to trial in fall:

I’m still not holding my breath on that one, but in other news, Farley and Sullivan have been granted immunity in the trial of Tobin Kerns…

A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court ruled last week to enact immunity for two key witnesses in Kerns upcoming trial, bringing an end to another legal stalemate that had kept the case from moving forward.

Kerns, 18, and Joseph Nee, 20, both former Marshfield High School students, are facing trial separately for their alleged involvement in staging a Columbine-like attack on the high school in 2004. Kerns, was arrested in September of that year after Nee and two other MHS students – Joseph Sullivan and Daniel Farely – informed he school resource officer about the plot. A few weeks later, Nee was also arrested after Farley and Sullivan implicated him in the planned attack on the school.

Kerns and Nee were both charged with promotion of anarchy, conspiracy to commit murder and threatened use of a deadly weapon after police found materials at Kerns’ home outlining a planned attack on Marshfield High School. Police found a 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 had been staying with the Kerns family for a few weeks earlier in the spring, and Kerns father, Ben has argued that the materials in the binder belonged to him, not his son.

Kerns’ trial was set to start in March, but things came to a standstill when Farley and Sullivan sought immunity under the Fifth Amendment out of fear they might incriminate themselves through their testimonies.

The Plymouth County District Attorney’s office then sought to enact immunity in the Nee trial in hopes of carrying immunity over into the Kerns trial.

While immunity was granted to both witnesses in Superior Court, Judge Louis Coffin said in April he was unsure if he had the authority to grant immunity in Juvenile Court, citing a ruling in Commonwealth vs. Russ, a 2001 case that set a precedent against enacting immunity in juvenile cases. Assistant District Attorney John McLaughlin then brought the matter before a single Supreme Judicial Court Justice in Boston.

If this helps Tobin get exonerated, then I’m all for it, but I can’t shake the feeling that two people who were complicit in the plot are getting away.

Supreme court judge to rule on immunity in Kerns case:

All lawyers involved with the trials of Tobin Kerns and Joe Nee argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Court on the immunity issues of Nee’s cohorts Joseph Sullivan and Daniel Farley…

Justice Martha Sosman met with Kerns’ attorney William McElligott, Sullivan’s attorney Robert Dimler and Gail McKenna from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office Friday, where attorneys pled their case to allow for immunity to be upheld in Kerns’ impending trial. The trial was set to start in March, but things came to a standstill when Farley and Sullivan sought immunity under the Fifth Amendment.

The DA’s office then sought to enact immunity in the Nee trial in hopes of carrying immunity over into the Kerns trial.

While immunity was granted to both witnesses in Superior Court, Judge Louis Coffin said in April he was unsure if he had the authority to grant immunity in Juvenile Court, citing a ruling in Commonwealth vs. Russ, a 2001 case that set a precedent against enacting immunity in juvenile cases. Assistant District Attorney John McLaughlin then moved to bring the matter before a single Supreme Judicial Court Justice in Boston.

Torn between making a decision herself and seeking the counsel of the full bench, Sosman asked how time-sensitive the Kerns case was. While each attorney said they would support a decision before the full bench if necessary, they sought an answer to the immunity issue as soon as possible.

“We would have no problem with a full court decision, but my client is seeking a speedy resolution,” McElligott said.

McKenna argued in favor of enacting immunity in the Kerns case, saying that the immunity granted in Superior Court must be upheld in all courts and counties through the state. She said if a decision were given Friday against the Commonwealth’s favor, the Commonwealth would likely appeal the decision before the full bench.

More appeals. More delays. And still no justice for Tobin.

Immunity appeal continues to hold up Kerns case:

You know if I’m talking about the trial of Tobin Kerns you know I’m talking about another delay…

It’s been a long and winding road to trial for Marshfield teenager Tobin “Toby” Kerns, but attorneys from both the defense and prosecution are hoping a July status hearing will be the end of the line.

Kerns went before Judge Louis Coffin once again Thursday in Plymouth Juvenile Court, where another pretrial hearing was set for July 17.

In April, Assistant District Attorney John McLaughlin requested that immunity be granted in Kerns’ trial in Juvenile Court on the grounds that Farley and Sullivan were granted immunity in Brockton Superior Court for the Nee trial. Coffin rejected the proposal, citing a decision rendered in Commonwealth vs. Russ, a 2001 case that set a precedent against granting immunity in juvenile cases. McLaughlin appealed the decision to a judge in the state Supreme Judicial Court in hopes of securing immunity in Kerns’ case. A decision from a Judicial Court justice is still pending.

“They feel the issue of immunity shouldn’t be a problem,” Kerns’ attorney William McElligott said.

While attorneys hoped to settle upon a start date for trial at Thursday’s hearing, the appeal by the Commonwealth is still going through the motions, McElligott said. He said he’s hoping the immunity issue will be settled by the July hearing so a date for trial can be set. McElligott said should the Commonwealth receive a ruling from the Judicial Court before the next hearing, a trial date could be set sooner.

While he’s hoping for the best, McElligott said it’s possible that the appeals process could drag on further if the decision does not go in favor of the Commonwealth. He said the Commonwealth could appeal the decision by a single justice to go before the entire Judicial Court.

So now Toby will continue to have this hanging over his head like a guillotine for a crime that he more than likely did not commit.

Pathetic.

School massacre-plot trial hits new snag: Immunity appeal could cause delay lasting months:

I hate to make this sound like a soap opera, but they couldn’t write this more like one.

Anyway, the last we left the situation in Marshfield the trial of Tobin Kerns was delayed once again because witnesses for the prosecution, Daniel Farley and Joseph Sullivan, refused to testify on the day of the trial unless they were granted immunity.

That immunity was granted to them last week. Now the DA is appealing that decision, which could take months.

It will be interesting to see if the trial of Joe Nee will have this many delays, considering Nee is the son of a Boston cop.

Judge sets April hearing in alleged school plot:

This is another article about the two witnesses who requested immunity in the Tobin Kerns trial. Pretty much all you need to know is in the following two paragraphs…

Kerns, 17, is charged with conspiracy to commit crimes, promotion of anarchy, and threatened use of deadly weapons at school. Kerns, then a junior at Marshfield High, was arrested in September 2004 after three fellow students — Joseph Nee, Daniel Farley, and Joseph Sullivan — told police that he was planning an attack on the high school and had compiled a hit list of students, school officials, and police officers, authorities say.

Farley and Sullivan were expected to testify against Kerns on Tuesday. The court appointed attorneys to counsel them about their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. The trial was delayed when the youths requested, through their court-appointed lawyers, immunity from being prosecuted as coconspirators.

So Nee, Farley, and Sullivan went to the police to report Kerns. Now all of a sudden, they want immunity. I wonder if it’s because they don’t want to incriminate themselves, or they don’t want to incriminate Nee who is the son of the head of the Boston Police union?

Some people from Marshfield who have contacted me or have left comments on my site have said that Farley and Sullivan should have been arrested too. It’s starting to look like they may have been right.

Trial Of School Plot Suspect Delayed Until April:

As I’ve previously mentioned, the trial of Tobin Kerns has been delayed while prosecutors work out possible immunity deals for two witnesses. Well, the judge has postponed the trial until April…

Plymouth Juvenile Court Judge Louis Coffin on Wednesday granted a delay until April 13 to give prosecutors time to ask a Superior Court judge to grant immunity to the witnesses. Juvenile Court judges do not have the authority to grant immunity.

Kerns’ lawyer is upset about the delay, saying the immunity issue should have been resolved before the start of the trial.

I wonder how this is going to affect the trial of Joe Nee. I’m sure these two associates of his will be witnesses for his defense. Will Nee’s trial take place on time? And again, why didn’t the prosecution get these immunity deals, or no deals, done before the trial started? Are they trying to stall, pinning their hopes on a Nee acquittal so it would be easier to get Tobin convicted?

Since Tobin’s trial is being decided by a judge and not a jury, the immunity deals I’m sure would not sway the judge as it would a jury. As each day passes, the whole situation stinks more and more of a screwjob.