Swayed By Lawyer's Book, Jurors Ask Judge for New Trial in '93 Case
They found Alfred Trenkler guilty in 1993 in a fatal 1991 bomb incident that killed a Boston police officer who tried to defuse the device.
But now three members of the jury would like to see him get a new trial, reports the Boston Globe. Each has written a letter to the federal judge who oversaw the original trial, a development that is virtually unprecedented in a case decided so long ago, a former prosecutor tells the newspaper.
They were persuaded by an unpublished book they received in the mail, Perfectly Innocent, according to the newspaper article. The book was written by Morrison Bonpasse, 61, of Maine, a retired lawyer.
“After studying the many details of the Alfred W. Trenkler case I am convinced that he is innocent,” former jury forewoman Sheridan Kassirer writes in a letter to U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel. “I hope you will see to it that justice prevails and he is released.”
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declines to comment.
However, Miller Thomas, a detective who heads the local police union, says justice was done when Trenkler was convicted. With the right presentation, people could be persuaded that John Hinckley Jr. never shot President Ronald Reagan, even though the failed assassination attempt was captured on videotape, he contends.
Originally sentenced to life, Trenkler was resentenced in 2007 to a 37-year term, the Globe reports in an earlier article.
Related material:
Alfred Trenkler Innocent Committee: “Latest News”
