Politics

DA Hayden drops charges in corruption case involving MBTA police officer after new evidence found

Earlier this year, a Globe report raised questions about whether Hayden’s office tried to quash a separate case involving two other Transit Police officers.

Anthony Watson poses for a portrait at Downtown Crossing in Boston, MA on March 06, 2019. Watson, 32, was allegedly beaten by a Transit Police officer last summer, then falsely arrested in an effort by the officer and two sergeants to cover it up. Watson spent the night in jail before being released. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff

By John R. Ellement

1 minute to read

Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden’s office has dropped criminal charges against an MBTA Transit Police sergeant accused of covering up the beating of a homeless man in 2018 after new information came to light, authorities said Monday. In court papers, Suffolk prosecutors said they could not continue the case against David Finnerty after Transit Police discovered a previously unknown computer record that prosecutors said showed Finnerty had not added false information to a 2018 police report on the assault.

“Prior to the discovery of this evidence, the Commonwealth firmly believed the defendant was the author of numerous false statements made in a police report which appeared to justify a police officer’s misuse of force,” prosecutors wrote. “This new evidence establishes that, although the defendant did revise some portions of the report, the defendant was not the source of the false and misleading statements that are at issue in this case.”

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James Borghesani, a spokesman for Hayden, said Monday the decision to drop the case was based solely on prosecutors’ ethical obligations, not any friction between Hayden and Transit Police leadership that surfaced during the Democratic primary, a bruising race in which Hayden defeated Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo. “This is proper procedure when you receive new information that undercuts the existing theory of the case,” he said. “There is no connection with any other case. This is strictly us acting quickly on new information received by the Transit Police and moving forward in the interest of justice.”

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