A woman smoking a cigarette in a silver Honda with partial plate #16X came barrelling towards me in Hyannis yesterday morning. She appeared to have been waiting for me, and if I am correct, she left her home in Harwich quite early in order to get there early enough to try to spook me before getting to her job in the clerk’s office at Barnstable District Court.
I hope I’m wrong, but if it wasn’t her, she has a twin. There was no mistaking the court sticker on the back of the car. Clearly this woman has serious emotional issues, which makes her a perfect fit for a job at a district court that can’t afford to lose a single body, even a crazy one. If there’s one thing they know all about at BDC, it’s crazy!
By the time I arrived at Barnstable Superior Court (9:45 am), former chief clerk magistrate Robert Powers was again in the witness chair, talking about his suffering from daily injections for Multiple Sclerosis, a neurogenic bladder condition which kept him awake at night, an apparently recent divorce, and some problems with “renters” he was having at a family owned home, for which he is trustee.
Committee prosecutor Bean appropriately pointed out that Powers was conveniently able to immediately learn to handle his problems once charges had been filed against him, and only then was he able to get himself to work on time.
Powers again testified that 99% of the show cause cases were brought by police, and again I was reminded that this figure, like many others, did not exist “pre-Powers”.
Powers claimed that people who called in with health, child care, transportation or other urgent issues were put on the “top of the pile”, and that his relationship with office staff was “pretty good”. I leaned forward to see if his pants were on fire, but they appeared to be flame resistant.
Asked to characterize his relationship with Chief Justice O’Neill of the Barnstable District Court, Powers called it an “evolving issue”, and submitted that they were probably “too alike”, although he believes they share the same goals at work. Ugh. The sum total of what Powers and O’Neill have in common is that they are white men with similar jobs who speak with different regions of a Massachusetts accent.
There was more testimony from Powers about his “personal and professional baggage”, how he “underestimated the commute” time to get to work for four years, the infamous “upside down day” he was put on leave from his job, and four psychological counseling sessions after which this outrageously abusive tyrant supposedly transformed into an introspective seeker, looking to become “a more complete clerk”.
And the Academy Award goes to…………somebody else! Little Bobby Powers is a real bad actor. I couldn’t help but recall how merciless Powers was in regard to my health problems, and hope that he gets an equal amount of sympathy when his case is reviewed.
Bean pressed Powers about whether or not he could have figured out how to get to work on time before the hammer came down, and Bobby finally admitteed “I supppose I could have”.
It’s real clear that Bob’s a guy who makes his own rules. Work hours, deadlines and common courtesy are for the “little people”. To bring home the point one more time, Bean played another tape of yet another hearing where Powers inserted himself into a case and ignored the law about ex-parte communications.
On April 13th last year, Mrs. Wolf was in court with Best Buy over an issue with her computer. She was very upset, and told Powers he didn’t have the ability to make himself clear. Her repeated question “Can I appeal your decisions?” was never answered. Instead, Powers had Wolf physically removed from the courtroom.
Afterwards Powers could be heard chuckling on the tape, and giving advice to the Best Buy guys on how to handle the matter.
When questioned about the case, Powers recalled all the details, yet he couldn’t remember stuff that happened 30-40 days ago.
As for his screaming, Powers claimed that he had trouble figuring out how the mics worked, and as it turned out, he was right on top of them. Soooooo, when he was really using his inside voice, the sensitive mics made it sound like he had rasied his voice. I wondered if his fire retardant pants were also full of cookies from the cookie jar. Who can’t figure out how or where a microphone functions after four years on the job?
Nearly everyone in the room was clearly trying to keep their facial expressions as blank as possible. The prosecutor appeared to be trying the hardest, and during a few of the bigger, fatter lies that Powers was telling his attorney from the stand, I caught Bean’s eyes as he looked like he was quietly trying to hold his breath so he wouldn’t laugh or otherwise burst.
Mercifully the lawyers were finished with Bobby by about 10:30, at which point Denise Messier, a licensed social worker who specializes in mental health and substance abuse issues, was called to the stand.
I’ve never been able to serve on a jury around here because I’ve always known someone – a victim, witness, defendant or cop – involved in the case. While I wasn’t surprised to see Shelly Nunes had problems with Powers, I was surprised to see Denise. She’d worked at my doctor’s office in Yarmouth for several years before she started doing evaluations at the court in 2000. She worked with the mom of one of my employees there, was always courteous and efficient, devoted to her job, and had the respect of everyone in the office.
Powers was all smiles before Denise took the stand, but as she described his first meeting with her, Bobby’s lips pursed, and he began furiously scribbling notes on his legal pad.
According to Denise, Powers told her, rather than invited her, to come into his office. Without pleasantries he “sternly” informed her that she was no longer permitted to use the clerk’s office for her meetings, use the office equipment, or have contact with any of his employees.
Messier, who said Powers had “frightened” her, went straight to the judge’s lobby to “express concern” about the new chief magistrate. As a result she was able to regain use of the office equipment, but nothing else.
A few years later, Powers charged into the office and yelled at Denise “You – Come with me!”. Once in his office he screamed at her again: “Do you remember what I told you? I don’t want you in my office!”
Denise, who is a small, frail-ish, gentle woman in her sixties, yelled back “You’re not my boss”. She testified that she “got scared”, so she “went immediately to the judge’s office” for fear that Powers would follow her if she’d gone downstairs, where she says there’s no security.
Messier further testified that for the rest of that day she was “non-functioning”, and cried “all day long”. She was not there under subpoena, but there because she feels “he needs to be stopped, and can’t be doing this to people”.
Retired clerk magistrate Richard Dwyer was helped to the witness chair next, accompanied by his oxygen tank. He described a 40 year career in the court system, much of it as a probation officer.
Shortly after Powers began his reign of terror in Barnstable District Court, he sent a “directive” to Dwyer, who was helping out as a part-time clerk-magistrate, some of which was on a volunteer basis. According to Dwyer, the directive indicated that he “wasn’t assigned to do anything” other than review arrests, in the clerk’s office.
The directive came at a time when Assistant Clerk Magistrate Ardito was about to go on vacation. Powers wasn’t aware of it, and before Dwyer could inform him, Bobby screamed “You’re not gonna tell me what to do. I was appointed by the Governor, and I’m in charge!”. Dwyer said Powers was screaming at the top of his lungs and waving his hands.
Powers fired Dwyer “due to recent developments” by written notice immediately following his rantapalooza, and demanded the return of all court property, including keys.
Dwyer also did not testify under subpoena. “I feel I owe it to the clerk’s department. They’re best served if Mr. Powers isn’t there.” He said matter of factly.
After a short cross examination, Judge W. James O’Neill finally, after sitting through days of testimony, took the stand.
O’Neill was appoionted by Dukakis in 1987. He served as first justice in Nantucket for 13 years, but as that is a part-time job, he also worked as what he described a “road kill”, roving around district courts in southern Massachusetts.
Just as the islanders were forming “multiple petitions” calling for O’Neill’s removal from the bench, he was appointed first justice of the Barnstable District Court. (See http://www.ack.net/JudgeONeill020107.html)
I’ve watched O’Neill a handful of times in Barnstable, and for the most part believe he’s done a reasonably decent job trying to fill the giant shoes of his predecessor, Judge Joseph Reardon.
It’s possible O’Neill could have been doing a better job if he wasn’t wasting so much time fielding complaints about Powers, or documenting Bobby’s bad behaviors for Chief of Operations Phil McCue.
O’Neill lives a 1/4 mile from the court, and said he gets there, “generally speaking”, between 8:45-9:00 am, and testified that Powers, whose parking space he could see from his office window, rarely got to work before 9:45, because he felt “he didn’t have to keep regular court hours”.
O’Neill made a credible witness, answered questions directly, with a seemingly appropriate amount of consideration. He didn’t appear to have a personal gripe with Powers, but did seem desperate to have a competent Clerk Magistrate working with him – not for him or beneath him – but with him as much as possible.
In May of 2011, O’Neill took a picture of Powers’ desk filled with files “piled high beyond description” and sent it to McCue. He also documented arrival times of Powers over a period of a couple of weeks before sending them “up to mission control”. When he didn’t call in sick, which seemed to be a lot, Powers arrived generally around 9:45, and O’Neill e-mailed the info to McCue, using his personal e-mail address.
I don’t see what the big deal is about using his personal e-mail, but some point was apparently being made, as O’Neill disclosed the address in open court. Send me eight billion dollars, and it’s yours!
O’Neill described his confrontations with Powers, which always included Powers screaming, denials, blaming everyone else, his “reddened” face, and the always “You’re not the boss of me!” response he gave to anyone who tried to resolve anything ever with naughty Bobby. In every case but one, O’Neill said he was “unable to calm him down”.
From his testimony, it was clear that the judge knew Powers was a bully, but he didn’t know how to handle him.
By his own admission, O’Neill knew that Powers was effectively crippiling the ability of his court to function. He’d fired the mediators, who worked for free and dealt with most of the landlord/tenant cases, failed to make timely deposits, failed to implement the new 209A form, intentionally failed to send notices when “no issuance” of a charge would be filed in criminal complaints (denying possibility of timely appeal), arbitrarily eliminated Messier and the “pretty profound function” she had with the court, and was absent during the most critical time of the day, compromising the “administration of justice” for the people whose tax dollars pay for the services of the court.
This didn’t go on for a few days or a week like it may have for the rest of us in the real world before we were fired. This went on for four and a half years, and O’Neill witnessed nearly all of it. He knew Powers didn’t record a lot of his hearings, so that there’d be no empirical evidence of what happened to many of his victims who aren’t the subject of this hearing.
I never filed a formal complaint against Powers, although both my husband and I had plenty of cause. I knew Powers was a sick puppy, but also knew that my complaints would be dismissed as “crazy” or “sour grapes”, because the power of chief clerk magistrate trumps every single person who walks through the doors of that courthouse. No one has proved that reality better than Robert E. Powers.
However even though O’Neill was not “the boss” of Powers, he has just as much access to those who are. Why didn’t O’Neill act sooner? After all, Powers began chopping heads almost immediately upon his arrival in Barnstable.
What about after the hiring freeze in 2008? O’Neill knew that Powers was an explosive guy, and whomever was next on the chopping block would not be replaced. Any “proud traditions” Barnstable District Court may have had were rent pretty quickly after Powers first busted through the doors.
This may not be the ultimate bully story, but it’s right up there with the biggies. I was afraid I might do or say something regrettable, so I left when they broke for lunch, and will probably not return. I’ve heard enough.
As I was leaving, Denise Messier was sobbing into Judge O’Neill’s suit, clearly shaken by having to stand up to her bully again.
After lunch the prosecution estimated they’d have another half hour with Judge O’Neill, and would rest.
The defense will call a few clerk magistrates and a state trooper before they rest, probably tomorrow. After that the presiding judge will make a recommendation and “kick it up to mission control”, who will decide what to do with Barnstable’s bully Bobby, baggage and all.
