The arrest of 108 at Emerson College in the pre-dawn hours had politicians taking shots at the police who warned the students pitching tents in a public way gave them no choice. Social media video of the police sweep shows protesters being forcibly removed from the Boylston Place location around 2 a.m. Thursday, with some refusing to move in a scrum that also had protesters linking arms and chanting, “We keep us safe.” https://www.bostonherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BPD_Emerson_Captain.mp4 Arrests were streamed live on some social media platforms as police moved in as community members ..read more

A Duxbury man who killed his father by “baptizing” him in a local pond because the son apparently saw the “demon” in his dad’s eyes has been convicted, according to the DA. Jack Callahan, 22, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on Thursday, the Plymouth district attorney’s office announced. Callahan had been charged with one count of murder after the fatal incident in the middle of the night on June 28, 2021, when he was 19 years old. His father, 57-year-old Scott Callahan, was found submerged in Island Creek Pond at Crocker Park. Before the drowning, the teen at the time had reported ..read more

Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden has agreed to pay a $5,000 civil penalty for violating conflict of interest law by allowing his office to issue an official press statement aimed at discrediting his primary opponent days before the election. The State Ethics Commission said Thursday that Hayden was aware of, and took no action to prevent, his office staff from releasing a statement that undercut claims made publicly by former City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, who stated investigators had deemed decades-old sexual assault allegations against him to be unfounded. “The authority and prestige o ..read more

The Karen Read murder trial, which has become a hot-button case not only locally but for true crime lovers across the nation, will be held in a much smaller courtroom. Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone also reiterated during a hearing Thursday that attorneys could not directly raise the federal probe into the Read investigation or that the Massachusetts State Police investigator, Trooper Michael Proctor, is under internal review. Opening arguments in the trial are scheduled for Monday morning. Cannone will allow 45 minutes for each side. The defense is barred from introducing their ..read more

The owner of a Southie dog training and boarding business admitted to animal cruelty charges, for which he was sentenced to two years of probation. Tyler Falconer, 30, of Falco K9 LLC, was charged in May of last year with three counts of animal cruelty by a custodian and three counts of improperly tethering or confining an animal. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in municipal court in South Boston on May 31. On Wednesday, Falconer changed his plea. Instead of guilty, Falconer opted to accept a continuance without a finding to two charges of animal cruelty by a custodian. Judge Margaret A ..read more

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and DAVE COLLINS (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s highest court on Thursday threw out Harvey Weinstein ’s 2020 rape conviction with a ruling that shocked and disappointed women who celebrated historic gains during the #MeToo era and left those who testified in the case bracing for a retrial against the ex-movie mogul. The court found the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that weren’t part of the case. Weinstein, 72, will remain in prison because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape. But the New York ..read more

The Sons of Boston bouncer accused of stabbing a U.S. Marine outside the bar has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Joshua Wall on Thursday morning accepted the plea agreement worked out by both the prosecution and the defense and sentenced Alvaro Larrama to 17 to 20 years in state prison. “This senseless act of violence places fear in the heart of parents because it could happen to anyone. Mr. Larrama picked my son that night,” Apolonia Martinez, the mother of the victim, said in a victim impact statement ahead of sentencing. “I’m just a heartbrok ..read more

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and DAVE COLLINS (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein ’s 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren’t part of the case. Weinstein, 72, will remain imprisoned because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape. But the New York ruling reopens a painful chapter in America’s reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful figures — an era that began in 2017 wi ..read more

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and DAVE COLLINS (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein ’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. “We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” the court’s 4-3 decision said. “The remedy for these egregi ..read more

Boston police arrested 108 pro-Palestinian protesters at the Emerson College encampment early today in a showdown over setting up tents on a public way. BPD reports four officers were injured, three “minor” and one with more serious injuries. “No protesters in custody have reported injuries at this time,” police told the Herald this morning. The mostly college students are set to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court today. Emerson has also called off classes for the day. Social media video of the police sweep show protesters being forcibly removed from the Boylston Place location at about 2 ..read more