I’m sharing news on two recent court cases related to the Southborough Police Department that made headlines.
One was for charges that the police are pressing in court after an allegedly violent fight at Southborough’s Owen O’Leary’s. The other is a case the Town won, defending a decision made three years ago by the former chief in denying a resident’s application for a firearms license.
Man arrested after allegedly beating person with flashlight at local bar — Community Advocate (April 28th)
According to the paper, the Southborough Police responded to an allegedly violent fight at Owen O’Leary’s on the afternoon of April 16th:
On arrival, they spoke with the victim, who said the suspect grabbed him by the throat and punched him. The suspect then reportedly grabbed a flashlight and began striking the victim on the head, causing injuries.
The suspect was arraigned in Westborough and is being held without bail until a May 17th probable cause hearing. Charges include armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and possession of controlled substances. For more details, see the CA story here.
Gun license could be denied based on family situation —Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (April 22nd)
& Southborough man’s bid for gun license may go to SJC — The MetroWest Daily News (April 24)
According to Mass Lawyers Weekly, a Mass Appeals Court found in favor of Southborough’s former police chief for having had the authority to “deny a high-capacity firearm license to an applicant based on the allegedly volatile home environment”.
The story highlights that the chief’s decision was based on the SPD’s history of interactions with the resident’s wife and son including prior “domestic violence” and “mental health” incidents.
The court upheld that when Chief Kenneth Paulhus made his decision to deny the Paul Dwiggins a license in 2022, it was consisted with the statutes of that time.
The 2-1 decision in “Chief of Police of Southborough v. Dwiggins, et al” overruled earlier decisions in Westborough District Court and Worcester Superior Courts. Those courts had supported the petition by the gun license applicant.
In the April 2nd Appeals Court ruling:
Judge Peter J. Rubin wrote for the panel. “We may disturb the chief’s determination that the applicant might create a risk to public safety only if it amounted to an abuse of discretion or was arbitrary and capricious. … We conclude that it was neither.”
Judge Kenneth V. Desmond Jr. dissented, pointing to what he described as “an insufficient showing that the applicant himself poses a risk to public safety.”
Southborough’s Town Counsel acknowledged that some of the language has been altered since. Attorney Jay Talerman was quoted about the uncertainty of what the altered language means for future decisions:
“It’s hard to say what’s going to happen going forward,” Talerman said. “Even though the new statute does exclude certain components of the old statute, it still provides a fairly deferential standard for police chiefs.
If the same situation were to arise again, a police chief might have to do more factfinding, he said, though Dwiggins would not necessarily preclude a chief from acting in the same way.
You can read the full MLW story here.
This may not be the last of the case. According to the MetroWest Daily News, Dwiggins’ attorney told the paper he hopes his client will appeal the case to the Mass Supreme Judicial Court.
You can read MWDN’s story here.
