Middlesex DA withheld 19 pages of Remy case review

WALTHAM, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- An independent review of how the Middlesex District Attorney's office handled Jared Remy's case came up short.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says she did nothing wrong, let alone violate the state's public records law, when she decided to withhold 19-pages of an independent report on how her office handled the Remy case from the public.

FOX 25's Political Reporter Sharman Sacchetti spoke one on one with Ryan, who not only stands by what she did, but said she'd do it again.

When asked if she broke the law, Ryan said, "No, I didn't break the law and that's very clear."

Back in May, she released 16 pages of the report, but held back 19. The Boston Globe made a public records request for the entire report after they got a tip that some pages were missing. The table of contents was left out, making it impossible for the public to know exactly what was omitted, along with summaries of interviews with prosecutors and victim's advocates.

On Friday, she told Sacchetti that she did it for good reason.

"When we asked people to go in, be open, be free, it was not with the understanding that we will somehow then open up all of everything you say and all of your thoughts to the public. That's not speaking to what my responsibility is, which is to make steps and ensure the public safety," she said.

Remy, son of Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy, pleaded guilty to killing Jennifer Martel and was sentenced to life in prison. Ryan's office came under fire because he'd been arrested on charges of assaulting her two days before he killed her. Ryan says she never told anyone she was releasing the entire report, and that what she did was voluntary.

Ryan denies saying that she'd release the whole report, but rather says she made the statement that she'd release "the findings of the report."

"What I said was I was releasing the findings of the report. And that's what we released," she said.

When asked if she did not release the entire report once, what else might she not release?

"Well, that's kind of a speculative question that doesn't serve a lot of purpose I'd suggest," Ryan said.

She went on to say, "But the question here is I would agree if there had been some statement that this is the full and entire report, that's not the case."

Sacchetti mentioned the reports about dozens of people leaving her office, and that the lead prosecutor on the Remy case no longer works for Ryan, but her opponent in the primary.

When asked if this is political and how she'd respond to those accusations, Ryan said, "So I can't speak to other people's motivations. I think that what the real question is, is what is the responsibility of the district attorney and that is to ensure public safety."

When asked if she would do everything the same way again, she said she would.

The Secretary of State's Office said that they don't believe Ryan did anything wrong. She was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick after the previous DA Gerry Leone left to join a Boston law firm. This fall she's on the ballot, and is facing off in a primary against fellow Democrat Michael Sullivan.

In a statement posted to his Facebook page, Sullivan took aim at Ryan, calling her decision to not release the pages deliberate, arrogant, and says her insistence that she both makes the rules is disturbing and without legal merit.

Cox Media Group