An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was held in contempt by a Boston judge after he detained an illegal alien who was about to face charges at trial.
On Monday, Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville accused ICE agent Brian Sullivan of violating the right of Wilson Martell-Lebron to a fair trial when he was taken into custody outside of the courthouse on Thursday.
‘If he had been brought to court on Friday morning by ICE, we would not have moved to dismiss. We would not be asking for sanctions. We would have just finished the trial.’
Boston officials have been feuding rhetorically with the Trump administration over whether local law enforcement must cooperate with ICE detainers on suspects believed to be illegal aliens. Boston police commissioner Michael Cox argued that police are not authorized to enforce federal immigration law and are bound to follow state law against offering aid.
Martell-Lebron had been accused of making false statements on a driver’s license application, but Summerville dismissed the charge after the man was unable to appear in court due to the ICE detention.
“It’s a case of violating a defendant’s right to present at trial and confront witnesses against him,” Summerville said from the bench. “It couldn’t be more serious.”
Martell-Lebron’s attorney, Ryan Sullivan, called the ICE detention “reprehensible” because it violated his client’s ability to defend himself in court.
“Law enforcement agents have a job to see justice is done,” he said. “Prosecutors have a job to see justice is done. There is no greater injustice in my mind than the government arresting someone, without identifying themselves, and preventing them from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to a jury trial.”
The Associated Press said a spokesperson for ICE did not return a call seeking comment.
Sullivan said that ICE agents pounced on Martell-Lebron without identifying themselves and sped away with him just after his trial had begun with opening statements Thursday. He said his client was from the Dominican Republic with family in Massachusetts.
“What we were challenging is that they arrested him in the middle of his trial and did not return him,” Sullivan added. “If he had been brought to court on Friday morning by ICE, we would not have moved to dismiss. We would not be asking for sanctions. We would have just finished the trial.”
State troopers said they neither assisted nor obstructed the federal action.
The contempt case was referred to the Suffolk district attorney’s office.
Martell-Lebron is being held by ICE at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility.
To further complicate the debate, Martell-Lebron had reportedly pleaded guilty to cocaine and heroin charges in 2009, but those were vacated and dismissed with prejudice in 2017 over a drug lab misconduct scandal that cast doubt on thousands of drug cases.
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Ice agent under contempt, Boston vs trump, Wilson martell-lebron, Ice vs boston, Politics
