Massachusetts judge, county prosecutor cleared in affair investigation

In Brief:

• Investigation led by former Judge Ernest Sarason.
• No romantic or sexual relationship found between Darnbrough and ADA.
• Judge Darnbrough reassigned and resigned citing health issues.
• Ongoing criminal probe into anonymous harassment letters.

BOSTON – There was no “inappropriate relationship” between former New Bedford District Court First Justice Douglas J. Darnbrough and a Bristol County prosecutor, according to the findings of an investigation that began last May.

Former Judge Ernest Sarason was appointed as a “special master” last May to investigate the nature and extent of the relationship between Darnbrough and the assistant district attorney.

The affair had been alleged via anonymous letters to attorneys involved with the court, as well as the director of the Committee for Public Counsel Services Criminal Trial Support Unit, the executive director of Bristol County Bar Advocates, the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, and Mass. Trial Court’s chief justice of the District Court.

The allegations are the basis of an appeal of the conviction of Gerson Pascual-Santana in 2023 in New Bedford District Court where the ADA in question, who has not been named by The Standard-Times, prosecuted and Darnbrough presided.

Pascual-Santana was found guilty on three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 following a jury trial in March 2023, and was sentenced to 2.5 years on the first count, one year on the second to be served after the first sentence and eight years of probation on the third.

In September 2023, Pascual-Santana’s trial attorney was among those who received an anonymous note alleging the sexual relationship.

Sarason’s investigation results were issued April 9, the morning of a status hearing in the matter before Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Serge Georges Jr.

There was no romantic, emotional or sexual relationship

Sarason’s report states, “Judge Darnbrough and ADA … did not  engage in a romantic, emotional, sexual, or otherwise inappropriate relationship.”

As to other allegations in the notes, he found:

• There was nothing improper about the ADA being present in Judge Darnbrough’s lobby, including the timing, length, and frequency. The door was always open.
• Judge Darnbrough did not intentionally assign himself to court sessions in which the ADA was prosecuting cases.
• Judge Darnbrough and the ADA did not coordinate or otherwise communicate about cases that had yet to be tried.
• Judge Darnbrough did not exhibit bias or favoritism toward the ADA.

Sarason stated, “In response to my production order, Judge Darnbrough provided numerous criminal dockets and filings from hearings that, ostensibly, show that he has ruled against” the ADA in a number of cases.

Sarason said his investigation included a five-day evidentiary hearing in which he heard testimony from 21 witnesses and admitted 70 exhibits in evidence. He then accepted post-hearing briefs and proposed findings of fact from attorneys representing the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, Darnbrough, and the prosecutor.

Darnbrough had shown poor judgment

Sarason stated that a Massachusetts Trial Court investigation into the notes and allegations found that Darnbrough had shown poor judgment regarding his relationship with the prosecutor because it created the appearance of impropriety.

Massachusetts Trial Court’s Chief Justice of the District Court Stacey Fortes also received one of the anonymous letters in September 2023, and ordered the investigation.

Fortes stated after those findings were presented that “it was more likely than not that Judge Darnbrough engaged in unprofessional conduct that allowed for the perception of impropriety, thus undermining his ability to remain as presiding justice” in the New Bedford District Court.

Sarason’s report states, “Many witnesses testified generally about rumors that Judge Darnbrough and ADA … were in a romantic and/or sexual relationship. The rumors were widespread and talked about throughout the courthouse.”

Effective Oct. 3, 2023, Judge Darnbrough was removed as First Justice and reassigned to the Plymouth District Court, according to Sarason’s report.

Judge Darnbrough later submitted a letter of resignation effective on Nov. 10, 2023. In an amended letter of resignation, he changed the effective date to Dec. 30, 2023. Sarason’s report stated that both letters identified ongoing health issues as the reason for his resignation, which was consistent with his testimony and his Employee Exit Transaction Form signed on Jan. 8, 2024.

Anonymous notes sent out for years

Sarason’s report also states that the prosecutor “among others” had for many years received anonymous letters, and all appeared to have been written by the same person. The letters took aim at the prosecutor’s romantic relationships, and some included the allegations about the affair with Judge Darnbrough.

A motion for further discovery into Darnbrough and the prosecutor’s cell phones by Pascual-Santana’s attorney, James P. McKenna, was denied by Georges during the April 9 status hearing.

Georges said the issue had been raised in the Sarason hearing. He also noted the investigative report finding no evidence of an inappropriate relationship. He said the inference that there had been such a relationship had been the whole point of the proceedings.

Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sowa said their respective cell phone use had been addressed with multiple witnesses in the Sarason hearing.

Sarason’s report states the anonymous letters alleged that Judge Darnbrough and the prosecutor communicated with one another using text messages on their phones.

Sowa said Pascual-Santana had received a fair trial, and that Sarason’s findings were clear that there was no inappropriate relationship.

Georges took under advisement a motion by attorney Michelle Peirce, who represented the prosecutor, to destroy the anonymous letters.

Pierce said they were disgusting and demonstrably false.

Ongoing criminal investigation into anonymous notes

Sowa said they couldn’t be destroyed because there’s an ongoing criminal investigation into the matter.

The DA’s Office has said the ADA was the victim of harassment by the note-writer, who had a “personal animus against” her.

The letters were meant to harass and/or humiliate the prosecutor, she said. Sowa said they would make redaction suggestions and seek not to have the letters publicized.

Pierce said one of the witnesses at the Sarason hearing had taken the Fifth Amendment to protect against self-incrimination when asked if they had been the author of the letters.

Sarason’s report states he found the testimony of that witness not to be credible but there was insufficient evidence to conclusively find that this person had been the author of the notes.

Georges gave the attorneys 60 days to provide redaction recommendations on the letters.

Will continue to pursue new trial

McKenna said after the hearing that he would continue to pursue a new trial for Pascual-Santana.

A motion for a new trial had previously been denied by Cambridge District Court First Justice David E. Frank in February 2024.

Frank stated, “Despite his argument to the contrary, the factual foundation for the defendant’s claims rest almost exclusively on the anonymous, unsigned, and unsworn notes attached in his filings.”

The case has been viewed as potentially serving as a precedent in any of the other cases involving Darnbrough and the ADA.

The Committee for Public Counsel Services “preliminarily identified approximately 3,700 docket numbers with which both the prosecutor and the judge at issue were involved,” according to a motion with the court to become part of a prior SJC hearing.

Neither Darnbrough nor the prosecutor were present at the hearing.