Newton judge accused of helping man evade ICE has hearing

A Newton judge accused of helping an undocumented immigrant evade federal immigration custody in April 2018 had a hearing before the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct on Monday.

Judge Shelley Joseph allegedly allowed Jose Medina-Perez, a Dominican national, to escape out a downstairs back door while an ICE agent waited in the lobby to detain him. Medina-Perez was facing a fugitive from justice charge on a warrant out of Pennsylvania along with two misdemeanor drug charges.

“This case is about the integrity, impartiality and independence of the Massachusetts judiciary,” said Judith Fabricant, special counsel for the commission.

“Judge Joseph that day was trying to respect the rights of everybody before her,” said Elizabeth Mulvey, Joseph’s attorney.

Joseph was first indicted on federal charges of obstruction of justice in 2019 under the first Trump administration. After admitting to certain facts, those charges were dropped under the Biden administration, and her case was referred to the commission.

Monday’s hearing started with a viewing at Newton District Court, with Denis J. McInerney, the hearing officer appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court for this case. Fabricant and Mulvey then presented opening statements in Suffolk Superior Court.

The defense claims Joseph had nothing to do with the conspiracy to help Medina-Perez escape, laying blame on David Jellinek, who was his defense lawyer.

“Before Judge Joseph even knew that David Jellinek was in the courthouse, he had already made a deal with court officer Wes MacGregor,” Mulvey said. “He had this deal that if he could get his client back downstairs, the court officer would let him out the sallyport door,” Mulvey said.

Jellinek was the first to take the stand. In his testimony, he described feeling as though he had Joseph’s permission to bring Medina-Perez downstairs to help him sneak out.

“He told the judge that if his client could go back downstairs, he thought he could get him released through the back,” Fabricant said. “The judge said something to the effect of, ‘Yes, that’s what we’ll do.’”

Joseph’s team said otherwise.

“Nobody told her that Medina-Perez had gone out the back door. She knew nothing about it,” Mulvey said.

Much of this debate stems from what exactly was said when the court recording was shut off for 52 seconds. Fabricant asked Jellinek why he requested to speak to Joseph off the record.

“I wanted to go off the record because I knew that the next phase of our conversation and what I was going to suggest or ask for as a defense lawyer was perhaps right on the edge of acceptable or appropriate,” Jellinek said.

The hearing could last several days. The Commission on Judicial Conduct has the power to recommend discipline but does not have the power to remove Joseph from the bench.