Judge questions police investigation as alleged assault victim recants

LYNN – A judge ordered a $2,000 personal surety bond for a Dorchester man police said strangled his pregnant girlfriend, but whose investigation left the judge with questions after the alleged victim recanted her story.”Do the police describe (the alleged victim’s) demeanor?” Lynn District Court Judge Michael Lauranzano asked Essex Assistant District Attorney Erin Bellavia on Monday.She replied that this was not stated in the police report.”Isn’t that unusual?” Lauranzano asked.”Not really?” Bellavia replied, with apparent hesitation.”That’s disturbing,” Lauranzano concluded.David Clemons, 24, of 118 Stratton St., Dorchester, surrendered to police on a straight warrant for assault and battery; and aggravated assault and battery; on Monday.He pleaded not guilty to the charges later that afternoon in Lynn District Court.Police responded Dec. 23 to a Curwin Circle address where the alleged victim told police Clemons had returned to the home in a bad mood and refused to return her phone, Bellavia said, summarizing from a report by Lynn Police Officer Ryan Dulong.Bellavia said the alleged victim threatened to call police, and Clemons grabbed the alleged victim by the wrists and threw her to the bed and began strangling her. The alleged victim’s cousin pulled Clemons away and got the phone back before Clemons left, Bellavia said.Bellavia said she considered requesting the defendant be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing, but the alleged victim had since recanted the story she told police. The alleged victim Monday morning said Clemons tried to stop her from hitting him by grabbing her wrists, Bellavia reported. Bellavia said the alleged victim said she was very upset and very emotional when speaking with police the night of the alleged incident.Nevertheless, Bellavia requested $5,000 cash bail and that the defendant not abuse the named victim.Lauranzano then questioned Bellavia about the alleged victim’s demeanor at the scene, asking which officer had filed the report.Bellavia said the officer was relatively new and said she did not know what motivation he would have to present anything other than what he was told.Court-appointed defense attorney William O’Shea, however, said 20 years’ experience reading police reports had taught him things from “what’s in and what’s not.” O’Shea said that no medical attention was requested and there were no visible injuries, according to the report.(The report mentions the victim complained her wrists hurt.)Rather, the alleged victim told O’Shea she was five-months pregnant, and “her hormones were going crazy and she was yelling and screaming at (the defendant),” O’Shea said. O’Shea also noted Clemons turned himself in to police when he learned of the warrant for his arrest and had been living with the girlfriend, who had left the courtroom to get bail money.O’Shea requested personal recognizance based on “the weakness” of the Commonwealth’s case and his client’s lack of defaults on his record.Lauranzano, a former Essex assistant district attorney, said he appreciated the Commonwealth’s position regarding bail versus a dangerousness hearing to ensure the case moves forward.”I suspect five-thousand is tantamount to holding him without bail, a request so you can sleep at night,” he told Bellavia. Lauranzano then noted as a prosecutor “I would be doing pretty much the same.”But Lauranzano ordered a $2,000 personal surety bond and ordered no abuse of the named victim, warning Clemons he would be “held without bail until the case is resolved” if he violated the condition or did not show up to court.Clemons assured the judge he would return, and is scheduled to do so Feb. 6.Lt. Rick Donnelly of the Lynn Police said Monday afternoon that he hadn’t looked at the police report. But he said every situation to which police respond is different and there are no criteria for what should always or never be in a police report.