By Alvin Buyinza and Ryan Mancini
masslive.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — After about a decade of voicing the same concerns, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno is once again questioning, “What will it take” to keep what he calls violent repeat offenders off the streets. His renewed plea comes after police arrested eight Springfield residents last week, including a repeat firearms offender.
Jahiem Sutherland, 21, is one of the eight city residents who was arrested on March 12, according to the Springfield Police Department. In addition to his prior firearms convictions, Sutherland has two open firearms cases.
Sutherland was held in jail from October 2023 to April 2024 in one open gun-related case, according to court records. A judge found the man dangerous in February 2024. In April 2024 , his bail was set at $4,000 with conditions, such as wearing a GPS.
Sutherland was indicted in January 2024 in another gun-related case, court records show. His bail conditions were the same as in the first case. In both cases, there were notices for violations of pre-trial release conditions, with the most recent last month.
On March 12, the 21-year-old was arrested following a police pursuit, during which a Massachusetts State Police trooper got a concussion that required stitches, according to the department. Sutherland also removed the electronic monitoring ankle bracelet he wore during his arrest. He now has 43 adult arraignments, 25 of which are firearm charges.
Sutherland, like many of the people who were arrested that day, faces various gun and drug-related charges, the department said.
“We have a revolving door of repeat, violent, gun-toting, poison-dealing offenders who are not being held as they should,” Sarno said in a statement. “These numerous crimes, again one suspect with 25 gun charges by age 21 and two current open gun cases, could be prevented along with the injury to a State Trooper and the threat to the safety of our residents and community. I continue to question, what it will take for our court system to take action and protect our community.”
Sarno has spoken out about this issue for more than a decade, claiming there is a “revolving door“ for repeat offenders being released back to the public due to low or no bail.
Sarno’s previous calls for change
Sarno has pushed state lawmakers for years to pass bail reform legislation. If passed, it would allow prosecutors to appeal bail decisions just like criminal defense attorneys do.
Despite there being no changes, he continues pushing the issue.
“I remain hopeful on this common-sense legislation that would keep repeat violent offenders off our streets and out of our neighborhoods,” Sarno said in a statement to MassLive.
“The time is long overdue for our court system and some of our judges to stop coddling these repeat violent offenders and ‘shut down their revolving door,’ and start protecting the rights of victims and their families,” the Springfield mayor added.
Sarno last re-filed the bill with state Rep. Angelo J. Puppolo , D-12th Hampden , in January.
And this is not the first time Sarno has spoken out about Sutherland specifically.
Sutherland was arrested in June 2023 at the 900 block of Worthington Street after police said they seized a fully automatic high-capacity ghost gun from him. He was wearing a GPS ankle bracelet from an open illegal firearms case in which he was out on bail at the time.
“There is something seriously wrong when a repeat offender keeps getting rearrested multiple times with illegal guns and they are allowed to be released with little to no consequences for their actions,” Sarno said in a statement in 2023. “What message is this sending to our residents, business community and even our law enforcement officials? It is our residents and businesses that suffer from the lack of justice from some judges.”
Sarno has spoken out about other repeat offenders who have gotten back on the streets after posting bail too.
In 2017, Christopher Graham was charged after police said he pulled a gun on a West Springfield man following a traffic dispute. During his arraignment, a judge originally set bail for him at $10,000. But Graham’s defense attorney appealed that amount to just $5,000.
Graham posted that amount and was released.
“What is it going to take to keep negative individuals such as Mr. Christopher Graham off our streets and out of our neighborhoods,” Sarno said in a statement in 2017.
In 2021, following an illegal firearms bust, authorities arrested five people in Springfield , two of whom had been arrested on weapons charges within three years. One had two prior convictions, while the other was awaiting trial.
Benjamin Hunter-Blake , of the five who were arrested, was convicted twice for separate firearms offenses in 2018 and 2019, The Republican reported. Kahsim Wilson, the other suspect at the time, was released from custody while he was awaiting trial in connection to a 2020 gun arrest.
“Again, again and again, repeat violent criminal offenders are being let go through the revolving doors of the justice system,” Sarno said during a press conference in 2021. “Why are these people back on the streets?”
Why things haven’t changed
Judges and attorneys have said that Sarno is ignoring the fact that judges must adhere to the Brangan doctrine, a legal precedent that says a judge must consider a defendant’s financial resources when setting bail, according to The Republican.
The Brangan doctrine is at the top of the list of factors a judge must consider when setting bail, the other factors include the defendant’s conviction record and the nature of the offense committed.
Although defendants have a right to appeal a high bail to a Superior Court , prosecutors are limited to just seeking “dangerousness hearings,” which, if ordered, can hold a defendant in jail for 120 days.
Luke Ryan , a civil rights and criminal defense attorney, told The Republican in 2023 that keeping defendants behind bars does more harm to society than letting them out. While locked up these people can lose out on employment or housing.
“You’re kicking a can down the road and increasing the odds someone will reoffend after they are eventually released,” Ryan told the newspaper. The attorney said that prosecutors prefer to call for high bails over dipping their hands into potential evidence against their defendant.
But, Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni told The Republican that his office has been pushing for more dangerousness hearings since the Brangan decision was issued in 2017.
“The fundamental idea that we’re concerned about testing our evidence is mostly false,” Gulluni told The Republican. “Also the numbers of dangerousness hearings in my office do not bear that out. Brangan has swept into our court system and we started increasing our numbers as a response.”
The increase in dangerousness hearings from Gulluni’s office from 2017 to 2022 was also a response to the uptick in violent crimes in cities such as Springfield and Holyoke during that time, The Republican reported.
“It’s not to say we seek to hold everyone who commits crimes. There are a small percentage of the criminal population who are really violent. We are working to identify those people and and working to incarcerate them,” Gulluni said. “We are turning the screws as much as we possibly can.”
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