On 27 February 2003, Gerald Amirault's attorneys called a press conference to announce that Gerald had petitioned Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to commute his sentence and release him from prison. Here is the press release from that conference:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2003
Gerald's wife Patti also provided me with this letter to supporters:GERALD AMIRAULT SEEKS EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY
FROM GOVERNOR ROMNEY
Gerald Amirault, who has been in prison for more than 16 years since his 1986 conviction in the controversial Fells Acres case, today petitioned Governor Mitt Romney to commute his 30-40 year sentence and order his release. In July 2001,the Massachusetts Parole Board voted unanimously in favor of commutation, but that recommendation was rejected by Acting Governor Jane Swift in February 2002, shortly before she withdrew from the gubernatorial race. Under the applicable regulations, Amirault had to wait one full year before filing a new clemency petition.
The prosecution and conviction of Violet, Cheryl, and Gerald Amirault for the alleged sexual abuse of numerous young children at their family-owned day care center in Malden has generated widespread skepticism in recent years. The Middlesex District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted the case in the mid 1980s, has acknowledged that the suggestive techniques used in questioning the young children who testified against the Amiraults would not be used today. A number of persons convicted in similar cases in California, North Carolina, new Jersey, and elsewhere during the 1980s have since been exonerated and released from prison. Gerald's mother, Violet Amirault, and his sister, Cheryl Amirault LeFave, were convicted in a separate trial, but released from prison in 1995.
In 1998, Superior Court Judge Isaac Borenstein reviewed the Fells Acres investigation in depth and issued a lengthy decision concluding that grossly improper methods used to question young children in the case rendered their testimony completely unreliable. The Supreme Judicial Court subsequently vacated Judge Borenstein's decision on procedural grounds, without addressing or criticizing his substantive findings. In recommending that Gerald Amirault's prior commutation petition be granted, the Parole Board wrote that there was "real and substantial doubt" about his guilt and that releasing him from prison was "a case of simple fundamental fairness." Acting Governor Jane Swift refused to go along with the Board's recommendation, but provided no specific reason for her decision.
Amirault's commutation petition was filed by a team of lawyers, including James L. Sultan, Harvey A. Silverglate, and Harvard Law Professor Charles J. Ogletree. "The people of Massachusetts know that Gerald Amirault's continued imprisonment is a gross miscarriage of justice which should have been rectified long ago," Sultan said. "The Parole Board, a group of law enforcement experts composed primarily of former prosecutors and police officers, examined the case in depth and reached the same conclusion. We are confident that if Governor Romney takes a close look at this case, respects the views of the parole Board, and listens to the people of Massachusetts, he will decide to set Gerald free."
Under state law, Amirault's petition must again be considered by the Parole Board before being submitted to the Governor for decision. There is no fixed timetable for the process to be completed. If released, Amirault would return home to Malden to his wife, Patricia, and their three children.
February 26, 2003 Dear Friends,
Tomorrow we will formally file a petition asking Governor Mitt Romney to commute Gerald Amirault's sentence, as was recommended 5-0 by the Parole Board last year. We are filing almost a year to the day aften then Acting Governor, Jane Swift, overruled the Parole Board and denied the previous petition, despite the many letters of support we inundated her office with.
Although it may seem that our letters and please for justice keep falling on deaf ears, we can't stop trying to right this terrible injustice. So again I am seeking your help. I need you to write to the Governor expressing your support of the Commutation Petition and requesting that Governor Romney do the right thing and uphold the parole Board's recommendation. The letters should not be long but should tell why you lend your support. Individuals, rather than families, should write so that the Governor will see how much support there is for commutation.
On behalf of my family, I would like to thank you for your anticipated assistance. We are, and will be, forever grateful to each of you for all your kindness over the last 18 terrible years. We love you all!
Gratefully,
Patti Amirault and the Amirault family
Gerald, Gerrilyn, Katie and P.J.Letters can be sent to:
The Honorable Mitt Romney
Room 360
Boston MA 02123
Phone: 617/725-4005
FAX: 617/727-9725
Email: GOffice@state.ma.us
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