Conviction of black Muslim overturned after racist messages from lawyer

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A black Muslim man charged with sex trafficking in Massachusetts has had his conviction overturned after his court-appointed attorney’s racist posts were made public.

The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously determined that attorney Richard Doyle had ideas that prevented him from effectively representing the defendant, Anthony Dew.

Destitute and facing multiple felony charges, the defendant was appointed as a lawyer who openly posted, on his social media account, his vitriolic hatred and bigotry against people of the Muslim faith; his brazen anti-Muslim rants were matched only by his contempt and racism towards black people, the court heard, according to The Associated Press via NBC News.

Doyle, since deceased, continued his racist attacks for more than four years; including when he had Dew as a client.

These posts… included a variety of slurs and anti-Muslim statements calling for violence and celebrating the deaths of people of the Muslim faith, posts mocking black people and comments, some apparently made in a state courthouse , apparently referring to Doyles’ clients as thugs and suggesting that Doyles’ non-white clients were criminals, the court heard.

He also convinced Dew to make a plea deal instead of going to trial to prove his innocence; Dew was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Dew’s appellate attorney Edward Gaffney has won support from the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations to defend his position in the High Court, according to the Associated Press.

It is often quite difficult for members of marginalized communities to obtain justice in our criminal justice system, said Barbara Dougan, the council’s legal director. Here, the court refused to downplay the level of religious and racial hatred that the defense attorney displayed was indeed displayed publicly for the world to see.

Dew was charged in March 2015 with 19 counts, including five counts of human trafficking and one count of rape. He pleaded guilty to all counts except rape, and began his sentence in 2016.

After serving six years in prison, Dew was paroled on Thursday, June 15, 2023.

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