Trial judge in Conley case upholds jury’s verdict

NORTHAMPTON  – A Hampshire Superior Court judge has denied Christopher Conley’s request for a new trial based on his assertion that his trial attorneys were ineffective. 

Conley is serving a prison sentence of 16-18 years stemming from his conviction by a jury in February, 2020 after a three-week trial on charges of attempted murder, assault and battery on a child with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury. The case was prosecuted by former Child Abuse Unit Chief Linda Pisano, Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne and Assistant District Attorney Bethany Lynch. 

The charges resulted from a 2015 incident in which a 7-year-old child in Conley’s care became severely ill after he injected Liquid-Plumr into the girl’s intestines through a medical device and then gave her an overdose of painkillers, leading to successive surgeries and medical interventions.

Conley appealed the conviction to the trial judge in the case, Hampshire Superior Court Richard Carey, stating that his defense attorneys, Mark Bluver and John Godleski, failed to provide him with an effective defense.

In a ruling released Tuesday, Carey stated that Bluver and Godleski had indeed provided him with effective counsel. He noted that the examples cited by Conley as suggesting his defense team failed to act in his best interest represent “minor instances in the context of highly detailed, fact-intensive testimony that spanned days on the part of both witnesses. None of them stood out as particularly impactful, "make or break" moments in this intense, emotionally charged trial…” 

Judge Carey’s decision concluded: “Even viewed in the aggregate, the overall impact of these allegedly improper statements and questions does not raise any serious concerns that the jury might have reached a different verdict had they been excluded, and, in the court's view, certainly did not create a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice.”

“This was a horrific crime, which makes the decision to uphold the  jury verdict particularly heartening,” said First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne.  “Despite a vigorous defense from his trial attorneys, the evidence of the defendant’s guilt was too overwhelming to overcome.” 

Conley can now appeal the denial of his motion for new trial, as well as his convictions, to the Massachusetts Appeals Court, a process that could take 1-2 years. 

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Criminal charges are based on probable cause to believe a person has committed a crime. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.