Authorities investigate the July 2018 shooting incident at the home of former Pittsfield Police Officer Miles Barber. Barber has admitted to improperly storing his gun, which his daughter used to harm herself. EAGLE FILE PHOTO
PITTSFIELD â The criminal case against a former Pittsfield Police officer whose teenage daughter used his service weapon to shoot herself will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for two years.
Miles Barber, 58, admitted last week to improperly storing his large-capacity firearm near a minor by leaving it on top of a bureau in his home in July 2018.
Judge John Agostini rejected a recommendation by the Berkshire District Attorneyâs Office to sentence Barber to four to five years in state prison, calling the request âquite unusual.â Instead, he adopted the defenseâs recommendation to continue the case without a finding for two years.
Andres Huertas is shown in 2017, when he became a full-time officer in the Great Barrington Police Department. EAGLE FILE PHOTO
GREAT BARRINGTON â A police officer who delayed dispatching an ambulance for more than 25 minutes said he had been distracted in the stationâs 911 communications center when that call came in, an internal investigation says.
Officer Andres Huertas was disciplined with temporary suspensions, according to documents related to a probe of the episode, obtained by The Eagle.
In a memorandum about the flawed April 26 dispatch, Huertas told Great Barrington Police Chief Paul Storti that at the time of the call for an ambulance to East Street to assist Luis Del Mar, he was fielding other calls in the dispatch hub, as well as letting people into the lobby at the Main Street station. Del Mar had been struggling for breath and died that night.
Mike Ziemba told the board Monday July 12, that he has compared Williamstown s policies against 170 policies from the town of Great Barrington, where the department is accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission. Ziemba said it is the WPD s goal to achieve that same level of accreditation, a long-term process the department has just undertaken. He highlighted a couple of policies that have been updated, including one where changes were necessitated by the commonwealth s recent police reform bill. The WPD s new use of force policy, among other things, spells out a prohibition on the use of choke holds, Ziemba said. He also provided some detail on his department s policy on de-escalation techniques, which include using techniques like verbal persuasion warnings and calling in mental health consultants.
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NORTH ADAMS â It has been 15 months since jurors considered a case in Northern Berkshire District Court, seizing up the normal wheels of justice. Thatâs about to change. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court says restrictions on jury trials, other than masking requirements, end July 12.
Quote There s no question there s a backlog. We have some cases that are a couple years old now.
â Timothy Morey, clerk-magistrate, Northern Berkshire District Court
When the coronavirus pandemic struck the U.S. in March 2020, courts closed and jury trials were put on hold. Since then, jury trials have been limited across the county.
Three jury trials have been held this year in all of Berkshire County â one Superior Court case and two juvenile cases, all at the Pittsfield Holiday Inn & Suites, according to Jennifer Donahue, a spokesperson for the stateâs Trial Court. Cases of those in custody will continue to be prioritized, the SJC said in a policy statement last w