Mother gets probation in child endangerment case >Published: 6/30/2021 8:24:05 PM
NORTHAMPTON The former wife of Christopher Conley, the Northampton man sentenced to prison last year for trying to kill the couple’s 7-year-old daughter with drain cleaner, has been convicted of a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment of a child.
On Wednesday, Hampshire Superior Court Judge Richard Carey sentenced Julie Gordon, formerly Julie Conley, to probation until September 2023 for medical child abuse that allegedly took place during the two-year period prior to the 2015 poisoning.
In a virtual hearing held via Zoom, Gordon, 39, entered a plea of “nolo contendere,” meaning that she maintains her innocence but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict her at trial. Prosecutors and defense attorneys jointly recommended probation.
SJC hears appeal of Cara Rintala, Granby woman convicted of murdering wife in 2010
Updated May 06, 2021;
Posted May 06, 2021
Cara Rintala in Northampton Superior Court on day 8 of her 2016 trial. (Don Treeger / The Republican)Staff-Shot
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Annamarie Cochrane Rintala was 37 when she was found strangled on March 29, 2010 at their home.
The basis for the appeal hearing, granted by Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, includes defense allegations the prosecution’s paint expert’s findings lacked scientific rigor; and that superior court judge presiding over the trial, Mary-Lou Rup, now retired, had abused her discretion.
The defendant’s lawyer is disputing prosecution evidence related to paint found at the scene of the dead body, questioning the methodology used to determine how fast that took to dry.