Incoming Norfolk County DA Djuna Perkins weighs in on Matthew Farwell Verdict

We continue to follow this major breaking news. Matthew Farwell found guilty on federal charges in the deaths of Sandra Birchmore and her unborn baby. That jury delivering the verdict after more than 15 hours of deliberations. It came around two o'clock this afternoon. Birchmore's family saying they've been waiting years for this moment. It's been a long time coming. It's been almost six years since we lost Sandra. And let's not forget her baby boy. And we finally got justice. We've been fighting long and hard for her. And she deserves this, she's waited a long time. Joining us now in the studio, Norfolk County District Attorney-elect, Juno Perkins. DA-elect, thank you so much for being here today. So much controversy has surrounded the office that you will assume in the beginning of January. Part of that controversy motivated you to seek this office. So let's just start with what we heard from the family members today. They believe this was the first domino to fall. They called out the Norfolk County DA's office and state police for not further investigating this in the aftermath of her death. Are you going to reinvestigate the investigation? So, I mean, the one of the first of all, I just want to say that this is a tremendous day for the family of Sandra Birchmore and also child sex abuse victims everywhere and intimate partner violence, intimate partner violence victims everywhere. And you know, whether I will reinvestigate so immediately, you know, certainly I'm going to open an investigative grand jury into the Youth Explorers program in Stoughton. I definitely, you know, on day one I'll be doing an audit of the office from top to bottom. I want to know, you know, what went wrong here and why, and to the extent possible, I want to disclose those results to the public, because even if we can't, if there's no evidence that we can prosecute, certainly if there is evidence we can prosecute, I will do that, and even if there isn't, I think the community needs to know what happened here. You take office in January. You had said this case was one of the reasons why you ran for this office. So what would you say your message is today to Sandra's family? And you mentioned this a little bit, but what can you promise them when it comes to commitment to pursuing any sense of accountability here into what happened? Look, we should have done this job instead of the feds. There is just no question in my mind about that. And that is a stain that our community is going to have to reckon with. There is no way that what happened to Sandra Birchmore should ever have happened to her and, you know, moreover, should never have been failed to be investigated or properly prosecuted. So the message is, you know, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that nothing like this ever happens to anyone ever again in our county. Your soon-to-be predecessor, current Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey, putting out a statement today that a lot of people are taking some umbrage with because he's suggesting it was the result of the medical examiner's report, the statement, the finding of death here being suicide in the cause and manner, basically hung them up and they couldn't move further with that. But as our analyst was telling us earlier, nothing happens in a silo. Everyone's talking, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean, you know, I absolutely disagreed with District Attorney Morrissey, and that's why I decided to challenge him two years ago. What do you think you need to do day one on the job? What's the first order of business when you get there? Well, overall, my number one priority is to restore the community's trust, because when something like this happens, it not only affects the criminal justice system, but also every other aspect of government. And I'm really excited because I feel like everyone in the law enforcement community and in the prosecution community is going to be motivated to help me with resources, with expertise. to get us back on track. What would you say to the team that you're going to soon lead? Because we did hear from the U.S. Attorney Leah Foley. She's like, it wasn't all bad apples here. We did have law enforcement members come to us and help push this investigation forward at the federal level. I mean, look, I think that the real issue in the Sandra Birchmore case, at least in the way it was handled in the DA's office, was a leadership issue. You can't blame people for not doing the right thing if you didn't train them and make it an atmosphere where they felt comfortable coming and expressing dissension. And so that's an important point to restore trust, even not just within the public, but within the office. Yes, within the office. And I'm sure that there's a lot of people. I'm sure that morale is is probably has probably suffered in the last five years. And with today's verdict, I'm sure it's kind of rocked the office as well. So, yeah, I mean, you know, I want to do my best to make this the best law office in Norfolk County there is and to make it a place where everybody wants to work. How do you think you can improve that morale? I think by being open and by being, you know, respectful of people's talents in the office and really just kind of being flexible and by teaching people the skills to be mentally flexible and fair and compassionate. You've never held public office before. We were talking a little bit off-camera here about sort of what motivates you and it sounds like you really want to bring a victim forward, survivor forward approach to your new position. Yeah, I mean I know what injustice feels like from a personal standpoint. I had a Pretty difficult childhood that began with my mother dying by suicide, so I know that not everybody is dealt the same deck of cards at birth, and justice is incredibly important. It is literally the cornerstone of a free society, and if we don't have a healthy criminal justice system, we don't really have a government. How do you think your experience, you were telling us a little bit about that during the commercial break, how do you think that positions you uniquely to succeed in this role specifically? I mean, I think it's great. The number one thing that people talked about that resonated for people during the campaign about me was my experience with domestic violence and sexual assault, men and women alike. It's like, About half of the people in Massachusetts have reported in a survey to the Department of Public Health that they had suffered from unwanted sexual contact at some point in their lifetimes. Half of all individuals? Yeah. 60% of men, I mean 60% of women and 40% of men. That's a tremendous number of people. We have a huge problem in our society and in Norfolk County specifically. All the high profile cases that the media reports on have victims who are women and children. And we will not lose sight of those victims as we move forward with reporting on this case and any other. Norfolk County District Attorney-elect Junia Perkins, live in studio with us, unpacking the Matthew Farwell verdict and how you will proceed in an office mired in controversy moving forward, hopefully giving it a fresh start. Thank you so much for your time today. Thanks so much for having me.