Retired Massachusetts State Police Captain James Coughlin, and his wife Leslie are facing charges connected to the drowning death of 17 year old Alonzo Polk during a graduation party last summer.
The teen was pulled from the Coughlin’s swimming pool, he could not be resuscitated.
The Coughlins are charged with reckless endangerment of a child, and procuring alcohol for minors.
It is an emotionally charged case, the victim’s friends and supporters, have frequently showed up at pretrial hearings, demanding justice.
But as this case moves forward, the Coughlins claim they are being harassed in their own home.
Defense attorney Brian Kelly says a video was shot in mid June, outside the Coughlin’s Dedham home at 4AM shows the harassment.
In the fifteen minute long video, a group of people play loud obscenity filled music, and they yell at the Coughlin’s house.
One person stands on a stone wall, and it appears another repeatedly kicks a vehicle parked in the Coughlin’s driveway.
“They don’t deserve to be harassed and intimidated at their home in four in the morning,” attorney Kelly said.
Defense Attorney Brian Kelly adds the video was recorded by one of the Coughlins from inside their house.
“This type of activity is dangerous because it intimidates witnesses, it can lead to violence and it undermines the rule of law,” Kelly said.
Kelly told Boston 25′s Bob Ward Dedham Police were called, but the group was gone when a cruiser arrived.
Kelly says no one in the video has been charged or even identified.
He also told Ward this was not an isolated incident.
“The criminal justice system is designed to handle cases like these, and that’s where they are supposed to handled in the courtroom, not in the streets,” Kelly said.
Dedham Police did not return Boston 25′s call.
The Norfolk DA’s office said it has been aware of this incident for some time, and that Dedham police are investigating it.
As for people in the video there is no indication of who they were, or why they were there.
Ward also tried to talk to Alonzo Polk’s family for comment, but I could not reach them.
The Coughlins are set to go on trial here at Dedham District Court in April.
They are each charged with two misdemeanors.
If convicted, they face up to two years in jail.
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