Officer Convicted in Beating of Student

BOSTON—A Boston Police Department (BPD) sergeant was found guilty in federal court yesterday of beating a Harvard undergraduate in a station house two years ago.

Sgt. Harry A. Byrne Jr. faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 for violating the civil rights of Garett D. Trombly ’03, after arresting the then-Cabot House resident near the Boston College campus shortly after midnight on Sept. 9, 2001.

Byrne—whose lawyer said he was looking into possible appeals—was also convicted on four separate counts of attempted witness tampering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 3.

During the U.S. District Court trial—which started last week after almost a year of delay—prosecutors and witnesses graphically described how Byrne punched Trombly in the face with closed fists, held him by the throat with one hand while striking him with the other and threw him across the room into a bench. Trombly’s jaw was broken in the incident, forcing him to eat through a straw for two weeks.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also marshaled four BPD officers who witnessed parts of Trombly’s arrest and beating to tell jurors of Byrne’s efforts in the ensuing weeks to persuade them to mislead federal investigators.

The jury unanimously rejected Byrne’s claim that he had used reasonable force in the incident. Taking the stand Tuesday, Byrne admitted striking Trombly in the Brighton station house but said that he had reacted in a terrified split-second after seeing the student reach for what he thought was a weapon.

After a series of escalating confrontations between Byrne and several of Trombly's friends on Sept. 7 and 8, 2001, Trombly was arrested for charges including assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. All charges against him were dropped, but the BPD’s Anti-Corruption Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation soon began to examine Trombly’s allegations of abuse, producing a federal indictment in January 2002. Byrne has been suspended from active duty since October 2001.

Trombly told The Crimson yesterday that he felt a sense of relief at the apparent end of the drawn-out legal process.

“I think the jury returned the right verdict,” he said. “I’m glad it’s over.”

Now a student at Suffolk University Law School, Trombly said the experience has played a major role in motivating him to devote his life to fighting police and political corruption.

“This event crystallized my desire to pursue a career in justice,” he said. “I hope to some day help a victim of corruption like I was helped.”

The BPD responded to yesterday's verdict with a repudiation of Byrne’s brutality.

“These actions are cowardly and criminal, and are condemned by the many decent and honorable officers who serve the people of Boston on a daily basis,” BPD Commissioner Paul F. Evans said in a statement to the press.

But Thomas J. Davis—a lifelong friend of Trombly's who witnessed part of the beating and testified in court last week—said that his faith in public institutions has been shaken.

“I’ve never looked at the whole city of Boston the same since that night,” he said. “You always hear about these things, the corruption inside police departments, but I thought that was a thing of the past.”

Byrne's lawyer, however, looked to the future. Libby suggested that with appeals potentially on the horizon, the story which brought together a 23-year police veteran and a junior economics concentrator still has some twists left in it after two years.

“I am very proud of Harry Byrne,” Libby said. “Here’s a man who did not fold when the federal government came after him back in January 2002, and he stood fast in this whole process, including trial where he took the stand in his own vigorous defense...So far as we’re concerned, we’re still looking forward and the case is not over.”

—Staff writer Simon W. Vozick-Levinson can be reached at vozick@fas.harvard.edu.