By Nathan Metcalf
Boston University Statehouse Program
After years of controversy surrounding the Norfolk County district attorney’s office, voters will choose a new top prosecutor this fall as a crowded field of candidates begins to take shape.
District attorneys serve as the chief law enforcement officials in their counties, overseeing criminal prosecutions, working with police on investigations, and deciding what charges to bring or whether to bring them at all.
The race comes after longtime Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey announced in January that he would not seek reelection, having served since 2010. Morrissey’s tenure has drawn increasing scrutiny in recent years over how his office handled several high-profile cases.
The Sept. 1 Democratic primary is likely to decide the race, as voters in 28 cities and towns including in Wellesley choose from a field of six candidates.
High-profile cases fuel scrutiny of DA’s office
The most high-profile case in recent Norfolk County history was that of Karen Read, who was charged with killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, in 2022. Prosecutors alleged Read struck O’Keefe with her SUV and left him in the snow, while her defense argued she was framed and that O’Keefe was injured elsewhere.
The case drew national attention, fueled protests outside the courthouse, and raised questions about evidence handling and potential conflicts of interest. After a mistrial in 2024, Read was acquitted of the most serious charges in 2025, though she was convicted of driving under the influence.
Another case that intensified criticism of the office is the death of Sandra Birchmore, a 23-year-old woman found dead in her Canton apartment in 2021. Her death was initially ruled a suicide, and the district attorney’s office said it found no evidence of foul play.
Federal prosecutors later alleged that Birchmore was killed by a former Stoughton police officer, who staged the scene to appear as a suicide, raising questions about why the case was not pursued more aggressively at the local level.
Together, the cases have prompted broader concerns about investigative practices, prosecutorial decision-making, and the relationship between law enforcement agencies in Norfolk County. Those issues are now at the center of the race to replace Morrissey.
A crowded candidate field
Several candidates have centered their campaigns on reform aimed at restoring public trust, though they differ in how deeply they believe the office’s problems run.
Djuna Perkins, a former prosecutor and civil attorney, has been among the most forceful critics of the office’s recent performance. She pointed to what she described as “bad and unethical decisions” in the handling of high-profile cases and called the failure to pursue charges in the Sandra Birchmore case a “complete failure of our government” which inspired her to run for DA.
Perkins said she would begin her tenure with a top-to-bottom audit of the office and emphasized the need to return to “the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and transparency.”
Adam Deitch, a former federal prosecutor who worked on public corruption cases, has also emphasized restoring public trust, focusing on transparency and access to the office.
“Folks feel like the DA’s office is closed to them, and that should not be the case,” he said.
He said he would pursue that transparency through structural changes, including regular public meetings, expanded access to information and the creation of a dedicated anti-corruption unit. He also supports the creation of dedicated task forces for elder fraud and hate crimes.
Greg Connor, who spent 25 years as a prosecutor in the Norfolk DA’s office, has taken a different approach, emphasizing experience and continuity while acknowledging the need for change.
Connor acknowledged concerns about recent cases, saying the Karen Read prosecution was “overcharged,” but pointed to what he described as the office’s broader track record.
He highlighted the expansion of overdose prevention efforts and diversion programs such as drug court and veterans court and said he would build on those initiatives while more strictly enforcing conflict-of-interest rules requiring prosecutors or officers with personal connections to a case to step aside and introducing new units focused on cold cases and animal cruelty.
“I think that anyone who wins is going to rebuild that office in what they want to do,” he said, framing his candidacy as an effort to build on the office’s existing strengths rather than overhaul it.
Craig MacLellan, who has worked as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney, has positioned himself as another middle-ground candidate, arguing that reform is needed without dismissing the work of career prosecutors.
“The vast majority of cases … are handled in a professional manner,” he said of the current DA’s office.
He acknowledged that recent controversies have “caused the public to lose a great deal of confidence in the office,” criticizing “certain elements” of the Karen Read case as “very poorly” handled and saying the Birchmore investigation “left a lot to be desired.”
To regain public trust, MacLellan said the office is “in need of reform” in three core areas: community engagement and outreach, the office’s internal structure, and the way deaths are investigated, all of which need to be “reinvented and reimagined.”
Macy Lee, who currently serves as director of the state’s Office of Medicaid Board of Hearings and previously led a narcotics unit in the Suffolk County district attorney’s office, has emphasized her experience managing large systems and pointed to hate crimes and constitutional protections as key priorities, drawing on her own experiences with discrimination.
Lee, who is Asian American, said she “experienced hate at a very young age,” adding that those experiences have shaped her commitment to ensuring protections for “all residents, not just citizens,” and to taking a zero-tolerance approach to civil rights violations, including by federal immigration enforcement.
Jim Barakat, a defense attorney, has framed his campaign around a broader critique of the criminal justice system and the role of prosecutors within it.
“I’ve spent my career representing people against the full weight of the system, and that changes how you see justice,” he said.
Barakat argued that the office should move away from prioritizing conviction rates and instead focus on rehabilitation and reducing recidivism.
“We should be asking: are we reducing harm, are we treating people fairly, and are we building trust?” he said.
