And on the seventh day, they rested. The Christmas gift that jurors gave Tim Cahill in his corruption trial is looking to be the equivalent of 12 days of worth of presents to pundits around the state. The Suffolk County jury, which had acquitted Cahill’s former chief of staff Scott Campbell on Tuesday, was unable to reach a verdict on Cahill after more than 40 hours of deliberations, forcing Superior Court Judge Christine Roach to declare a mistrial yesterday.
Cahill, in the spirit of a tried and true politician, spun the deadlock as “total vindication,” apparently overlooking the fact that while there were jurors favoring acquittal, there were also some on the panel who voted to find him guilty. Tina Cahill could not contain her emotions that justice was served for her husband, though she says she prepped her daughters for the possibility of another result.
Without a verdict to parse – and even if there was, it would be the same – everyone is looking to divine winners and losers in the aftermath. The Herald’s Howie Carr, bless his soul, never misses an opportunity to tweak Attorney General Martha Coakley, who brought the case, and this gave him more than ample ammunition. An accompanying analysis says the non-verdict is just as politically deadly to Coakley as an acquittal would have been, though the paper also has a story that the trial will and should send chills up the spine of pols looking to use their office budgets for campaign-style self-promotion.
Over at The Phoenix, David Bernstein dismisses chatter that the Cahill verdict will harm Coakley politically, arguing that Coakley had to take a run at Cahill after she received a whistleblower’s public tip, and evidence backing it up. The Globe is a bit more circumspect, saying the fallout may or may not affect Coakley going forward. Can’t miss with that prediction.
The Globe’s editorial board says, regardless of the result, the 2009 ethics law that opened the door for Coakley to go after Cahill was and is a necessary restraint on political corruption and hijinks and the mistrial should have no one thinking to change it.
For her part, Coakley is unsure about retrying the case but she said all things being equal, she’d do it all over again. Politics, she said with a straight face, never entered the equation.
–JACK SULLIVAN
BEACON HILL
Gov. Deval Patrick shuffles four members of his cabinet, bringing in Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral to run public safety.
UMass President Robert Caret warns of dire “fiscal cliff” consequences, the Lowell Sun reports.
The Berkshire Eagle likes the Amazon sales tax deal.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Salem and Beverly explore whether contracting jointly for trash pickup will save them money, the Salem News reports.
The average home value in Bridgewater dropped by nearly 2 percent — a total of 23 percent since 2007 — but the average tax bill increased this year by $118, with the tax rate going up nearly 5 percent over last year.
CASINOS
Steve Wynn moves closer to submitting a proposal for a casino in Everett.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
Scott Brown bids farewell to his Senate colleagues — for now. As expected, Elizabeth Warren will serve on the Banking Committee.
New York magazine riffs on Nate Silver’s observation that Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers are highest when she’s at her lowest moments, arguing that Clinton is “trapped in the catch-22 of female ambition: To succeed, she needs to be liked, but to be liked, she needs to temper her success.”
Karl Rove thinks President Obama is playing hardball in the fiscal cliff negotiations because he wants to blow up the Republican House.
The Wall Street Journal explores how an order to overhaul the terrorist watch list turned into a massive database tracking US citizens who hadn’t been accused, or suspected, of any wrongdoing.
Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey hired an unpaid intern who was in this country illegally and also a registered sex offender, NBC reports.
ELECTIONS
After fellow columnist Scot Lehigh got all dreamy-eyed yesterday over the idea of a Bill Weld Senate run, Joan Vennochi gets real on Big Red.
Memo: “The Republicans have run out of persuadable white voters.”
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Hanover contractor P.A. Landers, which was onced barred from bidding public contracts after being convicted of overcharging the state and communities for paving projects, has agreed to pay a $100,000 fine for overcharging cities and towns for road sand.
The Globe looks at the giant Chinese auto parts maker that is acquiring Waltham-based A123 Systems.
The Federal Reserve Bank says it will tie short-term interest rates to economic indicators, Time reports. Here is the Wall Street Journal story.
EDUCATION
The Andover School Committee takes up a proposal requiring students to take Breathalyzer tests before attending dances and other school functions, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
In the Bay State Banner, the Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts outlines its observations about the Boston public schools’ lack of teacher diversity.
A penalty flag is thrown as Arlington High School is forced to forfeit games from last year because many of the school’s sports team had ineligible players.
Southborough police are brought in to help deal with a middle school student who sent offensive texts to others.
TRANSPORTATION
And, lo, a cheer went up across the land: Rail service to Cape Cod begins Memorial Day 2013.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Could fracking be in the Pioneer Valley’s future?
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s post-Hurricane Sandy prescription: solar panels for everybody.
The state has opened bids for a wind staging project at the soon-to-be renovated South Terminal in New Bedford.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Convicted sex offender John Burbine was arraigned on 100 counts of child sexual abuse and ordered held without bail.
The Fall River Housing Authority will have to spend nearly $80,000 to clean up asbestos dust spread after thieves ripped off insulation and stole a couple hundred dollars worth of copper piping.
Haverhill Police accuse a resident of receiving pills for free under a state health plan and then selling them in Maine, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
MEDIA
The Kansas City Star goes all Hunger Games on two reporters.
Starting today, the FCC requires broadcasters and cable providers to turn down the volume on excessively loud commercials, mandating they be no louder than the “same average volume” as the shows in which they run.