A status hearing involving an investigation into an alleged sexual relationship between a former New Bedford District Court judge and assistant Bristol County District Attorney will be held April 9 before a Mass. Supreme Judicial Court associate justice.

 

The investigation stems from an appeal of the denial of a new trial in the conviction of Gerson Pascual-Santana in 2023 in New Bedford District Court.

 

The presiding judge in Pascual-Santana’s conviction was Douglas J. Darnbrough and the case was prosecuted by the assistant district attorney in question.

 

The case could potentially serve as a precedent in any of the other cases involving Darnbrough and the ADA.

 

The Committee for Public Counsel Services “preliminarily identified approximately 3,700 docket numbers with which both the prosecutor and the judge at issue were involved,” according to a motion with the court to become part of a prior SJC hearing.

 

See more at heraldnews.com.