Meningitis Defendant Wants Out from Home Detention

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Citing "onerous bail conditions" and contending he "never posed any danger to the community," a man charged with 25 counts of second degree murder has asked a federal judge to free him from home detention.
In a five-page motion filed this week in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., lawyers for Barry Cadden say he needs to be free to leave his Wrentham, Mass. home to meet with his lawyers and tend to the needs of his children.
Cadden is one of 14 persons charged in the wake of a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that sickened 778 patients, killing 76 of them. He is scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 5, 2017.
The motion, which is opposed by federal prosecutors is scheduled for a Monday hearing.
In opposing Cadden's motion, federal prosecutors, charged that, "The following months present a serious risk of Cadden's flight."
The six-page prosecution filing notes that Cadden, if convicted on all charges, faces possible life imprisonment. They also noted that Cadden's motion to dismiss the most serious charges was recently denied by the federal judge presiding over his case.
Cadden's motion, however, states that he has never been a flight risk and that if his motion were granted he would still be under constant electronic monitoring. In addition his lawyers noted Cadden already has surrendered his passport and has complied with his current restrictions.
His bail, the motion notes, would remain at $500,000.
The motion states that with the trial approaching Cadden will need to be available to meet with his lawyers on short notice.
Finally Cadden's lawyers stated that when their client was informed that he was about to be arrested in late 2014, he was waiting at the front door of his home when federal agents arrived.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, cited Cadden's recent "unfounded and inflammatory allegations" that federal prosecutors had engaged in misconduct by tipping off the media of his impending arrest.
That charge, like the motion to dismiss the second degree murder charges, was rejected by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns.
Two other defendants in the case, Douglas and Carla Conigliaro, have asked Stearns for permission to travel with their son to Yale University where their son will be participating in a summer squash camp.
Cadden and the Conigliaro family were owners of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the 2012 deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis.
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