Goose Pond Case Heading To Trial

BARNSTABLE – The case of a Chatham teen charged in connection with an alleged racially motivated incident last summer at Goose Pond will go to trial in the spring.

March 17 was set for the start of the trial during an Aug. 7 hearing in Barnstable Juvenile Court. The trial is expected to run through March 21.

“I think we’re going to need the full week,” said Eilieen Moriarty, the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case for the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office.

In July 2023, two teens allegedly threw rocks at and repeatedly attempted to drown another teen at Goose Pond. The alleged aggressors, who were 13 and 14 at the time of the alleged incident, are white, while the 15-year-old victim is Black. The white teens also allegedly directed racial slurs at the Black teen, with the 13-year-old at one point referring to him as “George Floyd,” according to police reports.

The March trial centers upon the involvement of the older of the two teens, who is now 15. The teen, who The Chronicle is not identifying by name because he is a juvenile, is being tried as a “youthful offender,” meaning he will be tried as an adult despite his age.

During a court appearance in September in Barnstable Superior Court, The 15-year-old was released into the custody of his father in Chatham, where he has been confined under GPS monitoring. The case has since been remanded back to juvenile court.

More than a year after the incident, Judge Sylvia Gomes on Aug. 7 urged that Moriarty and Kevin Reddington, the attorney representing the 15-year-old, move things forward as quickly as possible.

“The reason I’m asking is I’m trying to figure out what can be scheduled beforehand,” she said. “Because I’ve got a case that’s 342 days old, and I do believe this case can’t come to a resolution and it needs to go to trial.”

Reddington in March expressed his intention to file a motion to dismiss the case over the D.A.’s decision to try the 15-year-old as a youthful offender while the other teen is being charged as a juvenile. He said after the Aug. 7 hearing that efforts by the defense and the prosecution to come to a resolution in the case have gotten “no cooperation” whatsoever from the alleged victim.

Gomes asked if the prosecution and defense could set a trial date sooner, but scheduling conflicts would not allow a date earlier than March.

“I recognize that everyone has schedules, but when we mark this for trial we’re going to stick to these dates,” she said.

A Nov. 21 pretrial conference has been scheduled, at which time Gomes asked that the prosecution and defense each present their witness and exhibit lists. A discovery hearing was also set for Feb. 18.

That still leaves a window for a resolution to be reached, but Reddington said he’s doubtful.

“I don’t see it happening,” he said. “It’s going to go to trial.”

Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com