Boston D.A. asks Ashcroft to not Seek the Death Penalty in Brima Wurie Case

• Out of 20 men on federal death row, 17 are minorities.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, fearful the feds could alienate black leaders helping battle back violence in Boston, is urging Attorney General John Ashcroft not to seek lethal injection for a 25-year-old Dorchester gangster charged with killing a rival. The Boston DA sent a personal appeal asking Ashcroft to spare Cape Verdean drug dealer Brima Wurie from becoming the third young black male in Massachusetts to face federal execution, the Herald has learned. Wurie is accused of the racketeering murder of rival Luis Carvalho in a Boston garage on Feb. 17, 2000. The TenPoint Coaltion, whose leaders helped drive down spiraling murder rates in Boston a decade ago, oppose the use of the federal death penalty in fighting street violence, citing racial and socioeconomic disparities in use of the law. [more]