Content area
Full text
At the conclusion of a second full day of controversial testimony, the Governor's Council finally got to hear from the nominee himself on Wednesday (Sept. 24).
After enduring criticism of everything from his tactics as a Suffolk County prosecutor to his facial expressions, Parole Board Chairman Joshua I. Wall told the council that a desire to serve the public has guided his career and that he was "humbled and honored" to be nominated by Gov. Deval L. Patrick for a seat on the Superior Court bench.
"I wanted to be involved in hands-on public service that delivers something meaningful to individuals," Wall said in describing a journey that led him from corporate and transactional work at an international law firm in New York to, ultimately, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, where he would rise to become a long-serving first assistant to DA Daniel F. Conley.
Wall said he didn't have any knowledge of or experience with parole when Patrick tapped him to take over the Parole Board in the midst of a crisis following the board's controversial 2011 decision to parole Dominic Cinelli, who went on to shoot and kill a Woburn police officer.
"I said yes for one reason: because I had been asked to serve," Wall said. "I considered it my duty to say yes. The governor said, 'We have a problem with public safety and you can help.' I adopted the governor's philosophy on parole and did my best to implement it."
Citing Cinelli and other...