Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe admitted that his office made a mistake in how it handled the case for the driver accused of causing a fatal crash in Cotuit.
O'Keefe confirmed a police chase led up to the crash over the weekend, and 22-year-old Fall River native Mickey Rivera, a wrong-way driver in the incident, had previously been arrested for drunk driving, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and marked lanes violation after an incident on June 4.
The crash in Cotuit killed a Marine veteran, identified as Kevin Quinn, on his way home from the hospital, where his wife had just given birth.
>>MORE: New father among 2 dead in head-on crash in Cotuit
Rivera allegedly drove head-on into Quinn's car, killing both of them.
According to O'Keefe, Rivera never should've been behind the wheel in the first place after the June 4 incident.
O'Keefe told Boston 25 News that O'Keefe had been released without bail, and the assistant district attorney made an error in the case.
"There were many cases on arraignment," O'Keefe said. "The young prosecutor should have stepped the case back to fully recognize what the Bristol County case meant."
The prosecutor had only been on the job for one month, and asked for a bail warning and for Rivera to be released on personal recognizance, rather than asking for Rivera to be sent back to jail.
O'Keefe said the prosecutor was not aware of Rivera's previous arrests in Fall River, as he was supposed to appear in court on July 31 to face charges of armed assault and attempted robbery in connection with a deadly shooting in 2015.
>>MORE: DA: 2nd driver in fatal Cotuit crash was due in court on charges in 2015 murder
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