Prosecutors Face License Suspensions for Racial Bias and Evidence Failures in Case That Imprisoned Teen for 17 Years

The independent agency that investigates ethics complaints against lawyers is recommending to the Supreme Judicial Court that high ranking Bristol County First Assistant District Attorney, Karen O’Sullivan, should face a two-year law license suspension over a case that sent a 17-year-old Asian American girl to prison for 17 years for murdering her parents in a house fire in Brockton in 2003.

Board of Bar Overseers (BBO) released the recommendation June 30 and agreed with the agency’s disciplinary panel that O’Sullivan and her then Plymouth County District Attorney co-counsel, John E. Bradley Jr., failed to release vital exculpatory evidence to the defense in the case against Frances Choy, and exchanged racially explicit anti-Asian emails while prosecuting the teenager.

The BBO is recommending to the SJC that Bradley’s law license be suspended for one year and a day. 

Only the SJC has the authority to suspend an attorney’s law license.

After two mistrials, a third trial found Choy guilty of the double murder, and she was sentenced to life in prison.

Frances Choy at age 17 chained to a railing at Brockton Police Station. Courtesy Boston College Innocent Program.

Choy spent 17 years behind bars before her conviction was vacated in 2020 after the racial emails came to light and 34 years old at the time of her release.

Several requests for comments from Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III regarding the BBO’s recommendation and O’Sullivan’s status at the DA’s office went unanswered.

O’Sullivan was hired by the Bristol County DA’s office in 2012 under former DA Sam Sutter after leaving the Plymouth County DA’s office. She has served as the First Assistant District Attorney for the Bristol County DA’s office under Quinn III.

Quinn, who is in his third term, is not seeking re-election.

Withholding evidence negligent, not intentional

The BBO agreed with the disciplinary panel that O’Sullivan and Bradley did not intentionally conceal evidence that would have cast light on another member of the family, Kenny Choy. The evidence would have shown that Kenny Choy had runaway after a fight with his grandfather for selling drugs and before the fire.

But the BBO still had hard words for the two prosecutors’ actions.

“The harm was significant. Frances Choy spent seventeen years in prison for a crime she may not have committed. She was 17 years old when arrested and 34 years old when released. She lost the formative, young years of her life. Given the stakes, the lack of attention to detail was outrageous,” wrote the BBO board.

Both panels questioned the truthfulness of O’Sullivan’s testimony during the 13 hearings conducted between March 2024 and May 2024, and whether she understood the seriousness of the racially infused emails she and Bradley communicated during the trial.

BBO counsel also alleged that O’Sullivan continued acts of professional misconduct after the disciplinary hearings began for communicating with an assistant district attorney who was scheduled to testify before the BBO’s disciplinary panel.

According to the Boston College Law Review, sanctions against racially motivated prosecutors are exceptionally rare and new rules governing attorney’s ethical responsibilities should be reviewed and revised.

The BBO’s website indicates Bradley’s law license is inactive while O’Sullivan’s is active.