Reporter
Richardson Ellement is a Metro reporter who has covered northern New England, Boston police, the courts, and major breaking news stories for the Globe for the past 25 years. In 2010, he received the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Excellence in Legal Journalism award. He is an adjunct professor at Boston University. Currently, he is an online reporter and editor.
Latest stories
New extreme in Dookhan case fallout — alleged murder
By Brian Ballou and Travis Andersen , Globe Staff
A man charged in a Brockton killing was freed from prison because of evidence tainted by former state drug lab chemist Annie Dookhan.
Injured MBTA officer moved to rehab hospital
By John R. Ellement , Globe Staff
Richard “Dic” Donohue, who was injured during the Watertown shoot-out, has moved to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
Whitey Bulger’s lawyers oppose criminal background checks of jurors
By Shelley Murphy and John R. Ellement , Globe Staff
The defense attorneys argued that the existence of a criminal record, by itself, should not be a bar to jury service.
SJC ruling says former Brockton man gets new trial because prosecutor called him ‘street thug’
By John R. Ellement , Globe Staff
A former Brockton man, who was allegedly armed when he was shot by State Police in 2006, was granted a new trial on an attempted murder charge after the state’s highest court ruled Tuesday that a Norfolk County prosecutor was wrong to call Joshua Lewis a “street thug’’ in his closing argument. Lewis was convicted of assault with intent to murder and illegal gun charges in Norfolk Superior Court in 2007 and has now served his six-year sentence. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court said prosecutor Robert W. Nelson “improperly disparaged the defendant and counsel, and invited the jury to decide the case irrationally and on general terms.’’