Suffolk DA candidate apologizes in response to allegations of past abuse

Suffolk DA candidate Michael Maloney.BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF/FILE

Michael Maloney, the independent candidate for Suffolk District Attorney, issued an apology to his supporters Friday in response to a recent Globe report that detailed allegations of abuse and threats by his ex-wife in 2014.

“I have learned from my past mistakes,” Maloney said in a statement sent Friday afternoon. “While at the end of the day I am human, no one should question my ability to manage my reaction to dynamic and intense situations or my ability to consistently make judgments on domestic violence cases or violence against women from this situation.”

The Oct. 10 article described three separate incidents between July 2013 and Nov. 1, 2014, when Maloney returned to the couple’s Easton home drunk and “started spiraling into a rage,” according to a restraining order filed against him on Nov. 10, 2014.

“The rage became worse and worse as he threatened to cut my father’s throat multiple times,” Johnna Powell, Maloney’s wife at the time, wrote in a three-page affidavit filed in Bristol Probate Court in support of a restraining order.

The couple’s divorce was granted in January 2016, and the order was vacated.

In his statement, Maloney, 38, said he took “full responsibility for my actions.”

“However, this intense period of my life is not a complete view of who I am, in my personal or professional life,” he said. “This was a moment of intense pain and raw emotions that are not easy to illustrate in the court of public opinion. I apologize to anyone who feels disappointed by this unfortunate situation and assure you I have complete integrity as a representative of the judicial system for each and every member of our community.”

Maloney, a defense attorney from Brockton, said he never hit his wife and that no criminal complaints were filed against him. He said that as the marriage began to dissolve, he felt “lost, angry and hurt.”

“During a divorce many couples suffer arguments where they say and do things out of agonizing emotions, not rational thought. But that does not excuse my behavior,” Maloney said.

Powell, who now lives out of state, has declined to comment.

Maloney is running against Rachael Rollins, 47, who won the Democratic nomination in September and is a heavy favorite to win the general election in November. If she wins, she will be the first black woman to serve as Suffolk District Attorney.