STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
PATRICK TO OFFER MARKET BASKET UPDATE
Gov. Deval Patrick promised Wednesday to offer more information about his effort to resolve the ongoing power struggle over the Market Basket supermarket chain. When asked if Patrick had heard a response to his letter to the Market Basket Board of Directors, he indicated he had. "I'll tell you more later," Patrick told the News Service late Wednesday morning after signing the new gun control legislation into law at the Grand Staircase. In the letter to the board, Patrick offered to help mediate a resolution to the dispute between the company and its former CEO, but said he would not take sides in the feud. The future of the supermarket chain has been in question after the ouster of CEO Arthur T. Demoulas. - M. Deehan/SHNS
GUN BILL SIGNED INTO LAW
As expectted, Gov. Deval Patrick signed a major overhaul of state gun laws on Wednesday, agreeing to legislation backed by both the Gun Owners Action League and Stop Handgun Violence. Speaker Robert DeLeo, who assembled a task force last year to look at the state's gun laws, said the law would be sturdier than others around the country hastily drafted after the December 2012 massacre of schoolchildren and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut. DeLeo called it a "consensus bill, a bill that would withstand time." [Developing] - A. Metzger/SHNS
LONGTIME DEFENSE LAWYER BEFORE COUNCIL FOR JUDGESHIP
Attorney Thomas Drechsler, who Gov. Deval Patrick nominated for a seat on the Superior Court bench, was described Wednesday as the "consummate trial lawyer" by Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead. Drechsler was before the Governor's Council for a confirmation hearing. If confirmed, he will fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Jane Haggerty. Drechsler is a criminal and civil rights attorney who has tried close to 500 cases. District Court Judge Cesar Archilla said he first met Drechsler more than a decade ago when he was an assistant district attorney and Drechsler was opposing counsel. Archilla said he was always impressed by Drechsler's legal acumen, adding he has a unique ability to humanize his clients by detailing a defendant's life and family history during a trial. Currently Drechsler is partner at Byrne & Drechsler, where he has worked since 1985 and which is the firm previously associated with former House Speaker Thomas Finneran. He launched his legal career in 1978 as a law clerk in the Superior Court, and then served for six years as an assistant district attorney. A Marblehead resident, Drechsler graduated from New York University, and received a master's degree from Polytechnic Institute of New York, and his law degree from Boston College Law School. Attorney Ralph Cinquegrana has known Drechsler since 1975 when they were students at Boston College Law. They now work together on the Committee on Public Counsel Services, where Drechsler is a member of the board. "I don't know anybody who can size up a case, or a political situation, or a policy issue more quickly and insightfully as Tom," Cinquegrana said. - C. Quinn/SHNS
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08/13/2014