Why Brockton's Thomas Koonce has had his first-degree murder sentence commuted

dental insurance - #1:Why Brockton's Thomas Koonce has had his first-degree murder sentence commuted

 

 BROCKTON — Thomas Koonce has been serving a life sentence in prison for nearly 30 years. It's easy for him to remember how long he's been there, because he was incarcerated one month after his son was born.
Now, after decades of no hope, 54-year-old Koonce has a chance at freedom.
Earlier this month, Gov. Charlie Baker commuted his sentence. The commutation still has to be approved by the Governor's Council, but if approved, he can apply for parole. If he is approved for parole, he'd be out of prison on parole for life.

The Governor's Council began its commutation hearing on Wednesday morning. Witnesses testified to Koonce's character, and Koonce was expected to testify Wednesday afternoon. Should the Governor's Council vote to commute his conviction from first-degree murder to second-degree, several steps remain before Koonce would be a free man. He must also go before the parole board. The various steps could take four or five months.
Koonce was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Mark Santos of New Bedford as a result of an incident in June 1987. Koonce and Santos were part of altercations between two groups of men from Brockton and New Bedford.

Eventually, Koonce shot Santos from the passenger seat of a car in New Bedford. He claims he meant to shoot the gun upward so as not to hit anyone.
Koonce was originally tried in 1990, but it resulted in a mistrial when the jury could not reach a verdict. In 1992, he was tried again and found guilty.
"I don't lose sight of the fact that somebody died and it was a reckless act, even if it was self-defense," Koonce's lawyer, Timothy Foley, said.
But Foley, who has represented Koonce since 2019, said he believes that Koonce shouldn't have been found guilty of first-degree murder, nor should he spend his life in prison.
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Koonce was raised in Brockton. Foley said his goal growing up was to attend Northeastern University and study to become some sort of law enforcement officer. But without the money to do so, Koonce joined the military in the hope that it would help him pay for college.
Koonce enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps after he graduated from Brockton High School in 1985. He served two years in the Marines before coming home for an extended period of time. It was during that time home that the altercation with Mark Santos occurred.

Koonce was incarcerated in 1987 for a few months, but in January 1988, his family posted bail. He continued serving in the Marine Corps, having been transferred to the Weymouth Naval Base, until he was incarcerated again in 1992 after the second trial.
'Helping people help themselves'
Since then, Koonce has had a stellar prison record, Foley said. In his nearly three decades, he's only had to face disciplinary action twice, and the last one was 20 years ago.
In 1994, Foley said, some older inmates asked him to take over the Second Thoughts program — a program in which prisoners mentor at-risk youth to try to prevent them from going down the same path as they did.