By Gintautas Dumcius
Reporter Correspondent

A Dorchester man was arraigned this week on charges of holding 30 pounds of marijuana, along with two counts of possessing a gun without a license.

James Alieu, 41, was also charged with one count each of possession of a Class D drug; possession of a Class D drug with intent to distribute; and drug violation near a school or park. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.

Judge Sydney Hanlon set bail at $10,000. His next court date is Jan. 10 in Boston Municipal Court.

Police had stopped Alieu on Friday at about 2:30 pm in his driveway on Blakeville Street, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley's office.

Members of Boston police, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, State Police and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency told Alieu they had a search warrant for a cardboard box delivered by FedEx.

Police found 30 pounds of marijuana inside the box, according to Conley's office.

Officers then searched Alieu's second floor apartment, allegedly finding a black Glock .28 semiautomatic with 10 rounds of live 9 mm ammunition, three large plastic bags of marijuana, a scale, and drug packaging in his bedroom and another large bag of marijuana in the kitchen.

Alieu's court-appointed attorney said Alieu is originally from Liberia and is a self-employed contractor.

The attorney said Alieu has a record of showing up to court and disputed the gun charges.

"The gun is not his," the attorney said, noting that the gun had been found in the living area of his son, who was shot after Thanksgiving and left paralyzed in the hospital.

Questions linger over courthouse escapee

Questions remain over the last week's accidental release of the wrong prisoner from Dorchester District Court.

While most court officials are keeping mum, the gaffe is still in the back of some people's minds. And that includes the court's chief judge, Justice Sydney Hanlon.

On Monday afternoon, as a relative was being arraigned, a woman rose up from her seat in the audience to say something before getting shushed by one of the court officers. It was an echo of what happened a week before, when a young man was mistakenly released, even as an observer tried to warn of the pending mistake.

"After what happened last week, I think we find out what people want to say," Hanlon scolded the court officer, as the relative's attorney went over to see what she wanted.

An investigation into the accidental release is underway at the Trial Court's Security Department.

Last week, the aunt of a prisoner in line to be released attempted to warn a court officer undoing the hand and leg chains of a detainee, but was told to sit down and be quiet. By the time officers realized they had released the wrong man, the escapee was down the hall and out the door, running down Washington Street towards Codman Square.

Roxbury teen picked up on gun charge

Picked up last Friday on a warrant out of Roxbury District Court, a teen was arraigned on a gun charge in Dorchester Monday.

Mibsam Wiggins, 18, of Roxbury, was charged with one count of carrying a gun without a license. Judge Sydney Hanlon set bail at $2,500 and revoked bail on another matter pending out of Roxbury District Court.

His next court date Jan. 8 at the Boston Municipal Court's "Gun Court" session.

The charge stems from a Sept. 22 incident, when police officers, acting on information that the driver of a Mazda 626 had put a gun into his trunk, stopped the Mazda on Columbia Rd. at about 5:30 pm.

Officers found a Silver Sterling .25 caliber semiautomatic, according to District Attorney Daniel Conley's office. Wiggins' court-appointed attorney, David Flanagan, complained to the court that the police report was unclear whose gun it actually was.

July 4 murder suspect arraigned in Suffolk Superior

A Dorchester suspect in the July 4 shooting death of a Roxbury Community College student was arraigned this week and held without bail, following indictments from a Suffolk County grand jury and an arraignment in Dorchester District Court in late August.

At the August arraignment, Cornelius Brown, 33, was held without bail. He was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court last week in the first-degree murder of 22-year-old Michael Wiggins, a Mattapan resident. His next court date is Jan. 22.

Wiggins died on July 10 after being shot on Independence Day near the intersection of Arbuton and Ashton Streets.

A Suffolk grand jury returned indictments in mid-November, charging Brown with first-degree murder, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawful possession of a firearm as a level III armed career criminal, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley's office.

Jury duty information now online

Dog ate your jury summons? Can't find the courthouse you have to schlep to? Hoping for a transfer to another courthouse? No worries: Head online, where you can respond to your summons through the new Juror Service Website.

Massachusetts jurors will be the first to have the option of responding online.

"The website will not only cut costs but will also lead to quicker, more direct services for the juror, such as e-mail reminders and electronic updates on their status," Jury Commissioner Pamela Wood said in a statement. "We hope that in time, the majority of jurors will choose to respond to their summonses online."

Jurors can use a code they get through the mail to get into the website and confirm or postpone their service, request a transfer to another court or ask to be disqualified. Information on the courthouse they want is also available, including directions.

Jurors previously, and still can, respond by mail or the juror helpline at 1-800-THE-JURY.

The website is available at MassJury.com.

Sixty-six courts, including Dorchester District Court, use jurors and about 7,000 people report for jury service every week, according to the jury commissioner's office.

Gintautas Dumcius covers court proceedings and law enforcement for the Reporter. He can be reached at gin.dumcius@gmail.com

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