Sentencing postponed for man convicted in killings of Weymouth police sergeant, bystander
A judge on Friday agreed to postpone sentencing for the man convicted of killing a Weymouth police sergeant and an innocent bystander in 2018.
Larry Tipton, the defense attorney for 26-year-old Emmanuel Lopes, appeared in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, where he asked Judge Beverly Cannone to delay his client’s sentencing date.
Tipton, citing a recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that deemed sentences of life without parole unconstitutional for young killers, requested additional time to develop experts on the issue.
The ruling Tipton brought up states young people, aged 18-21, who are convicted of first-degree murder, cannot be locked up forever, but instead, be granted mandatory parole hearings at some point.
The reason: science shows that the young brain is still developing and that young people might one day be rehabilitated.
Lopes was 20 years of age when he was arrested and charged in the deaths of 42-year-old Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna and bystander Vera Adams, a 77-year-old widow.
Lopes was initially slated to be sentenced on Tuesday, March 19, but Cannone ultimately granted Tipton’s request, delaying Lopes’ sentencing hearing by three months to Friday, June 21.
In February, a jury convicted Lopes of first-degree murder in Chesna’s death, and second-degree murder in the death of Adams, among other charges.
It was the second trial for Lopes after Cannone declared a mistrial last year when a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.
The defense for Lopes, who prosecutors repeatedly described as a cold-blooded murderer, had been mounting an insanity defense in his second trial to get him acquitted in the deaths of Chesna and Adams.
As the jury announced its verdict in that second trial, an audible gasp resonated through the courtroom, and tears were seen running down the cheeks of Cindy Chesna, Michael’s wife.
Family members were seen hugging and embracing in court as Lopes was escorted out of court in handcuffs.
Lopes incapacitated Sgt. Chesna with a rock and then shot and killed the police officer with his own weapon at point-blank range, according to prosecutors. Adams was later found shot to death in her sunroom.
Lopes was fleeing the scene of a minor car crash and Chesna was investigating.
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