'Justice for everybody': Cruz seeks to extend run as state's longest-serving DA
ABINGTON — Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz remembers sheltering from a downpour under an awning in Plymouth when a woman next to him goes, "You're Tim Cruz, right?"
"That's a question you never know where it's gonna go," the state's longest-serving DA said in a recent interview at his campaign headquarters on Bedford Street.
The woman told him she always voted for him. Then came the kicker:
"She goes, 'Do you remember me?' — The other question you never really want to hear," he said.
Turns out she was a victim in the first sex crime case Cruz prosecuted. She'd been 6 at the time of the trial.
"What she said to me was, 'I was a little girl back then. You guys were really nice to us, and I just want you to know that I didn't get a chance to say, 'Thank you.' So thank you," Cruz said.
"You can't put value on that," said Cruz, a Republican who has been on the job for 21 years.
'I'm absolutely nothing special'
Cruz takes pride in being DA for the county where he was born (Brockton) and grew up (West Bridgewater).
"I'm absolutely nothing special," Cruz said. "I went to a public school. I was lucky that I had parents that directed me to do the right thing. And when I didn't do the right thing, I heard about it and I learned about it."
Cruz and his wife RoseMarie have long called Marshfield home, but growing up in West Bridgewater helped form his character and his approach to justice.
His dad, a plumber, quickly sized up that young Tim might not be destined for the trades.
"He used to grab one of us every Saturday and take us with him to get us out of my mother's hair," Cruz said. "He told me I need to go to school. 'You really aren't that good with your hands unless you're destroying a boiler with a sledgehammer.'"
Should rap lyrics be admissible in courtBrockton man wants conviction overturned.
Sports dreams
Cruz played varsity both for football and baseball (tri-captain and captain, respectively) at West Bridgewater Junior-Senior High. He'll tell you that in a school with a graduating class of about 85, it was easy to be a big fish in a small pond.
He also played hockey in a league in Easton. His style?
"I'd say I hit a lot of people," said Cruz, who primarily played defense. "It's what I was known for and that's what I did."
Cruz dreamed of an NHL career. After graduating from West Bridgewater in 1977, he went to Boston College. He made the school's hockey team as a walk-on. Becoming a pro hockey player didn't work out, but he still laces up the skates in a recreation league.
It would be his second year in college — when he got cut from the team — that his life took a major turn.
"It was the best thing that ever happened to me because then I had to focus on school," said Cruz.
His grades improved. He went on to major in political science and psychology. In discussions with RoseMarie (the couple met at BC) he gravitated toward law. He'd go on to law school at Suffolk University.
'My name is Carlos Cardoso'Brockton road rage victim speaks for first time, family says
Seeking a sixth term
His interest in criminal justice went way back to reading about crime in The Enterprise and hearing crime stories on WBET. One case in particular riveted his attention: The 1977 killing of Ruth Masters. The 33-year-old Hanson teacher was riding her bicycle in Myles Standish State Forest when someone attacked and mutilated her.
It would be 21 years before investigators solved the then-cold case. The DA's office under Cruz's predecessor indicted Eric H. Anderson Jr. in 1998, and Cruz was DA when Anderson was convicted in 2003. Anderson died in prison in 2016.
Among the challenges Cruz cites is running what's perhaps the largest law firm in Plymouth County. He supervises about 60 lawyers, plus administrative staff of about 50. There are also State Police who work through the district attorney's office.
Getting and keeping attorneys is top-of-mind for Cruz. He's managed to get the starting salary for assistant district attorneys up from $37,500 five years ago to, starting Jan. 1, $68,000.
"You make sure you get justice for everybody. Every person," Cruz said in a recent debate with Rahsaan Hall, the Brockton Democrat he's facing in the election that ends Nov. 8. "It doesn't matter who you are, where you live, we need to continue to work together. When you do that, you get good results like we've been getting here in Plymouth County."
Gov. Jane Swift appointed Cruz as Plymouth DA in November 2001. The sitting DA, Michael Sullivan, had been tapped by President George Bush as U.S. attorney in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Cruz said the pool for Republican lawyers in Plymouth County "wasn't very deep." He'd been on the edge of Republican circles, mostly via holding signs for his brother, John, who served a term representing the 10th Plymouth district.
Since then, he's won five general elections, handily defeating his Democratic opponent in three and facing no opposition in two.
Thank you, subscribers. You make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Brockton Enterprise.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton election: Plymouth County DA Tim Cruz runs for re-election
