Derek Webb is charged with manslaughter, alleged to have arranged the sale of heroin used in a fatal Westfield overdose.
SPRINGFIELD -- Bail was reduced Wednesday for a man charged with manslaughter for allegedly supplying heroin that led to a fatal overdose.
The lawyer for defendant Derek Webb asked a judge to reduce his client's bail from $500,000 to $10,000 -- an amount he said Webb's family can raise. Hampden Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup reduced Webb's bail to $150,000 cash or $500,000 surety.
Webb, 25, is charged with manslaughter for allegedly providing heroin to 21-year-old Grady Hughes. At the time of Webb's arrest in July, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said Hughes appeared to have died, unattended, of a heroin overdose in April. Webb is also charged with distribution of heroin.
Assistant District Attorney Lee Baker on Wednesday asked Rup to keep the bail at $500,000 cash, saying the case against Webb is strong. Baker said Webb has a history of convictions and also a history of defaulting on court appearances.
He said the involuntary manslaughter charge was brought on the theory of wanton and reckless conduct. The heroin provided in this case was designated "fire," so Webb knew it was more dangerous, Baker said.
Baker said Webb admitted to police setting up the drug sale that caused the fatal overdose. He manipulated another man -- who has alleged Webb was violent toward him in the past -- into bringing the drugs to Hughes, Baker said. Only Webb is charged with manslaughter.
Webb was in effect homeless and living in a storage area associated with a friend's apartment at the time, Baker said.
Defense lawyer Lawrence Madden disagreed with Baker's analysis of the strength of the case. He said Webb didn't admit to police that he set up the sale resulting in the fatal overdose.
He said police are relying in part on text messages from another person's phone, and it is not possible to prove who wrote the texts. While Baker said the phone was one Webb shared with a woman, Madden said the phone is only connected to that woman and was not shared by Webb.