25 Investigates: Judge has 'no memory' of police shooter sentence

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]Investigates reporter Ted Daniel was the first to report that Tyler Brown had been in a previous shootout with police.

[00:00:05]Brown could have received more than a decade in prison in that case, but a judge gave him a break. Ted joins us live and you tracked down that judge today. We did, Mark. We first attempted to reach Judge Sanders by email. When the emails bounced back, we went to her home. I tried to ask her about the 2021 sentencing of Tyler Brown. She came to the door, but wouldn't open it. It was clear she knew why we were there. Before I could get a question out, she said this from behind glass.

[00:00:40]It was hard to hear with the door in the way, but Judge Sanders appeared to say she had no comment and no memory of the case. According to court records, Sanders sentenced Brown to 5 years at Cedar Junction in Walpole for armed assault to murder and six other serious charges. This is after he pleaded guilty to opening fire on Boston police officers in the South That shootout happened in May of 2020.

[00:01:03]Prosecutors had recommended a 10 to 12-year prison sentence. Judge Sanders cut that in half and Brown was released on parole in just 3 and 1/2 years. We also attempted to speak with former Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins. When the sentence was handed down in 2021, she called it {quote} "disappointing and an insult to the BPD officers who were nearly killed."

[00:01:27]We attempted to reach Rachael Rollins by email and at her door, but we never found her. We welcome Judge Sanders and the former DA to speak with us at any time.