Harassment prevention order is targeted in ‘scarecrow’ case
The order, secured by schools Superintendent Laurie Hunter in 2025, is set to expire May 4.
He lost a bid to toss the case itself. Now, the attorney representing Concordian John Grace wants a judge to dismiss the harassment prevention order his client allegedly violated.
Police arrested Grace in November after he purportedly erected “scarecrows” — makeshift displays criticizing schools Superintendent Laurie Hunter.
As the matter proceeds, prosecutors want Grace’s phone passcode. His lawyer, George King, wants to see how school officials talked about Grace behind closed doors.
“This case is out of control,” King said during a Acton District Court appearance earlier this month.
Grace has a history of clashes with school officials.
Four months into his latest docket, the prosecution says Grace scared the superintendent with signs saying things including “The hatchet for Hunter.” The defense says Grace was just calling for her firing.
Middlesex District Attorney’s office prosecutors filed a motion in January that would force Grace to reveal his iPhone PIN. That request is pending, and Grace’s attorney said on April 1 that the phone wasn’t listed on a search warrant for Grace’s house.
Grace told The Acton Bridge that his phone was still in police custody, and he displayed a new Samsung that he bought.
Defense attorney King said he plans to request officials’ emails and text messages.
“The level of investigation and enforcement that is being put upon Mr. Grace does not occur without significant consultation and planning,” he told The Bridge. “I want to understand more about that.”
As for the harassment prevention order, it’s set to expire May 4. Hunter sought the order based on allegedly threatening phone calls that Grace made in 2022 and other incidents after his acquittal on a charge related to those calls, King wrote in his April 1 motion.
The Bridge reached out to Hunter last week. A spokesperson responded, saying she “will not be commenting on this matter.”
Hunter is not a private citizen, King wrote. She is a “highly paid superintendent,” he said, and “her attempt to silence Mr. Grace’s petitioning activity for her own selfish reasons violates” both his rights to free speech and state law.
King shared a copy of his motion to dismiss the harassment prevention order with The Bridge. The Middlesex DA’s office will get a chance to formally respond.
Both sides are set to discuss motions again over a pair of court dates in May and June.
