[1][4] In 2013, Ryan was appointed Middlesex County District Attorney by Governor Deval Patrick after Gerard Leone resigned to become a partner at the law firm of Nixon Peabody.
[8][9] In a move to minimize lasting effects on people accused of committing crimes, in 2021 District Attorney Ryan created a process to allow requests for certain identifying information to be redacted from the office's website.
The creation of this new position continued District Attorney Ryan's commitment to racial justice initiatives in Middlesex County which include the formation of the Anti-Hate, Anti-Bias Task Force and emphasis on diversionary measures.
[12] He told prosecutors that his findings raised the possibility that the baby's injuries might have been caused by something other than abuse — an immune disorder called Job Syndrome — according to a court document.
[12] In spite of the fact that United States and Massachusetts Supreme Court law, Rules of Criminal Procedure, and attorneys' ethical guidelines unequivocally require that any evidence that might raise questions of guilt must immediately be turned over to the defense, Marian T. Ryan's office did not release all of the information they had on the subject for 16 months following the first phone call with Dr.
"[13] In 2013 the Middlesex District Attorney's Office was criticized for its handling of Jared Remy, who was arrested for assault and battery on Jenna Martel on August 13, 2013, and then released on his own recognizance two days before she was found dead in the couple's apartment in Waltham.
[14] There was no active restraining order between the two at the time of Martel's death, and the Middlesex District Attorney's office did not ask the arraigning judge to continue to hold Remy on the domestic violence charges despite his legal history, which reportedly included 13 criminal complaints against him since 1998, six of those for assault and battery.
[14] In December 2013 an independent review by a Norfolk County prosecutor and a former Essex County District Attorney found Ryan's office's handling of the case to be deficient, concluding: "Remy's domestic violence criminal history, the facts in the August 13th, 2013 police report, and the fact that there was a young child in the home were not given sufficient weight, while the victim's decision to not come to court to extend the emergency restraining order or to request further conditions was given excessive consideration in the evaluation.
[15] In March 2016 in Caetano v. Massachusetts, the United States Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a woman who had protected herself against her abusive and violent ex-boyfriend with a stun-gun.
[16] In a concurring opinion, Justice Samuel Alito, a former federal prosecutor, criticized the decision by Ryan's office to prosecute the woman, writing: "A State's most basic responsibility is to keep its people safe.