While we’re on the topic of defendants looking for free legal help, state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson was just officially indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s office. Here’s the release, but first a few bullet points:

• This indictment is a formality, but still carries some hefty legal punch;
• Wilkerson’s request for free legal representation is from a federal court, and not the state agency we cover today.

Here’s the U.S. Attorney’s release …

Massachusetts State Senator DIANNE WILKERSON was indicted this afternoon by a federal grand jury sitting in Boston. WILKERSON was charged with eight counts of attempted extortion in connection with her acceptance of more than $20,000 in cash payments between June 2007 and October 2008.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Office and Police Commissioner Edward Davis of the Boston Police Department announced today that DIANNE WILKERSON, 53, of 74 Howland Street in Boston, Massachusetts, was charged by federal indictment with eight counts of attempted extortion under color of official right. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of $23,500 in payments made to WILKERSON by undercover agents and a cooperating witness, as part of an 18 month covert investigation.

“This remains an active investigation,” said U.S. Attorney Sullivan. “We intend to aggressive pursue all leads in this case, more fully digest the evidence we have gathered to date, and bring additional charges as called for by the evidence.”

The indictment arises out of the facts alleged in a criminal complaint affidavit unsealed on October 28, 2008. The affidavit outlines an 18 month covert investigation initiated after the FBI and BPD Anti-Corruption Unit were alerted to WILKERSON’S acceptance of cash in connection with her official duties. It is alleged that during the investigation, WILKERSON accepted eight payments totaling $23,500 from undercover agents and a cooperating witness.

Those payments were allegedly made to WILKERSON in exchange for her official acts in connection with obtaining a liquor license for a proposed club in Boston, and in connection with the development of a parcel of land in Roxbury.

If convicted WILKERSON faces up to 20 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the eight charges.

The memory of a murder burns forever. It’s a hole in the souls of those who lost a loved one. So when it comes to talking about it, many ask to go off the record.

They’ve lost brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, mothers or fathers. Others carry the burden of prosecuting or defending those accused of the monstrous crime. So they all speak with caution to honor the dead. In today’s report on defense vs. prosecution pay, a lot of people had a lot to say … off the record. Here’s a few gripping examples:

“Not only am I paying to keep a guy who killed my brother alive in jail but I’m also paying for his defense attorney. It’s hard to swallow,”  said a Bay State man who lost a family member to murder. It was all part of a fatal lovers’ triangle where one life was erased in a flash.

“It’s outrageous we pay for the attorney and incarceration,” he added, “but I don’t have a better solution.”

“The cost to society is sick,” said  another brother who lost a sister to murder. He confessed the crime has “messed with his head” years after. He was angry, sad and confused all at once over the phone … and asked to remain off the record.

“As a society we need to establish what level (of pay) is right,” he added. He wondered if many defendants claim to be indigent at the get-go to save their cash for the appeal.

As for the lawyers involved on both sides of a murder case, it’s long hours and lots of worry:

“I have a man’s life in my hands,” said one defense attorney. He’s a fighter and a damn good lawyer.

“We’re not fighting about money but liberty,” said another defense lawyer, who said he’s an Ivy League grad who is often asked why he defends society’s accused animals. “I do this  because it’s good legal work! It’s brain surgery. The pay is peanuts. For the DAs to complain is outrageous.”

And, setting an innocent man free — as he has done — is reason enough to keep pushing.

As always, the deepest insights involve murder cases — macabre high theater where the court becomes a stage:

“The Constitution kicks in and this is what society decided to do! Everyone deserves effective legal help,” said a noted defense attorney. Do we want to just “hang” them? Think about it, he asked.

“I’ve taken motorcycles, cars, houses, boats, 401(k) plans from parents” to defend a murder suspect who can afford his services, said a lawyer. They offer it all, he adds, because if they lose, all they need is “$267 for a color TV” in their jail cell. He fights just as vigorously, he added, for indigent clients.

It really is life in the balance. And, as we report today, it’s high cost, too. Is there a better way? Take the poll here to help rule on this question. Where do you stand?

A story on page 14 of today’s paper exposes a startling fact of life in the Bay State:

In Massachusetts,  a middle-class family of four needs $94,500 a year to afford rent, food, health care and pre-kindergarten education.

The only rub? You need an income of $50,000 or less to meet the pre-K eligibility threshold, basically freezing out the middle-class from the perk, the story states. The Pre-K Now group says it’s an issue falling by the wayside as the economy slips. Time for the blog to go home and read his kid a book.

* City Desk Wired has been on a research project and will get back to blogging. Stay tuned.

Line of the day: “We have only one president at a time.”

That was President-elect Barack Obama’s response to a question on Iran sending along best wishes to his historic victory. No clumsy answer at today’s first post-election press conference. (Sarah Palin take note.)

It was only one of a few good, if not overly careful, lines. Here’s a quick scorecard on Obama’s inaugural press conference:

• It started late. Maybe all those suits behind him had to finish lunch.
• On Iran, a letter of congratulation from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (here’s that one, if you missed it) isn’t enough to bypass the nuke question. So until he moves into the Oval Office, Obama said he’s keeping mum on the mullahs. (See developing story here.)
• On the economy, some type of stimulus package must past. The middle class is hurtin’ with bad news coming down the pike. (See developing story here.)
• On the family puppy, Obama said one daughter is allergic and they all want a pup from a kennel, so a new doggie for D.C. will have to come out of that conundrum. (Check out our story and poll — shown above — on the matter today. So far, golden retriever is winning.)
• Obama’s Boston aunt wants to stay in the country. (He didn’t address that, but the story just moved.)
• Second best line of the press conference: “A mutt like me.” (On Obama commenting on the desire to adopt a dog at a kennel.) As the reporter who asked stated, people want to know. It shows the human side of the next occupant of the White House.
• The knock against Nancy Reagan was in bad taste. It came when asked which former presidents he had spoken to and tripped up in his response leaving the impression he connected with a few dead ones, too. No Nancy-esque visits to an astrologer, he intimated. Ouch. (He rebounded saying he’s reading a lot of Lincoln.)

Final Grade: B-  

Working under the adage that every vote counts, here’s a town-by-town count of the presidential votes in the Bay State.

Here are the latest, unofficial returns from Massachusetts by city-town in the race for President.