Edmund Dinis, prosecutor in Chappaquiddick scandal, dies at 85 in Massachusetts

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Chappaquiddick prosecutor dies in Mass. at 85

BOSTON — Edmund Dinis, the former prosecutor whose political career sputtered after he oversaw the grand jury investigation into the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s involvement in the Chappaquiddick case, has died. He was 85.

Dinis, who championed causes important to Portuguese-Americans throughout his life, died of natural causes Sunday at an assisted living center in Dartmouth, Mass., said Henry Arruda, general manager of WJFD-FM, the Portuguese language radio station Dinis owned since 1975.

Dinis had already served on the New Bedford City Council, in the state House of Representatives and the state Senate by the time he was elected prosecutor in 1959 for a jurisdiction that at the time covered Cape Cod and the Islands.

He was voted out of office in 1970, the year after Kennedy’s car went off a bridge connecting Martha’s Vineyard to Chappaquiddick island and into the water — with former Robert Kennedy campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne inside.

Kennedy swam to safety, leaving Kopechne to die in the car, and did not report the crash to police until the next morning. Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and got a suspended sentence and probation.

Some thought Dinis, who oversaw the grand jury that investigated the case, was too hard on Kennedy, while others thought he let the senator escape more severe punishment.

“I remember that time so vividly,” said longtime friend and former state Sen. William Maclean Jr. “The Kennedys were a very powerful influence and people either hated them or loved them, and Eddie was caught in the middle.”

The case put Dinis on a collision course with his base of Portuguese-American voters in southeastern Massachusetts, including many who revered the Kennedys because John F. Kennedy was a Roman Catholic, like them, who helped ease immigration restrictions.

“There was no way for him to ultimately satisfy everyone,” said Frank Sousa, director of the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth.

“The community, particularly the Portuguese community, was enormously behind the Kennedys. … It really sort of did him in politically.”

Dinis never realized his goal of running for Congress, Sousa said. He later ran successfully for treasurer of Bristol County, Mass., but failed in an attempt to retake the district attorney’s office.

Dinis, who was born in the Azores, never forgot his roots, said Arruda, describing Dinis as a “de facto father.”

As a state senator, he succeeded in getting the state to better recognize the accomplishments of Portuguese Revolutionary War hero Peter Francisco, and more recently, he persuaded the Bangor Historical Society and the city of Bangor, Maine, to dedicate land by the Penobscot River to celebrate the Portuguese explorer Estevan Gomez’s 1525 landing in the area.

Dinis’ father was the first Portuguese-American elected to the state Senate, and Dinis was the godson of Boston Mayor James Michael Curley.

Dinis did not marry and had no children. Survivors include a sister, two nephews and a niece. A private funeral service is planned.

Associated Press writer Ray Henry in Providence contributed to this report.