Commonwealth v. Marrero

766 N.E.2d 461, 436 Mass. 488, 2002 Mass. LEXIS 202
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedApril 9, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 766 N.E.2d 461 (Commonwealth v. Marrero) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Marrero, 766 N.E.2d 461, 436 Mass. 488, 2002 Mass. LEXIS 202 (Mass. 2002).

Opinion

Greaney, J.

A jury convicted the defendants, Miguel A. Mar-rero and Joshua Cintron, of felony-murder in the first degree (finding both armed robbery and armed home invasion as predicate felonies). The defendants were also convicted of armed robbery, armed home invasion, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Represented by new counsel on appeal, each defendant asserts claims of error pertinent to himself, and both defendants make certain common claims of error. We discern no error and no basis on which to exercise our authority under G. L. c. 278, § 33E, to reduce the murder convictions to a lesser degree of guilt or to order a new trial. We shall first set forth a brief summary of the facts that could have been found [490]*490by the jury based on the Commonwealth’s evidence. We shall next proceed to decide Marrero’s separate claims of error, then Cintron’s, and we shall conclude by deciding the claims of error asserted by both defendants.

Santiago Mena was shot and killed in his Brockton apartment in the early morning hours of January 20, 1997. Several weeks prior to his murder, Mena and several others had begun selling drugs out of a second-floor apartment at 134 Green Street in Brockton. Their drug sales cut into the drug business of the defendants, who at that time were selling drugs out of a third-floor apartment at 234 Green Street. Cintron, according to trial testimony, believed that Mena was selling “better dope” than the defendants. Cintron was upset as well because he believed that Mena had stolen $500 from a friend and because Mena had refused to post bail for Cintron’s cousin, Henry Nunez, who worked for the same drug organization as Mena. The Commonwealth argued that these personal problems, along with a desire to eliminate a rival drug dealer from the area, motivated Mena’s killing.

On January 19, 1997, while visiting Cintron’s apartment, Mary Hoard overheard a conversation, primarily in Spanish, between Cintron and a woman she believed may have been Inga Washington. Hoard heard Cintron say “they were going to go down the street and take care of the problem that had been there but they had to wait till after dark to do it.” Hoard also heard Cintron say: “It would be easy. They had to wait till later, go at night when it was dark. It would be easy . . . .” The woman then warned Cintron to be quiet because Hoard might understand them.

At about 7 p.m. that evening, Inga Washington visited her boy friend, Alex Pagan, at 234 Green Street. Also present in the apartment at that time were the defendants Cintron and Mar-rero, and Hector Maldonado (“Nunie”). Washington observed Cintron and Marrero handling a black nine millimeter pistol and overheard a conversation about Mena’s undercutting their drug sales. She also heard both defendants say that they were “going to take care of this and do what [they had] to do” and “they were just going to get their money from the guy down the street.” Cintron said that he and Marrero would kick in the back [491]*491door and let Washington in the front door. All four (Cintron, Marrero, Washington, and Nunie) then left the apartment. They were dressed in black and wearing black hats or “hoodies.”

Marrero drove the group down the street in his automobile and parked a few blocks from 134 Green Street. A few minutes before 2:30 a.m., on January 20, 1997, Marrero and Cintron went to the rear entrance of Mena’s apartment, which was locked and barricaded with a refrigerator. Cintron wore a mask and carried a gun while Marrero was unmasked and wielded a knife. The defendants forced down the door. When Mena came to the door to see what was happening, Cintron shot him at close range in the chest.

Kristyn Genereux, who also lived at 134 Green Street, heard a crash and ran to the kitchen. On seeing the masked intruders with guns2 and a knife, she retreated to the bedroom. Two of the men followed her and, as a masked man held a gun to her head, demanded money and drugs. Genereux gave them $150 from her pants pocket and packets of heroin and cocaine that were in the bedroom closet. She then heard someone yell, “Let’s get out of here. Let’s go.”

Meanwhile, Washington and Nunie waited outside the front door of the apartment building. After about three minutes, they heard a gun shot and a woman, presumably Genereux, scream, “He’s got a gun, he’s got a gun.” Washington and Nunie decided to enter the building. On their way inside, they were passed by a person known as “Tommy” (or “Chabey”), who also resided at 134 Green Street, fleeing the scene barefoot and without a coat. Cintron and Marrero then ran from the front door of Mena’s apartment and told Washington and Nunie to “go, go, go.”3 Cintron was behind Marrero and was holding a gun. The three men got into Marrero’s automobile and left the scene, while Washington walked back to 234 Green Street. When the police arrived at 134 Green Street, they found Mena [492]*492lying unconscious on the floor in a pool of blood, next to an overturned refrigerator. Mena was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.

It was approximately 3:30 a.m. when Cintron, Marrero, and Nunie returned to 234 Green Street. Marrero said that he had gotten some money from Mena’s apartment, and asked Cintron, “Why did you have to shoot him?” To that, Cintron replied, “Fuck him.” Cintron acknowledged that he had shot Mena in the chest, and added, “I hope the guy’s not dead.” He also said that he had to “get out of here.”

1. Issues Raised by Marrero.

(a) Within twelve hours of the shooting, police arrived at the apartment of Cintron’s sister, Mariis Cintron, where they found both defendants. The defendants agreed to accompany the officers to the police station, where they were questioned separately and allowed to leave. During his questioning, Cintron told the police that he had been with Marrero and Nunie at 234 Green Street on the previous day, leaving to play pool around 10 p.m., and returning one hour later. During the same interview, Cintron stated that he knew Mena and had, a few days earlier, confronted him about obtaining bail money for his cousin, Henry Nunez, but Mena refused to help. He also said that a friend of his believed Mena had recently stolen money from her. He told the police that he knew about the murder because he had received a telephone call that day from a drug dealer who worked with Mena who said, “We know you killed [Mena]. You better watch out.”

The above statements were introduced in evidence through the testimony of the State trooper who spoke with Cintron on January 20, and repeated, in substantially the same language, during testimony of another State trooper who had spoken with Cintron in early February. Prior to the first trooper’s testimony, Marrero’s trial counsel requested that the judge instruct the jury that any statement of Cintron could not be used as evidence against Marrero. The judge indicated that he would defer his decision on the request until hearing the rest of the evidence.4

Marrero contends that the admission of Cintron’s statements [493]*493violated his constitutional right to confrontation as set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 126 (1968).

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Bluebook (online)
766 N.E.2d 461, 436 Mass. 488, 2002 Mass. LEXIS 202, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-marrero-mass-2002.