Commonwealth v. Pitt

29 Mass. L. Rptr. 445
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedFebruary 23, 2012
DocketNo. NOCV201000061
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 29 Mass. L. Rptr. 445 (Commonwealth v. Pitt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Pitt, 29 Mass. L. Rptr. 445 (Mass. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Cosgrove, Robert C., J.

Introduction

Before the court are the defendant Zeph Pitt’s motions seeking to suppress, first, a videotaped interview about a bank robbery that he gave to the police, and second, certain cell phone records obtained by the police.

Findings of Fact

On October 28, 2009, the Sovereign Bank branch at 695 Highland Avenue in Needham was robbed. The following day, Joseph O’Brien, a veteran of the Need-ham Police Department and a detective for some tweniy-five years, became involved in the investigation. From police reports, witness statements, and surveillance video Detective O’Brien learned that the robbery took place at approximately 1:35 p.m. The robber appeared to be male, about six feet, three inches in height, thin, and dressed in a black, hooded cap and sunglasses. He entered the bank and presented a note demanding money. He had a gun. He left the bank with approximately $17,000, and stepped into the passenger side of a blue sedan, which sped off.

Detective O’Brien took still photographs from the bank surveillance video and posted them on “Mass. Most Wanted,” a website. Detective Patrick Hart of the Walpole Police Department viewed the Mass. Most Wanted posting and then the surveillance video of the Needham bank robbery, as well as one of a similar bank robbery in Framingham. Hart telephoned O’Brien and told him that the bank robber was Zeph Pitt, who lived in Waltham with his girlfriend.

So informed, O’Brien then obtained police reports from the Waltham Police Department. One of them, written within a week or two of the Needham robbery, disclosed that the defendant had given his cell phone number as 781-315-7316. O’Brien contacted an FBI agent in Boston. He asked if the agent could find phone records associated with that number and determine where any calls from that phone had originated on the day of the robbery. Shortly thereafter, O’Brien learned through the FBI that a call had been placed from the cell phone associated with Pitt’s number about three minutes after the Needham robbery. It had “pinged” off the cell tower located about a quarter of a mile from the bank.1 O’Brien testified that he did not know how federal authorities had accessed the cell phone records.

Subsequently, on March 24, 2010, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office applied for and received an order pursuant to 18 USC §2703(d) requiring its provider to produce all records associated with 781-315-7316. The application for the order was supported by an affidavit from Detective O’Brien which recounted the information he had learned from the FBI concerning the phone.2 (Exhibit 1.)

On November 9, 2009 O’Brien executed an arrest and search warrant, searching the home where Pitt was staying, his girlfriend’s residence in Waltham. Pitt was arrested at Dunkin’ Donuts in Lexington, brought to the Waltham Police station, and booked.

After Pitt’s booking, Detectives O’Brien and Hart met with him in the interrogation room on the second floor of the Waltham Police Department. The room in question was about 12’ x 12’ and contained a desk, chair, and filing cabinet. The defendant sat with his back to the wall facing O’Brien. The door of the room was behind O’Brien. To O’Brien’s left was Hart. The detectives began by advising the defendant of his Miranda rights, and informing him that the interview would be videotaped. The defendant executed a “Miranda rights & recording form” (Exhibit 4) indicating that he understood his rights and that he was willing to speak with the officers and to have the conversation recorded, which it was.

At the time of the interview both detectives were well aware that the defendant had a histoiy of drug abuse. Indeed, quite early in the interview Hart mentioned the defendant’s addiction. O’Brien was also aware, based on his search of the defendant’s girlfriend’s home in Waltham, that evidence of drugs had been found there, including “works” (such things as a spoon, needle, syringes), but that no actual drugs had been found. O’Brien had served in a narcotics unit for approximately 20 years and was aware of certain characteristic signs of heroin withdrawal including nodding off, acting slow and lethargic, and shivering and shaking.3 During the course of the interview neither detective inquired specifically about whether the defendant was currently drug dependent, although he was asked at one point how he fed his habit, which certainly implies that the detectives believed he was. They did not ask when the defendant had last used heroin or other illicit drugs, how much he had used, how he had ingested drugs, or whether he was under the influence of any drug at the time of the interview. O’Brien explained that he did not see the need to ask such questions because he believed the defendant was “very clear” of mind, and because the case he was investigating had nothing to do with drugs.

The Court has reviewed the video recording of the interview. The defendant typically sits in a somewhat hunched posture. At times he puts his head down on the desk for a second or two. At other times he holds his arms loosely crossed in front of himself, occasionally resting his head in them. He coughs incessantly. The defendant contends that at the time of his interview with police he was undergoing withdrawal. If so, he said nothing about that to the police. He did not indicate that he was sick in any respect. Neither did he ask to suspend the interview, or for any sort of [447]*447medical assistance. The defendant posits that the detectives did not ask him questions pertinent to his withdrawal from drugs because they did not want to receive answers that might compromise the subsequent admissibility of the interview. This court shall assume without deciding that the defendant was in fact suffering from withdrawal at the time of the interview. Further findings with the respect to the conduct of the interview are set forth in the Discussion section below.

Discussion and Rulings of Law

I. The Cell Phone Records

“ [Application of the Fourth Amendment depends on whether the person invoking its protection can claim a ‘justifiable,’ a ‘reasonable,’ or a ‘legitimate expectation of privacy’ that has been invaded by government action.” Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 740 (1979), and cases cited. “This inquiiy . . . normally embraces two discrete questions. The first is whether the individual, by his conduct, has exhibited an actual (subjective) expectation of privacy . . . The second question is whether the individual’s subjective expectation of privacy is one that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable — whether. .. the individual’s expectation, viewed objectively, is justifiable under the circumstances.” Id., and cases cited (internal citations and quotations omitted).

Through the FBI, Detective O’Brien obtained two key pieces of information: 1) the defendant’s cell phone placed a call three minutes after the Needham bank robbery; and 2) that phone pinged off a cell tower located within a quarter mile from the bank.4 There is no evidence that the Needham Police Department or the FBI sought or obtained a warrant before acquiring this information.

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Related

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31 Mass. L. Rptr. 437 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2013)
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31 Mass. L. Rptr. 415 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2013)
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Commonwealth v. Wyatt
30 Mass. L. Rptr. 270 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
29 Mass. L. Rptr. 445, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-pitt-masssuperct-2012.