Commonwealth v. Vazquez

870 N.E.2d 656, 69 Mass. App. Ct. 622, 2007 Mass. App. LEXIS 849
CourtMassachusetts Appeals Court
DecidedJuly 30, 2007
DocketNo. 05-P-956
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 870 N.E.2d 656 (Commonwealth v. Vazquez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Appeals Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Vazquez, 870 N.E.2d 656, 69 Mass. App. Ct. 622, 2007 Mass. App. LEXIS 849 (Mass. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Smith, J.

On March 7, 2005, a Superior Court jury convicted the defendant, Edwyn Vazquez, a correctional officer at the Hampden County house of correction in Ludlow, of conspiring with Luis Rodriguez, an inmate at the facility, and Rodriguez’s girlfriend, Damaris Diaz, to deliver drugs or other contraband to Rodriguez, in violation of G. L. c. 274, § 7. The defendant was also convicted of being a public employee who accepted a gift, the use of a 2000 black Jaguar automobile, in violation of G. L. c. 268A, § 3(b). The jury returned a not guilty verdict on an indictment charging the defendant with delivering drugs or other contraband into the correctional facility.1

The defendant filed a timely appeal, which was stayed in order to allow the defendant to file a motion for a new trial. The defendant filed a motion for a new trial in which he claimed that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective. The motion was accompanied by a motion for postconviction discovery. Both motions were denied by the trial judge, and the defendant appealed. Both the direct appeal and the appeal from the denials of the motions for a new trial and postconviction discovery were consolidated in this court.

A. Direct appeal. In his direct appeal, the defendant claims that the judge committed error in (1) denying his motion for a required finding of not guilty; (2) admitting in evidence the statements of his coconspirators; and (3) admitting in evidence a statement made by Rodriguez after the conspiracy had ended.

We summarize the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth. Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 676-677 (1979). At the time of the commission of the charged crimes, the defendant’s duties as a correctional officer included monitoring two “pods,” Davis three and Davis four. The pods were inmate living units each containing thirty-six cells. Rodriguez was an inmate living in Davis three. The defendant worked the day shift from 7:25 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

On February 6, 2004, the superintendent of operations at the correctional facility was approached by an inmate who informed [624]*624him that a cellular telephone had been circulated among the inmates in Davis three within the last few days. Inmates were forbidden the use of cellular telephones.

As a result of that information, the correctional staff began monitoring telephone calls placed on inmate telephones located in Davis three.2 In telephone calls made by Rodriguez, specific references were made to a cellular telephone. In addition, Rodriguez’s telephone calls to Diaz on the inmate telephones included references to a motor vehicle, a Jaguar, and food items that were being delivered to the inmates. The conversations also made specific references to “Eddie” at different points.3 The conversations included reference to Eddie wanting to borrow the Jaguar; Diaz asking Rodriguez what to do about Eddie’s request; and Rodriguez, in turn, telling her that he did not know if he wanted Eddie to use the vehicle but finally agreeing to let Eddie use his vehicle.

Subsequently, on February 9, 2004, a search team, headed by one Lieutenant Ramos, searched Rodriguez’s cell. The search revealed a cellular telephone, a cellular telephone charger with an extra battery, a lighter, and a Tupperware container. All of these items were contraband. During the search, the cellular telephone rang and a female voice, later identified as Diaz, asked for Rodriguez. The cellular telephone was owned by Diaz’s mother. After the contraband was discovered, Rodriguez was moved to solitary confinement.

After the search of his cell, Rodriguez told John Kenney, the deputy chief of security, that he (Rodriguez) had lent the defendant his automobile, a 2000 black Jaguar, and that on January 18, 2004, it had become involved in an accident in Springfield. As a result of that conversation, the investigation focused on the defendant and his relationship with Rodriguez.

The investigators retrieved from the computer and listened to all telephone calls made by Rodriguez on the inmate telephone [625]*625system from January 16, 2004, to the time his cell was searched on February 9, 2004. Most of the telephone calls were to Diaz and included discussions about the delivery of food to Rodriguez and whether Rodriguez would allow Eddie to use his Jaguar. These telephone conversations are summarized below.

On Saturday, January 17, 2004, Rodriguez telephoned Diaz and told her that the defendant wanted to use his Jaguar. After considerable discussion, Rodriguez told Diaz to let the defendant use the vehicle. He also stated that the defendant brings in “food and all the other stuff.”4 During the telephone call, the defendant also spoke to Diaz on the inmate telephone that was inside Rodriguez’s pod. He told her that he would call her when he got off duty. The defendant’s cellular telephone records showed that he called Diaz four times between 6:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. and that she called him at 9:05 p.m. At nearly midnight on January 17, 2004, Rodriguez telephoned Diaz, who told Rodriguez that Eddie had taken the Jaguar and would bring it back on Monday.

On January 18, 2004, the Jaguar was involved in a traffic accident. The defendant was the operator of the Jaguar, and in his statement to the police, he stated that he had borrowed it from a friend. The automobile was registered to Rodriguez’s younger brother, Joshua Rodriguez. His post office box address was the same as Diaz’s.5

On February 4, 2004, Rodriguez asked Diaz if she had sent the cellular telephone. She answered affirmatively and also described the food she sent to Rodriguez. Rodriguez responded that Eddie had picked up the bag that Diaz had sent and “smelled whatever Diaz put in it.” On the same date, Rodriguez told Diaz that a shakedown search had occurred that day and that guards had gone into his cell and had taken six Tupperware containers.

The defendant’s cellular telephone records indicated that on [626]*626February 7, 2004, a call was made from the cellular telephone that was found in Rodriguez’s cell to the defendant’s cellular telephone. The call was not answered, but on the next day, the defendant’s cellular telephone received two calls from the cellular telephone found in Rodriguez’s cell. One call lasted thirteen seconds; the other was not answered. On February 9, 2004, another search of Rodriguez’s cell took place at which time the officers found, among other things, another Tupperware container.6

On March 1, 2004, correctional officials intercepted a letter written by Rodriguez to Diaz. The envelope also contained a second letter. The Diaz letter instructed Diaz to give the other letter to “you know who.” That letter was addressed to “John Doe” and, among other things, ordered him to have the car repaired.

1. Denial of motion for required finding of not guilty. In reviewing a denial of a motion for a required finding of not guilty, our inquiry is whether the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, was sufficient to satisfy a rational trier of fact that the essential elements of the crime have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Coonan, 428 Mass. 823, 828 (1999). “In satisfying that test, the Commonwealth may rely on reasonable inferences drawn from circumstantial evidence.” Commonwealth v.

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Bluebook (online)
870 N.E.2d 656, 69 Mass. App. Ct. 622, 2007 Mass. App. LEXIS 849, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-vazquez-massappct-2007.