Commonwealth v. Walker

994 N.E.2d 764, 466 Mass. 268, 2013 WL 4034373, 2013 Mass. LEXIS 693
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedAugust 12, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 994 N.E.2d 764 (Commonwealth v. Walker) 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. Walker, 994 N.E.2d 764, 466 Mass. 268, 2013 WL 4034373, 2013 Mass. LEXIS 693 (Mass. 2013).

Opinion

Ireland, C.J.

On December 19, 2007, a jury convicted the defendant, Stevie Walker, of murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty.1 Represented by new counsel on appeal, the defendant argues error in the denial of his motion to suppress statements and the instructions to the jury. We affirm the order denying his suppression motion and affirm his conviction. We discern no basis to exercise our authority pursuant to G. L. c. 278, § 33E.

1. Motion to suppress, a. Standard of review and background. Prior to trial, the defendant moved to suppress statements he made on November 6, 2005, to police on his arrival at a Boston police station as well as during a tape recorded interview with homicide detectives shortly thereafter, claiming that all of his statements were obtained in violation of various State and Federal constitutional rights. Specifically, as relevant here, the defendant argued that he had not knowingly, willingly, and intelligently waived his Miranda rights; his statements were not voluntarily made due to his impaired physical and mental condition; he did not knowingly, willingly, and intelligently waive his right to a prompt arraignment pursuant to Commonwealth v. Rosario, 422 Mass. 48, 56 (1996) (Rosario);2 and police intentionally violated his right pursuant to G. L. c. 276, § 33A, to make a telephone call. After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the motion judge, who was not the trial judge, rejected the defendant’s arguments and denied his motion with one exception not relevant here.3 “In reviewing a [decision] on a motion to suppress, we [270]*270accept the judge’s subsidiary findings of fact absent clear error ‘but conduct an independent review of his ultimate findings and conclusions of law.’ ” Commonwealth v. Scott, 440 Mass. 642, 646 (2004), quoting Commonwealth v. Jimenez, 438 Mass. 213, 218 (2002).

We summarize the judge’s findings of fact, supplemented with uncontested testimony adduced at the evidentiary hearing that was implicitly credited by the judge. See Commonwealth v. Isaiah I., 448 Mass. 334, 337 (2007), and cases cited. On November 4, 2005, at approximately 3:10 p.m., Boston police Detectives William E. Doogan and Brian Black responded to the report of a fatal stabbing. In the victim’s apartment, police observed reddish-brown stains on a living room carpet, in the foyer, on a bathroom door, and in a bedroom. They saw a “dread-lock” of human hair on the foyer floor. A witness informed them that the assailant had fled the building.

Further investigation indicated that the defendant, who wore his hair in dreadlocks, had completed the sign-in sheet and entered the building that day to visit a female friend, Phyllis Calvey, who lived in an apartment below the victim’s. The defendant was with Calvey on Thursday, November 3, 2005. On that day, with Calvey and another individual, the defendant smoked “crack” cocaine in Calvey’s apartment. That night, the group heard noises coming from an apartment upstairs. Calvey commented that a “retarded person” lived above her. The next morning, the group smoked more crack cocaine then returned to bed. Calvey woke the defendant up at approximately 1:45 p.m. Although the defendant was tired, he did not appear to be intoxicated or impaired. He left the apartment twenty minutes later. About fifteen minutes after he had departed, Calvey heard noises from the upstairs apartment. The defendant was expected to return to Calvey’s apartment, but he never did. Based in part on some of this information, the police focused on the defendant as a suspect. A flyer naming the defendant as a suspect subsequently was distributed to police in the area of the District 4 or “D-4” police station.

On Sunday, November 6, at approximately 5 a.m., the defend[271]*271ant entered the lobby of the D-4 police station and sat down on a bench. Officer Daryl Vinson recognized the defendant from the flyer and indicated as such to Officer Scott Yanovitch. Officer Yanovitch looked over and noticed that the defendant was sleeping. Officer Yanovitch observed reddish-brown stains on the defendant’s pants. Officer Yanovitch, followed by Officer Christopher Broderick, went over to the defendant and asked him, “What’s up?” The defendant opened his eyes and replied that he was there to “turn [himself] in.” Officer Yanovitch replied, “O.K., you know what you did, right?” The defendant responded, “Yeah.”4

Because the defendant’s hands were underneath a newspaper, Officer Yanovitch asked him to show his hands. The defendant complied; there appeared to be blood on his hands, and he held an empty candy wrapper. Officer Yanovitch informed the defendant that he would be placing him in handcuffs. As he did, at approximately 5:05 a.m., Officer Yanovitch verbally recited the Miranda warnings to the defendant from memory.5 When asked whether he understood these warnings, the defendant responded affirmatively.6 Officer Broderick asked the defendant whether he had been drinking or using drugs. The defendant replied, “Not in a while.” Officer Broderick then ascertained that the defendant had completed eleven years of schooling.

The officers escorted the defendant to the booking area, where he fully cooperated with them. They did not observe any evidence that the defendant was impaired in any way. Officer Yanovitch asked the defendant where he had been during the past few days. The defendant stated he had been inside a garage. The defendant was placed in a holding cell to await the arrival of homicide detectives.

[272]*272Detective Doogan arrived at the police station at approximately 7 a.m. The defendant was sleeping inside the holding cell. Detective Black and Sergeant Detective Harold White arrived a short time later. They decided to interview the defendant at police headquarters and had him transported there.

A uniformed police officer brought the defendant into the homicide unit’s interview room, where Detectives Doogan and Black were waiting. The defendant had no trouble walking into the room. His handcuffs were removed, and he sat down at a table with the detectives. He did not appear to them to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He was cooperative and calm.

Detective Doogan began the interview at approximately 8:45 a.m., by informing the defendant that they had to “go over” some matters. The defendant responded affirmatively that he understood. Using a preprinted form that was placed where both he and the defendant could see it, Detective Black read to the defendant the Miranda warnings verbatim from the form. After each warning, Detective Black stopped and asked the defendant whether he understood the individual warning. The defendant responded that he understood and initialed the appropriate line next to each warning. Detective Black asked the defendant whether he was willing to waive his rights and make a statement without a lawyer being present. The defendant printed his name on the form on a blank space and agreed to waive his rights. The defendant signed the form and Detective Doogan also signed it as a witness. The defendant then agreed to have the interview electronically recorded and signed a consent form to that effect.

The detectives tape recorded the entire interview, beginning with a recital of the Miranda warnings from the preprinted form for a second time.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
994 N.E.2d 764, 466 Mass. 268, 2013 WL 4034373, 2013 Mass. LEXIS 693, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-walker-mass-2013.