http://rutlandherald.com/article/20130713/THISJUSTIN/707139936
Published July 13, 2013 in the Rutland Herald Judge dismisses drug charges against two ‘Jersey Boys’ By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — A Windsor County criminal court judge has dismissed a slew of drug charges against two of the so-called “Jersey Boys” because the Springfield police improperly arrested the pair after a traffic stop this March. The decision by Judge Harold Eaton on Thursday to suppress the evidence confiscated in the March 28 stop resulted in the charges being dismissed against Richard Torruellas, 19, and Joseph Atkinson, 18, both of Jersey City, N.J. The two men were arrested after Springfield Police Sgt. William Daniels improperly pulled over a car near Riverside Middle School containing both Torruellas and Atkinson. The decision said Daniels wanted to speak to Torruellas because the sergeant suspected he had given him a false name about two weeks earlier. Police later searched the car driven by a Newport, N.H., woman, and found heroin and cocaine in the car. The woman told police the drugs did not belong to her. The attorneys for Torruellas and Atkinson, Cabot Teachout and Dan Stevens, had both moved to suppress the evidence seized in the March 28 stop, and Eaton sided with them, saying the police had inadequate reason to stop the car two weeks later for a misdemeanor. “The court concludes that Sgt. Daniels could not legally make an arrest at the time he chose to conduct the March 28th stop,” Eaton wrote. “Without a reason to make an arrest, he had no legal reason at all to conduct the stop or order Mr. Torruellas out of the vehicle.” “Constitutional protections are the foundation upon which our system of criminal justice is based and which apply equally to all. It is imperative that those protections be jealously guarded and scrupulously applied, without regard to the outcome in a particular case,” the judge wrote. The judge said that Daniels was relying on information from Detective Patrick Call about Torruellas’ real identity. “Sgt. Daniels, therefore, did not know the basis for Detective Call’s information and thus could not rely on his hearsay for probable cause to make an arrest for a completed misdemeanor.” The court also chided Daniels for not giving the two men their Miranda rights before he began questioning them. “The court holds that the vehicle stop was inappropriate and Judge Eaton does not believe it was a sufficiently serious misdemeanor to warrant stopping a car,” said Windsor County State’s Attorney Michael Kainen. Kainen said he would consult with his deputy, David Cahill, who handles most of the drug cases in Windsor County, about filing an appeal of Eaton’s decision. “We are obviously disappointed in the ruling. We believe these guys are dealing and generally have others dealing for them,” said Kainen. “So we got lucky that they happened to be transporting product at the time of this stop.” “We all hold our constitutional rights dearly,” said Kainen. “But there is some perversion of the original concept of rights and ordered liberties when the Constitution is used to spring criminals so that they can continue to threaten, intimidate and peddle poison in the community,” he said. Both Teachout and Stevens declined to discuss the decision, noting the decision could be appealed. Kainen has five business days to file a notice of appeal. Eaton ruled that because giving false information to a police officer is only a misdemeanor, Daniels did not have the right to stop the car simply because he recognized Torruellas. According to police, Torruellas had originally given a false name and a false address to Daniels on March 15. Torruellas gave the name of Juan Rodriguez and said he was from Springfield, but gave an address on Wall Street that did not exist. When he was stopped on March 28, he gave yet another name and an address in Burlington, which also did not exist when police checked. In the second car stop, Atkinson was “visibly shaking,” according to the police, and called himself “Joseph Smith,” but couldn’t remember the city where he was born or produce any identification. Police found keys to a safe, which was in the car, in Atkinson’s pockets, and inside the safe police found $3,600 in cash, two grams of marijuana, two ounces of crack cocaine, five baggies of heroin and 150 rounds of mixed ammunition, as well as a digital scale. Police found a loaded Ruger pistol in the glove compartment, along with three packages of crack cocaine and a package of heroin, which contained 40 small packages of the drug.
How is this going to effect the proposed neighborhood watch?
ReplyDeleteYup:
ReplyDeleteAll you scum in Jersy, come on up to Vermont where:
The judges are fair, or.. (I don't know the word)
The cops are not to smart.
Your customers are always free.
You can rule your part of town.
The "system" is for you, not against you.
Welfare is available.
Yup: Come on up to nice rural Vermont.
The Green Mountain State.
giving false identification to the police used to be a crime or does it depend on whether there is a bleeding heart judge on the bench. the court system is a huge part of the drug problem.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am sure many people in Springfield will find this case frustrating, they should not criticize the police, the prosecutors, or the Court on this one. Each were doing their jobs and what we want and desire them to do. The police were being aggressive in trying to monitor known or strongly suspected drug dealers. The prosecutors did not hesitate but sought to bring the dealers to justice. Finally the Court was doing what it was supposed to do namely scrutinizing the governments activities to make sure that no Constitutional rights were violated.
ReplyDeleteThere may be times when the police should be criticized, but this is not one of those times. There may be times when the prosecutors should be taken to task, but this is not one of those times. There may be problems with our Court system, but this is not one of them. Let’s not let this setback take our eye off the ball, we want the police out there aggressively monitoring the drug traffickers rather than manning radar guns. We want the prosecutors out there bringing the charges, rather than cherry picking the cases. And we want the Courts making sure everyone’s rights are protected. So let us focus on getting the Courts someone to monitor the release on conditions violations, getting the Courts house arrest anklets to prescribe, and getting the Courts prioritizing violation of conditions of release. This is what is needed.
let us focus on the courts==this is your message; you're right
Deletere: "we want the police out there aggressively monitoring the drug traffickers rather than manning radar guns."
ReplyDeleteHoly crap George, you hit the nail on the head with that comment. But do you think SPD is on the same wave length? For years, we had to endure frivolous traffic citations while real police work went ignored. All of those recently arrested had to have supported their $100+/day habbit by ill gotten gains. But how many theft arrests have we seen?
Regarding the Jersey Boys, rest assured the invisible empire has them pegged, and any attorney desperate enough to protect them will never see a dime from us that fuel this community.
Bring back Judge Roy Bean
ReplyDeletecall Arizona--we need Sheriff Joe!!!
ReplyDeleteSheriff Joe Arpaio's casual dismissal of the US Constitution has already cost Phoenix $45 million in lawsuit awards. I don't think Springfield's ready for a cowboy...
DeleteIf the feds did their jobs, we wouldn't need the Sheriff. Best money we ever spent.
DeleteNow we showed them.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteLet's wear bracelets. That'll stop them.
Wow people are very funny. i am a felon who served 51 months for dwi....no injuries no high speed chase maybe i should have had a 1/2 lb. of dope then i would have walked.
ReplyDelete