Court: Cops aren't allowed to threaten bodily harm against defendants, even if their relatives are the alleged victims
The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled today a man confronted by a Cambridge police detective is entitled for a hearing on whether the interaction meant he couldn't get a fair trial on a charge he threatened the detective's niece.
The court pointed to "all of the troubling circumstances" implicit in a law-enforcement officer confronting a man up on charges the day before his trial and ordered a lower court judge to reconsider Dennis Teixeira's motion to dismiss the case because he said his curbside conversation with Det. Kevin Donofrio made him afraid to testify on his own behalf:
Donofrio conceded at the hearing that the encounter was not "friendly," and the judge found that Donofrio had no intention of making it friendly. Among other things, Donofrio stood only inches from the defendant as he spoke, used profanities, and had Ahern stand close behind the defendant throughout. Donofrio told the defendant that Reananne was afraid of him and was concerned about the trial. The defendant responded that he was "all set" and did not "have a problem with Reananne." After a few more "all sets" were exchanged, the encounter ended and Donofrio drove away. Neither Donofrio nor the defendant discussed the trial or the circumstances surrounding the incident on which the charges were based.
The defendant's account of the general circumstances of the meeting was not substantially different from Donofrio's, but his description of their conversation differed dramatically. According to the defendant, Donofrio stated that "you fuck with my family [and] we will kill you, I will make you disappear" and "if nothing happens in trial tomorrow, you're going to have to deal with us every day." In her findings, the judge recited that testimony and did not expressly reject it, although she appears to have rejected it by implication.
The appeals court said Teixeira's version is so disturbing it warrants further airing to determine its validity. One appeals-court judge went even further; in a dissent, Judge Frederick Brown said he would just dismiss the charges immediately because Donofrio's chat violated "what is unquestionably a core fundamental constitutional right."
