Police Briefs 10-27-2016

TRIAL CONTINUES IN 2013 MURDER

Opening statements have concluded this week in the double-murder trial of Maurice Morrison, 31, of Chelsea. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the May 13, 2013, homicides of Zouaoui Dani-Elkebir, 52, and Karima El-Hakim, 38.

The victims were found shot to death in Dani-Elkebir’s livery vehicle on Crescent Avenue.  Morrison is accused of shooting both amid an ongoing personal conflict he had with El-Hakim.

THREATENED WITH KNIFE AT ATM

On Oct. 23, officers spoke to victim who wanted to report that someone had assaulted him with a knife in the area of Broadway and Everett Avenue by the Bank of America ATM location. The victim, who was unharmed, explained that he had been approached by a Hispanic male who was aggressive and assaultive towards him.

He said that the suspect was walking in the opposite direction, and that as they came close, the male subject stopped directly in front of him and began to ask the victim if he had any money. When the victim told the suspect that he didn’t have any money, the suspect then began to ask him what gang he belonged to.

The victim stated that as the suspect spoke more, he became more and more aggressive. As the victim denied being a gang member, the suspect then become angry and pulled out a folding knife, opened the blade, and brought it up to the victim’s belly area. The victim states that man appeared intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. After providing the description to all working units, the officer took the victim for a ride around the general area to see if he could spot the suspects. The victim observed the two on Broadway entering the Las Vegas bar. CPD officers located suspect inside bar and placed him under arrest. A knife was recovered form suspect on scene.

Florencio Reyes Pereira, 24, of 92 Fourth St., was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon.

APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS MURDER CONVICTION IN 2011 CASE

The East Boston man who shot 29-year-old Luis Paul Rodriguez to death in Chelsea will not receive a new trial.

In an unpublished decision released on Oct. 13, the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the murder conviction of Jonathan Carvalho, 26. A Suffolk Superior Court jury in 2011 found Carvalho guilty of second-degree murder for gunning Rodriguez down during what the victim believed would be a fistfight.

On appeal, Carvalho claimed that the trial judge erred in the instructions given to the jury, including in the failure to instruct jurors on self-defense. The appeal court, however, found no error in the jury instructions.

“The defendant was not entitled to a self-defense instruction, because the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to him, did not raise even the possibility that he used all reasonable, available means of retreat before resorting to the use of force…. There was no evidence that the defendant’s means of egress was blocked, or that he, armed with a gun, could not have simply run away from the victim’s raised fists,” the court wrote.

The court likewise found no merit in Carvalho’s other arguments on appeal, including a claimed violation of his Miranda rights, challenges to prospective jurors, and a prosecutor’s statements that Carvalho claimed played to the juror’s sympathy.

“We discern no error, as the prosecutor’s comments were supported by testimony and within the scope of permissible argument,” the justices stated.

Carvalho was initially charged with first-degree murder, but a jury in 2011 convicted him of the lesser charge of second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

At trial, prosecutors presented evidence and testimony to prove that Carvalho and Rodriguez were involved in an ongoing dispute that they planned to settle with a fistfight at a Crescent Avenue parking lot on the afternoon of Aug. 10, 2010.   When Carvalho produced a firearm during the fight, Rodriguez turned to flee.  The evidence showed that Carvalho shot the victim in the back, then shot him once again as he stumbled into a Crescent Avenue residence.  Chelsea Police detectives and State troopers assigned to Conley’s office obtained a warrant for Carvalho’s arrest that evening and tracked him to Savannah, Ga., with the help of US Marshals.

Police Log

Monday, 10/17

Patricio Ramirez Pablo, 48, 19 Connecticut St. Somerville, was arrested for unlicensed operation of motor vehicle, failure to yield.

Braulio Gonzalez, 46, 124 Washington Ave., Chelsea, was arrested on a warrant.

Tuesday, 10/18

Angela DeMello, 33, Homeless of Chelsea, was arrested on a warrant.

Emir Ikanovic, 27, 38 Winthrop Rd., Everett, was arrested on a warrant.

Thursday, 10/20

Christian Garcia, 19, 3 Park Rd., Everett, was arrested on a warrant.

Sunday, 10/23

Florencio Reyes Pereira, 24, 92 Fourth St., Chelsea, was arrested for assault with a dangerous weapon.

 

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