Commonwealth v. Andre-Fields
| Citation | 98 Mass.App.Ct. 475,156 N.E.3d 256 |
| Decision Date | 23 September 2020 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 19-P-846 & 19-P-889,s. 19-P-846 & 19-P-889 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH v. Milano R. ANDRE-FIELDS (and nineteen companion cases ). |
| Court | Appeals Court of Massachusetts |
Ellyn H. Lazar, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.
Daniel P. Griffin for Milano R. Andre-Fields.
Sean M. Smith, Worcester, for Mindy Doherty.
Present: Vuono, Henry, & Hand, JJ.
A grand jury returned indictments charging the defendants, Milano R. Andre-Fields and Mindy Doherty, with numerous drug and firearm offenses.2 The charges are based on evidence seized during the execution of two search warrants at an apartment located at 1223 West Boylston Street in Worcester. The first warrant authorized the police to search for records and other evidence of a drug distribution scheme operated by Andre-Fields. The second warrant was obtained after the police had entered the premises and observed a large amount of drugs and a number of firearms. That warrant expanded the search to include illegal drugs. Both warrants were executed on November 21, 2017. Prior to trial, Andre-Fields filed a motion to suppress the evidence, which Doherty joined. Following a hearing, a judge of the Superior Court concluded that the affidavits submitted in support of the search warrants failed to establish the requisite nexus between the objects sought and the premises to be searched. Consequently, he allowed the motion to suppress.3 A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court granted the Commonwealth's application for leave to prosecute an interlocutory appeal, and the case was transferred to this court. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the order allowing the motion to suppress.
Background. We summarize the information contained in the affidavit submitted in support of the search warrant application. The affiant, Felipe Martinez, is a State trooper with extensive experience in controlled substance investigations.4 At the time he prepared the affidavit, Trooper Martinez was assigned to the State police detective unit narcotics squad in Worcester County. Within one month of submitting the search warrant, Trooper Martinez was contacted by a confidential informant (CI) who told him that a black man called "Sike" was selling crystal methamphetamine and "crack" cocaine in the Worcester area. The CI said that he had purchased cocaine from Sike many times by calling him on one of two cellular telephone numbers and placing an order. Sike then delivered the drugs to a predetermined location.5
The CI knew where Sike lived and described the cars that Sike drove. He told Trooper Martinez that Sike previously lived on School Street in Boylston, Massachusetts, and that the CI had observed large amounts of drugs in Sike's home there. Through additional investigation, Trooper Martinez learned that Andre-Fields and his wife lived at 199A School Street and that one of the vehicles he owned, a grey BMW, was registered to him at that address.6 According to the CI, at some point, Sike had moved to 1223 West Boylston Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Trooper Martinez learned that Doherty lived in an apartment located on the second floor of a multifamily home at that address and that the home was owned by Doherty's mother.7 He also learned that Doherty and Andre-Fields were dating. By reviewing records maintained by the registry of motor vehicles (RMV) Trooper Martinez further learned that Andre-Fields had listed his address as 1223 West Boylston Street. In addition, the CI reported that Sike owned a small, black Ford pickup truck. Trooper Martinez confirmed that Andre-Fields owned such a vehicle and that it was registered to him at the West Boylston Street address. Officers observed that the truck was parked overnight at 199A School Street and at 1223 West Boylston Street.
Trooper Martinez obtained a photograph of Andre-Fields from the RMV and showed it to the CI, who identified the photograph as being that of Sike. The CI also showed Trooper Martinez a Facebook social media account profile under the name "Scrooge Macduck (sikesosock)," and Trooper Martinez recognized the photographs on the profile as images of Andre-Fields. The page also listed Andre-Fields's nickname as "sike."
Trooper Martinez investigated the telephone numbers provided by the CI to contact Andre-Fields and learned that one of them was registered to an "Andre Milano" with an address of 199A School Street in Boylston. The other telephone number was registered to an "A Agnes" in East Millbury, Massachusetts (second phone). Based on his training and experience, Trooper Martinez was aware that drug dealers, in addition to using their personal cellular telephones, commonly own a "burner phone[ ]" registered in the name of another individual to facilitate drug transactions.
The CI also stated that Andre-Fields (Sike) had recently been arrested in Rhode Island with a large amount of crystal methamphetamine. Trooper Martinez confirmed that Andre-Fields was arrested in North Smithfield, Rhode Island in October 2017. Trooper Martinez contacted the North Smithfield Police Department and learned that when the police arrested Andre-Fields they found forty-two grams of what appeared to be crystal methamphetamine, approximately twenty grams of what appeared to be crack cocaine, and some marijuana. Trooper Martinez reviewed Andre-Fields's criminal history, which included prior charges for possession of a controlled substance in California between 2007 and 2008, and one conviction. Less than one year earlier, in December 2016, Andre-Fields was charged in Clinton District Court with one count of distribution of a class D substance (marijuana) that was continued without a finding of guilt.
During the course of the investigation, Trooper Martinez and other law enforcement agents conducted intermittent surveillance of both addresses associated with Andre-Fields, 199A School Street and 1223 West Boylston Street. They observed Andre-Fields's black Ford pickup truck parked overnight at both locations. The affidavit does not state whether Andre-Fields was observed by officers at the School Street address, but both he and Doherty were observed at 1223 West Boylston Street. The West Boylston residence had two outdoor staircases, one on the left side of the house and one on the right side, both of which led to the second floor. Andre-Fields and Doherty were seen using the staircases to enter and exit the second-floor apartment.
Trooper Martinez also received information about Doherty's involvement with the distribution of drugs. He spoke with a detective assigned to the Worcester police vice squad who told him that Doherty was known to distribute illegal drugs and that he had conducted a controlled purchase of methamphetamine from Doherty in the past. The detective also said that he had seen Doherty at 1223 West Boylston Street and that Doherty was dating Andre-Fields.
As part of his investigation, Trooper Martinez arranged for the CI to conduct three controlled purchases of cocaine from Andre-Fields. The first controlled buy occurred approximately three weeks before the execution of the search warrant. Under the supervision of Trooper Martinez, the CI contacted Andre-Fields by calling the telephone number for the second phone (the suspected burner phone) and arranged to purchase crack cocaine. Prior to the buy, the CI and his car were searched for money and drugs. Trooper Martinez then provided the CI with money and instructed him to use it to purchase crack cocaine from Andre-Fields. The CI traveled to the location set for the transaction. Meanwhile, Trooper Martinez observed Andre-Fields leave 1223 West Boylston Street (the affidavit does not state which floor) and travel directly to the set location.8 The CI met with Andre-Fields briefly, and the officers conducting surveillance observed them have a hand-to-hand exchange. When the two separated, Andre-Fields returned to 1223 West Boylston Street and entered the second-floor unit. The CI, who had been under constant surveillance, then met with the officers and gave them a substance that field-tested positive for the presence of cocaine. The amount of the suspected cocaine was not stated but it was consistent with the price the CI paid for it. The CI reported that he had purchased the drugs from Andre-Fields.
The second controlled buy occurred about two weeks before the execution of the search warrant. The CI followed the same procedure in contacting Andre-Fields, i.e., he called the same telephone number and placed an order for crack cocaine. He submitted to a search of his body and car and then met Andre-Fields at a predetermined location. On this occasion, Andre-Fields was not under police surveillance while he travelled to and from the meeting with the CI. Andre-Fields drove the grey BMW, which was seen parked at 1223 West Boylston Street at an unspecified later time.9 As with the first controlled buy, the substance that the CI obtained from Andre-Fields field-tested positive for the presence of cocaine, and the amount of the suspected cocaine, though unstated, was consistent with the price the CI paid for it.
The third controlled buy occurred within seventy-two hours of the issuance of the search warrant. This buy was arranged and conducted in the same manner as the prior two buys. After the CI called Andre-Fields's second phone and arranged to meet him at a set location, officers observed Andre-Fields leave 1223 West Boylston Street (the affidavit does not state which floor) and travel to the location where he met with the CI.10 Officers then followed Andre-Fields as he travelled directly back to 1223 West Boylston Street, where he entered the second-floor unit. Once again, the substance the CI purchased from Andre-Fields field-tested positive for the presence of cocaine, and the amount of the suspected cocaine, though unspecified, was consistent with the price the CI paid for it.
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