Commonwealth v. Regan
| Decision Date | 16 December 2020 |
| Docket Number | Docket: 1877CR00682 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH v. CHRISTOPHER REGAN |
| Court | Massachusetts Superior Court |
Present: /s/Jeffrey T. Karp Associate Justice, Superior Court
County: ESSEX, ss.
Keywords: MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS PHYSICAL AND DERIVATIVE EVIDENCE FROM A WARRANTLESS SEARCH AND SEIZURE (Paper No. 9)
Defendant Christopher Regan ("Regan") is charged with five counts of possession of explosive, destructive, or incendiary devices or substances in violation of G.L. c. 266, § 102(c). He has moved to suppress contraband and other items seized by the Beverly Police Department ("BPD") and the Massachusetts State Police ("MSP") on June 29, 2018, from a rental commercial van parked in a condominium complex in Beverly.
On November 18, 2020, the Court conducted an evidentiary hearing on Defendant's Motion To Suppress Physical And Derivative Evidence From A Warrantless Search And Seizure ("Motion") (Paper No. 9). The Court heard testimony from Officer Ryan Hegarty ("Hegarty") of the BPD and Sgt. Paul Horgan ("Horgan") of the MSP, and it received in evidence thirteen exhibits, including photographs and a recording of 911 calls.1 Regan did not testify and introduced no exhibits.
As is fully explained below, after thorough consideration of the submissions and arguments of counsel, and the evidence presented at the hearing, the Motion is DENIED.
The Court makes the following findings, which are based on the credible evidence produced at the hearing and the reasonable inferences the Court has drawn from the evidence. Furthermore, the Court finds that the testimony of Hegarty and Horgan was truthful and accurate on the relevant and material points. Thus, the Court credits their testimony in its entirety.2
On June 29, 2018, at approximately 9:15 PM, the BPD received two 911 calls reporting fireworks being set off. The callers reported hearing what sounded like gunshots or fireworks. The callers stated they believed a white van with "$19.99" depicted on the side was involved. One caller said she saw the white van leaving St. Mary's Cemetery ("Cemetery") after the fireworks were set off and the other caller said he observed the van leave the Cemetery and circle a residential area on Northridge Rd.
More specifically, the substance of the 911 calls are as follows:
1. A female caller requested
2. A male caller stated,
Exhibit 1, BPD recording.
On June 29, 2018, Hegarty was in full uniform and working alone in a marked police cruiser. He was operating one of three police vehicles that the BPD dispatched in response to the 911 calls. Officer Zwicker ("Zwicker")3 and Det. Joshua Pickett ("Pickett") were operating the other responding police vehicles. Zwicker was operating a marked police cruiser.
Hegarty drove to the Beverly High School parking lot and met up with Zwicker and Pickett. From there, they drove their respective police vehicles toward Northridge Road. On the way, they observed (and heard) a large firework display coming from inside the Cemetery. In response, Hegarty and Zwicker proceeded to the Cemetery.
The Cemetery has two entrances for motor vehicles, which serve an interior road that forms a horseshoe inside the cemetery grounds. The interior of the Cemetery also has a pedestrian path. Adjacent to the rear of the Cemetery is a condominium complex located on Northridge Road.
Hegarty and Zwicker entered separate entrances to the Cemetery in their police cruisers and drove in the direction of the fireworks (i.e., toward the rear of the Cemetery). Upon arrival at rear of the Cemetery, Hegarty observed two men and a female standing near a cloud of smoke. On the ground nearby, Hegarty observed what appeared to be a spent "shell" or "casing" from fireworks. He exited his cruiser and immediately smelled burnt fireworks. Hegarty asked the group of three individuals, "Did you see fireworks?" One of the men, later identified as Regan, responded, "Yes, it wasn't us, it was other guys that went that way." Hegarty asked them for their names. The female said her name is "Taylor Conway." Regan provided his name and the other male identified himself as "Anthony Abbott."
In the meantime, Pickett drove his police vehicle to the Northridge condominium complex and observed an unoccupied white van matching the description of the 911 callers parked in a visitor parking space near the rear of the Cemetery. Pickett found the van parked approximately 30 to 40 feet from the condominium residential buildings and there were other vehicles parked nearby. Pickett reasonably believed that the van was recently operated because the hood of the van was warm to the touch.
Pickett radioed Hegarty and Zwicker (who were in the Cemetery), and reported he located the white van described by the 911 callers. Pickett reported he observed boxes of "high priced fireworks" inside the white van. Upon learning this information, Hegarty asked Regan and his two companions "if they were involved with the motor vehicle." They responded "no." Hegarty asked them to walk to the location at which the van was located, and meet him and other officers there. They agreed and walked the very short distance to the location of the van. Hegarty and Zwicker drove their respective police vehicles and met them and Pickett near the white van. The van had a front cabin area for a driver and a passenger. It had a single door with a window on each side of the front cabin. Immediately behind the front cabin was a large cargo area. The van had a double set of doors on the passenger side of the rear cargo area with a large window on the top of each door. The rear of the van contained another set of double doors with a large window on the top of each door. The exterior of the front driver's side and passenger side doors contained the word "U-Haul' in large black letters, and the words "Truck Share 24/7' in smaller white and orange letters. The exterior of both sides of the rear cargo area stated "$19.95" in very large green lettering along with other U-Haul-related information.
Upon Hegarty's arrival at the van in the Northbridge condominium complex, he observed Regan and the two companions standing nearby as he requested. Pickett again told Hegarty that the van contained boxes of "high priced fireworks." Hegarty then asked Regan and his two companions if they "had any involvement" with the van and they each said "no" and walked away.
Hegarty and Pickett then looked into the van windows and used a flashlight to illuminate the interior. Hegarty and Pickett looked into the side cargo-area windows and observed a large white box inside the cargo area. The box contained the following words: Immediately above those words was a large red or orange sticker stating the following: "1.4 G 1." Based on his training and experience, Pickett believed "1.4" is the designation used to label the presence of consumer grade fireworks, which he believed to be illegal to possess in Massachusetts. In response, the officers contacted Sgt. Vanliere, the BPD patrol supervisor, who contacted the shift commander, an unnamed lieutenant. The shift commander called the MSP Bomb Squad because of concern that the van contained explosive materials in a residential area.
While waiting for the MSP Bomb Squad to arrive, Hegarty looked into the van through the driver's side window and observed a wallet on a small shelf in the driver's side of the front dashboard. See photographs at Exhibits 10 —11. The wallet lay partially open with portions of credit cards in view. Inside the partially open wallet, Hegarty observed the edge of a Visa credit card with the name "Christopher J. Regan" on it. See photograph at Exhibit 12. Hegarty also contacted U-Haul customer service at this time and learned that the name of the person who rented the van was Christopher Regan.
As of June 2018, Horgan had worked for approximately 24 years in various positions at the MSP Fire Marshal's Office. For approximately the prior 12 years, Horgan worked in the Bomb Squad within the Fire Marshal's Office.
Horgan received extensive training in the composition, classification, manufacturing, labelling and transportation of explosives, such as fireworks. He has been a certified bomb technician since joining the Bomb Squad. Horgan earned that designation by attending a six-week training course jointly administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Defense. He has been recertified as a bomb technician every three years by attending a weeklong course. Horgan has attended several lengthy explosives-related training courses administered by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ("ATF"). These include a training course entitled "Advanced Explosive Disposal Techniques," which...
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