People v. Ryan

• Decision Date: 01 December 1986
• Citation: 121 A.D.2d 34,509 N.Y.S.2d 545
• Parties: The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Thomas RYAN, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 545

509 N.Y.S.2d 545

121 A.D.2d 34

The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Thomas RYAN, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division Second Department.

Dec. 1, 1986.

Robert H. Skigen, Smithtown (Charles M. Newell, of counsel), for appellant.

Patrick Henry, Dist. Atty., Riverhead (Mark D. Cohen, of counsel, Richard Gabriel, on the brief), for respondent.

Before MOLLEN, P.J., and MANGANO, LAWRENCE and KOOPER, JJ.

MOLLEN, Presiding Justice.

The murder convictions challenged herein arise out of the defendant's involvement along with three friends in the killing of John Pius, a 13-year-old youth, on April 20, 1979. The defendant's accomplices in the murder, Peter and Michael Quartararo and Robert Brensic, were similarly convicted of murder in the second degree in separate trials. Each of these convictions was upheld on appeal (see, People v. Quartararo, 113 A.D.2d 845, 493 N.Y.S.2d 511; People v. Brensic, 119 A.D.2d 281, 506 N.Y.S.2d 570). Although several of the issues raised by the defendant closely parallel those raised in accomplice Robert Brensic's appeal, an independent review of the facts as

adduced at the defendant's trial is warranted.

THE FACTS

A. The People's Case

On the evening of April 20, 1979 between the hours of 7:00 and 8:00 P.M., John Pius, a 13-year-old youth, was repairing his bicycle in the garage of his family's residence in Smithtown, New York. At approximately 8:15 P.M., Pius asked permission from his father to ride over to the nearby Dogwood Elementary School in order to test his newly repaired bike. Pius expected that his friend, Eddie Pembroke, would be at the school. Mr. Pius allowed his son to go to the school grounds but instructed him to return within 15 minutes. At about 8:30 P.M., Pius was observed on his bicycle riding in the direction of the Dogwood School.

When Pius failed to return home by 9:15 P.M., Mr. Pius drove to the school. After walking around the school grounds, Mr. Pius canvassed the neighborhood but was unable to locate his son. Thereafter, Mr. Pius returned home and notified the police that his son was missing. The police arrived at the Pius home at about 11:00 P.M.

Discovery of Pius' Body

At 4:00 A.M. the following day, Mr. Pius telephoned Eddie Pembroke and requested that the youth show him the tree house which Pius and Eddie had been building across the street from Pembroke's home. Their search of that location proved futile.

Later that morning, Mr. Pius and several neighbors conducted a search of the Dogwood schoolyard. At approximately 10:00 A.M., two neighborhood youths who had been playing in the schoolyard discovered Pius' bicycle and his wallet in a wooded area of the yard. Pius' bicycle, which was lying on its side, was not disturbed. Pius' wallet was turned over to a baseball coach who was on a nearby ball field. The coach subsequently contacted Mr. Pius by telephone and informed him that his son's wallet had been found. After retrieving the wallet from the coach's home, Mr. Pius returned to the schoolyard with several relatives and neighbors to conduct a further search of the school grounds. During the search Mr. Pius' niece spotted Pius' bicycle lying on the ground underneath some leaves. Mr. Pius then picked the bicycle up and leaned it against a nearby tree stump.

At approximately 1:40 P.M., Joseph Sabina discovered Pius' body covered with leaves and branches lying on the ground in a wooded area of the schoolyard. A log covered Pius' head and another log was over his legs. Sabina moved the logs away from the body and then notified Mr. Pius of his discovery.

The police arrived at the scene at 2:30 P.M. Detective Thomas Gill of the Suffolk County Police Department's Homicide Squad, who had responded to the scene, inspected the body and observed drag marks in the dirt emanating from the area of the tree stump where Pius' bicycle rested. The detective then conducted interviews of several persons who were present at the scene, including Sabina who described his observations upon discovering the body. When Sabina informed Detective Gill that he had moved the log which had been covering the decedent's upper body, the detective instructed him to keep confidential the information concerning the condition of the body.

Members of the Medical Examiner's Office also responded to the scene later that afternoon. Various items were collected from the immediate vicinity of the body and footprint cast impressions of several prints around the body were taken. The autopsy conducted on Pius' body later that day revealed that six stones had been placed in the youth's mouth, five above the tongue and one below the tongue, which blocked the air passages. In addition to multiple bruises to the body, there were sneaker marks on Pius' cheek and hemorrhaging in the gums which were determined to be consistent with someone standing on the decedent's throat, forcing his mouth open and placing rocks in his mouth. The cause of death was attributed to a combination of asphyxia and multiple contusions

and lacerations in and about the chest and neck area. The time of death was estimated between 12 and 24 hours earlier.

Initial Police Investigation

During the first several days of the investigation into Pius' death, the police concentrated their efforts on three local youths, namely, John Sparling, Michael O'Neil and Raymond St. Dennis, who had been observed in the vicinity of the Dogwood School on the night in question. O'Neil and Sparling were first questioned by police on April 22, 1979, two days after the killing, and at that time both denied being at the schoolyard on April 20, 1979. During subsequent interviews with O'Neil and Sparling, however, the police discovered that both youths, along with St. Dennis, had been at a local beer distributorship on the evening in question between 7:30 and 8:00 P.M. The boys purchased a case of beer and while the three boys were outside the store, they observed the defendant drive up to the store in a yellow Capri automobile. Michael and Peter Quartararo and Robert Brensic were also in the car. O'Neil and his two friends walked over to the car, spoke with defendant and sold him a six-pack of beer.

Thereafter, O'Neil and his two friends left the store at about 8:00 P.M. and walked towards the Dogwood School. As they passed by the school at about 8:15 P.M., they observed Ryan's car drive out of the schoolyard. Brensic was on a minibike and was holding onto the side of the car. The car turned right onto Rice Lane and drove away. O'Neil and his friends continued past the schoolyard and stopped at a nearby construction site where they drank beer for several hours. Thereafter, they went to a midnight movie.

The defendant, Michael and Peter Quartararo and Robert Brensic were also questioned by the police during the first several days of the police investigation. They denied being at the Dogwood School on the night of the killing and stated they had been at a baseball game at the high school. The defendant and his companions were not considered suspects in the killing at that time. In fact, the police believed that the defendant and his friends were covering up for O'Neil, Sparling and St. Dennis.

Another local youth, Robert Burke, who had a known history of violent behavior, was also considered a suspect in the murder during the first several days of the Pius investigation. ¹ On the morning of April 28, 1979, Detectives Fountain and LaValle were instructed to conduct a surveillance of Burke's residence. The detectives commenced their two hour surveillance at 8:00 A.M. but no activity was recorded during that time. When the detectives contacted the precinct at 10:00 A.M. they were instructed to conduct a surveillance of O'Neil's home. As they were watching O'Neil's residence, the detectives observed a yellow Capri automobile back out of a driveway down the street at approximately 1:00 P.M. The yellow car passed by the officers and continued down the street. The officers decided to follow the car to determine whether O'Neil was inside. The yellow vehicle eventually pulled into a small shopping center on Route 25A in Smithtown and its occupants, neither of whom were O'Neil, went into a delicatessen.

The detectives then headed back to the O'Neil residence at approximately 1:05 P.M. and while en route they received a radio call from Detective Sergeant Richard Jensen, their supervising officer, instructing them to meet him at the Smithtown High School. At the high school, Detective Fountain informed Jensen that he and LaValle had not seen O'Neil during their surveillance but they did observe a vehicle which matched the description of Ryan's car. Jensen asked the detectives to return to the Route 25A delicatessen to determine whether the defendant was in the car and to request him to speak with the police.

When the detectives returned to the shopping center, they observed the yellow Capri drive out of the parking lot and turn Jensen, accompanied by Detective Gary Leonard, arrived at the scene within minutes. Jensen introduced himself to the two youths and asked if they would accompany the police officers to the precinct to be interviewed in connection with the ongoing investigation into the Pius murder. Both youths voluntarily agreed although the defendant voiced concern about leaving his car on the street unattended. Jensen suggested that the car be driven to the precinct by Leonard. The defendant agreed and gave Leonard his car keys.

onto Woodlawn Avenue. The car stopped at a traffic light and Fountain pulled up alongside the Capri, identified himself as a police officer, and asked the driver to pull over. When the two vehicles stopped, Fountain got out of his car and walked up alongside the driver's side of the Capri. Meanwhile, LaValle radioed Jensen and informed him of their location. LaValle then exited his vehicle and approached the Capri as a youth, who was later identified as Peter Quartararo, was getting out of the front...