State v. Hudgen

Decision Date27 April 2022
Docket Number2019-281-C.A., P1/17-520BG
Citation272 A.3d 1069
Parties STATE v. Trearra HUDGEN.
CourtRhode Island Supreme Court

Mariana E. Ormonde, Department of Attorney General, for State.

J. Richard Ratcliffe, Esq., for Defendant.

Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Robinson, Lynch Prata, and Long, JJ.

Justice Long, for the Court.

The defendant, Tre'arra Hudgen,1 appeals from a Superior Court judgment of conviction following a trial at which the jury found her guilty of first-degree murder, discharge of a firearm when committing a crime of violence that caused death, conspiracy to assault with a firearm, felony assault with a firearm, first-degree robbery, and carrying a revolver without a license or permit. The defendant alleges that the trial justice erred in (1) denying her motion to suppress the evidence found at her apartment, (2) denying her motion to suppress the evidence found in her vehicle, and (3) violating her right to confront a witness about promises, rewards, and inducements.

For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.

Facts and Procedural History

We recite the following summary of relevant facts, which appear in the record of proceedings in the Superior Court.

On Monday, October 31, 2016, Matthew Reverdes was shot and killed. The testimony at trial revealed that Mr. Reverdes lived in the basement apartment of 54 Harrison Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He had a contentious relationship with his neighbors, defendant Tre'arra Hudgen (Ms. Hudgen or defendant) and defendant's romantic partner, Juscelina "Sally" DaSilva, who lived upstairs from Mr. Reverdes in the first-floor apartment of 54 Harrison Street with three of Ms. DaSilva's children. About a week and a half before Mr. Reverdes was killed, defendant and Ms. DaSilva reported to the Pawtucket Police Department and their landlord that they believed Mr. Reverdes had knocked on their bedroom window around 11 p.m. while they were lying in bed.

During the weekend before Mr. Reverdes's death, defendant and Ms. DaSilva drove a rental car to Atlanta, Georgia, to attend a funeral. Julio "Whispers" Cano, the father of two of Ms. DaSilva's children, stayed at the apartment to watch the three children while defendant and Ms. DaSilva were out of town. On the evening of Sunday, October 30, 2016, Mr. Cano, who was an admitted drug dealer at that time, had stayed awake "sniffing" cocaine into the early morning hours. Around 4:30 a.m., Mr. Cano heard knocking on the children's bedroom window. When Mr. Cano investigated, he observed two individuals, who appeared to be Mr. Reverdes and a female companion, run to a car, get in, and drive away. Mr. Cano called Ms. DaSilva later that morning to tell her of the incident. She responded by sending a message to her landlord to complain again about Mr. Reverdes looking into the windows to her apartment.

Ms. DaSilva and defendant returned home on Monday, October 31, 2016. They unpacked and returned the rental car and drove back to their apartment in defendant's red Honda Accord. Upon returning to the apartment, Ms. DaSilva walked to a nearby gas station to buy a cigar and saw Mr. Reverdes walking his dog. She confronted him about knocking on her windows, which he denied. The encounter unsettled Ms. DaSilva; she called defendant, who met her at the gas station and walked her back to the apartment, where they told Mr. Cano about the confrontation and Mr. Reverdes's denial of knocking on the window.

Hearing this information, Mr. Cano retrieved two guns from his briefcase—a .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol and a .22-caliber revolver—and handed the revolver to defendant. Mr. Cano went downstairs, knocked on Mr. Reverdes's door, and began arguing with Mr. Reverdes. Mr. Cano put the semi-automatic pistol in Mr. Reverdes's face and pushed his way into the apartment, telling Mr. Reverdes to sit in a chair in the kitchen area. Shortly thereafter, defendant followed Mr. Cano into Mr. Reverdes's apartment and entered the kitchen, holding the revolver. Mr. Cano asked Mr. Reverdes about knocking on Ms. DaSilva's apartment windows, but Mr. Reverdes again denied doing so. The defendant told Mr. Reverdes to stop lying, grabbed Mr. Reverdes's diamond earrings and some of his cash, and briefly went back upstairs to her apartment.

When defendant returned to Mr. Reverdes's apartment, she stood near Mr. Reverdes while Mr. Cano searched for additional money and valuables. As Mr. Cano was searching, defendant and Mr. Reverdes began struggling for control of the revolver defendant was holding, and a shot went off. Mr. Reverdes ran out of the apartment into the hallway, and defendant followed, shooting after him. Mr. Cano joined the pursuit, firing six to eight shots at Mr. Reverdes as Mr. Reverdes ran down Harrison Street.

Thereafter, Mr. Cano grabbed both guns and stashed them in the garage. Mr. Cano wiped any fingerprints off Mr. Reverdes's apartment doorknob and left in Ms. DaSilva's minivan. The defendant and Ms. DaSilva also left, taking Ms. DaSilva's children to a local park in defendant's red Honda.

At approximately 3:45 p.m. that same day, Samantha Briggs, a crew member at Dunkin’ Donuts on Cedar Street in Pawtucket, learned from a coworker that someone in the store had been shot. Ms. Briggs later testified at trial that she went to the front of the store, where she found Mr. Reverdes lying on the ground, rolling around and gasping for air. Her coworker dialed 911, and Ms. Briggs spoke to emergency responders while also asking Mr. Reverdes his name and where he lived. Ms. Briggs recounted at trial that, although she had difficulty understanding what Mr. Reverdes was saying, he told her his name and that he lived at "58 Harrison Ave., second floor." In response to her question asking where he was shot, Ms. Briggs told police, Mr. Reverdes said "there," referring to "58 Harrison Street, on the second." Mr. Reverdes also told Ms. Briggs that he did not know who shot him. When Mr. Reverdes removed his sweatshirt, Ms. Briggs saw that his shirt was covered in blood and that there was a hole in his chest. Police later recovered a single projectile that fell from Mr. Reverdes's sweatshirt. Mr. Reverdes was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

On November 1, 2016, detectives from the Pawtucket Police Department obtained a warrant to search the apartment that Ms. DaSilva and defendant shared. Detectives seized narcotics, separated into bagged quantities for delivery; various drug paraphernalia, including a scale; paperwork for Mr. Cano, Ms. DaSilva, and Ms. Hudgen; and a bill of sale made out to defendant for a red Honda.

That same day, detectives also questioned Ms. DaSilva for the first time. They questioned her again the following day, and on November 3, 2016, after questioning Ms. DaSilva a third time, the detectives arrested her.

Detectives also arrested Mr. Cano on November 3. During their later questioning of Mr. Cano, he revealed that he hid the pistol and revolver used in the homicide in the garage at the 54 Harrison Street apartment. After detectives acquired a separate search warrant for the garage, they located the two guns.

Meanwhile, also on November 3, 2016, Connecticut law enforcement officers arrested defendant in Hartford, Connecticut, pursuant to an arrest warrant issued by a Rhode Island judge on probable cause that defendant possessed and intended to deliver the narcotics found in the apartment. Connecticut officers also seized defendant's vehicle, a red 2002 Honda Accord, at that time due to a request from the detectives of the Pawtucket Police Department. The Connecticut officers secured defendant's vehicle in a police tow yard until November 9, 2016, when detectives from the Pawtucket Police Department, in conjunction with the Hartford Police Department, procured a search warrant for the vehicle from a Connecticut judge. Detectives searched defendant's vehicle after the search warrant was issued. The search revealed Mr. Reverdes's diamond earrings, a cell phone, and an additional bill of sale for the vehicle.

In February 2017, a Providence County grand jury indicted defendant on seven counts: (1) first-degree murder; (2) discharge of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence resulting in death; (3) conspiracy to commit felony assault; (4) felony assault with a dangerous weapon; (5) robbery in the first degree; (6) conspiracy to murder; and (7) carrying a revolver without a license.

During pretrial proceedings, defendant filed three motions to suppress evidence that are relevant to this appeal: two related to evidence found at defendant's apartment, and the third concerning evidence found in defendant's red Honda. In the first motion to suppress, defendant argued that the supporting affidavit did not contain sufficient information to establish probable cause to search the apartment where she resided for evidence related to the homicide. She specifically challenged the fifth paragraph of the affidavit, which reads in pertinent part as follows:

"There was also reliable information received that Julio ‘Whispers’ lives at 54 Harrison Street with DaSilva and Hudgen and 5-6 children. * * * The information detailed that ‘Whispers’ stated a week or two ago that he had 2 (two) .22 caliber guns if they needed them for a dispute."

The defendant argued that there was no indication elsewhere in the affidavit of the reliability of the anonymous source. She argued further that the informant was incorrect in that only three children resided with Ms. DaSilva, and Mr. Cano did not live at 54 Harrison Street. The defendant also maintained that no other information contained in the affidavit corroborated the statement that Mr. Cano had two .22-caliber guns.

The trial justice denied the motion, finding that there was sufficient information in the affidavit to establish probable cause to search the apartment for evidence consistent with a shooting at that location.

In her second motion to suppress, defendant...

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3 cases
  • State v. Jimenez
    • United States
    • Rhode Island Supreme Court
    • 29 d3 Junho d3 2022
    ...counts two and three, and we deem any arguments that defendant may make as to those counts on appeal to be waived. See State v. Hudgen , 272 A.3d 1069, 1080 (R.I. 2022) ("The raise-or-waive rule restricts an appellant from ‘raising an objection or advancing a new theory on appeal if it was ......
  • Lacera v. Department of Children, Youth, and Families
    • United States
    • Rhode Island Supreme Court
    • 27 d3 Abril d3 2022
    ... ... DCYF is the sole authority in the State of Rhode Island designated to provide comprehensive social services for children and their families, G.L. 1956 42-72-2(5), and we are troubled by ... ...
  • Cano v. State
    • United States
    • Rhode Island Superior Court
    • 27 d1 Fevereiro d1 2023
    ...opinion affirming the conviction of Cano's codefendant Trearra Hudgen after her jury trial before this Court in 2019. State v. Hudgen, 272 A.3d 1069 (R.I. 2022). Facts relevant to this Decision follow. Reverdes's murder resulted from his October 31, 2016 confrontation with Cano and Hudgen i......

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