State v. Quinlan

• Decision Date: 01 May 2007
• Docket Number: No. 2004-36-C.A.,No. 2004-37-C.A.,2004-36-C.A.,2004-37-C.A.
• Citation: 921 A.2d 96
• Parties: STATE v. Steven QUINLAN. State v. Frank Sanchez-Collins.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

921 A.2d 96

STATE v. Steven QUINLAN.

State v. Frank Sanchez-Collins.

No. 2004-36-C.A.

No. 2004-37-C.A.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

May 1, 2007.

Paula Lynch, for Plaintiff Quinlan. Christopher S. Gontarz, Middletown, for Plaintiff Sanchez-Collins.

Jane M. McSoley, Providence, for Defendant (Quinlan case). Diane Daigle, for Defendant (Sanchez-Collins case).

Present: WILLIAMS, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, SUTTELL, and ROBINSON, JJ.

OPINION

Justice GOLDBERG, for the Court.

We undertake this case noting that:

"[I]n March of 2001, these two criminals committed two of the most brutal murders that this Court has heard recounted in many years. From the photographs and the crime scene videotape that was presented, it was apparent that these two defendants virtually painted the walls and floors of that apartment with blood. The victims were brutalized with a hammer, with vicious combat knives, even while one of them begged for his life.

"It wasn't enough that these two defendants brutalized and tortured their victims but afterwards, in an obvious and in a savage effort to destroy any trace evidence that might be found, they mutilated and severed the hands of the victims, hid them in a dumpster and then went on a morning escapade the next day in an effort to dispose of them.

"In so doing, they conscripted two friends who knew nothing about what had happened, and they bragged to them about what they had done and even chastised them for not being there to help them. Simply put, the depth of the depravity of these two murderers knew no bounds."¹

These cases came before the Supreme Court on December 4, 2006, on separate appeals by the defendants, Steven Quinlan (Quinlan) and Frank Sanchez-Collins (Collins) (collectively defendants), that were consolidated for oral argument. The defendants appeal from Superior Court judgments of conviction for two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy to murder Michael Batista (Batista) and Rafael Edwards Ortega (Ortega).

Before this Court, defendants raise similar constitutional challenges to the stop and subsequent search of a motor vehicle in Massachusetts, which challenges were rejected after a joint suppression hearing in Superior Court. The defendants contend that the trial justice erred when he refused to suppress the evidence obtained in connection with the vehicle stop. They also assign error to the trial justice's finding that they lacked standing to challenge the search, and they contest the scope of the protective search for weapons, arguing that the search exceeded permissible bounds.

In addition to their similar constitutional arguments, defendants also have asserted additional trial errors: Collins argues that the automobile stop was motivated by race and Quinlan alleges that the trial justice erred when he refused to pass the case based on alleged juror misconduct. Quinlan also submits that the imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole was unwarranted in this case. He asks this Court to reduce his sentence to life imprisonment.

Because the motions to suppress were decided after a joint evidentiary hearing and both defendants raise the same Fourth Amendment challenges, we shall address these issues together; then, we shall separately decide the remaining issues raised by each defendant. For the reasons stated in this opinion, the judgments are affirmed.

Facts and Travel

On a Sunday afternoon in March 2001, in connection with a routine traffic stop, members of the Somerset, Massachusetts, Police Department discovered a bloody bag containing two pairs of human hands on the floor of a vehicle in which Quinlan and Collins were passengers. Thus began an investigation into the brutal murders of two men with hammers and combat knives — a virtual massacre that spanned several hours — and culminated in the postmortem butchery of the victims' hands, in a futile attempt to avoid detection. The defendants were caught red-handed while attempting to dispose of the gruesome evidence.

A grand jury returned a four-count indictment against defendants, charging in counts 1 and 2, the murder of Batista and Ortega and in counts 3 and 4, a conspiracy to murder them. In September 2002, after the suppression hearing commenced in Superior Court, Collins's trial counsel became ill. As a result, defendants were tried separately; however, Collins agreed to incorporate the testimony and decision from Quinlan's pretrial suppression hearing into his case.

After trial in Superior Court, verdicts of guilty were returned against Quinlan on October 1, 2002; the jury also found that the state had proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the murders were occasioned by aggravated battery and torture. Collins was also convicted of all counts by a Superior Court jury on February 21, 2003, and the jury in that case found aggravated battery and torture as well. Motions for a new trial initially were filed by each defendant but were withdrawn. In a consolidated sentencing proceeding, the trial justice imposed two concurrent sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the crimes of first-degree murder and two ten-year sentences for the convictions of conspiracy to murder. The defendants filed timely notices of appeal.

The record discloses that Officer Todd Costa (Officer Costa), a patrolman with the Somerset, Massachusetts, Police Department, was on routine traffic patrol on the day of the incident, monitoring vehicular traffic in a parking lot near the town center. Officer Costa testified at the suppression hearing and at both trials that traffic was moving slowly when he noticed a beige Jeep Cherokee (Jeep) with a Rhode Island registration traveling south on County Street. As the Jeep slowed down, he noticed an obstruction in the windshield area that consisted of a sizeable cluster of materials hanging from the rearview mirror. Officer Costa described this obstruction as a "clump of things" — the clump comprised a flag that measured several square inches with an inch of fringe around it, a string of beads, and several cardboard air fresheners. This obstruction stretched from the rearview mirror to the dashboard. Officer Costa determined that this display violated Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 90, § 13 (West 2001), which prohibits any item to be on or in a motor vehicle that may interfere with or impede the driver's safe operation.

As the Jeep passed Officer Costa's location, he saw four occupants — a white male and three men who were either African-American or Hispanic. These men were "staring intently" at him. Officer Costa pulled into the slowly moving traffic heading south, intending to stop the Jeep for the motor vehicle violation. At this point, the occupants began fidgeting, leaning forward and turning around in their seats and looking back at him. Officer Costa radioed dispatch for information on the vehicle's registration and, based on what he characterized as the occupants' suspicious behavior, he requested backup. Officer Costa testified that just before he activated his cruiser's lights, the Jeep made an abrupt left turn into a Dunkin' Donuts and Cumberland Farms parking lot and came to a sudden stop between two parking spaces. Officer Costa activated his emergency lights and stopped his vehicle behind the Jeep.

As he waited for backup, he watched the front passenger, later identified as Collins, bending forward in his seat toward the floor. Shortly thereafter, Sergeant Brian Leonard (Sergeant Leonard) arrived, and both officers approached the vehicle; Officer Costa went to the driver's window, and Sergeant Leonard moved to the passenger side. Officer Costa asked the driver, later identified as Osiris Parra (Parra), for his license and registration. In a barely audible response, Parra said that he had neither a license nor registration with him.

Officer Costa testified that Parra was "very apprehensive," refused to make eye contact with him, and because of Parra's mumbled responses, Officer Costa asked him to repeat his Social Security and driver's license numbers several times. Officer Costa noticed that none of the passengers was wearing a seat belt, a violation of Massachusetts law. He requested their names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers so that he could issue them citations. Meanwhile, Officer Tracy Kerrigan (Officer Kerrigan) arrived and stood behind the Jeep's rear driver's side door and watched the occupants. After Officer Costa was informed that there was no record of the license number that Parra had given him, he returned to the Jeep. Parra, who still appeared nervous, gave the officer a different number that corresponded to an active Rhode Island driver's license issued to Osiris Parra. According to Officer Costa, at this point, it was his intention to issue citations to the four men and send them on their way.

While he was filling out the citations, Officer Costa was notified of an outstanding arrest warrant for defendant Quinlan in connection with a traffic offense in Massachusetts. Quinlan, who was sitting in the rear seat behind the passenger, was taken into custody. He was handcuffed, frisked, and placed in Officer Costa's cruiser.

Meanwhile, Officer Kerrigan was watching the other occupants, who continued to move around in their seats and ignored her directions to keep their hands where she could see them. The front passenger, defendant Collins, continuously reached toward the floor of the Jeep, an area that she could not see. The three men attempted to engage Officer Kerrigan in conversation about Parra's new baby and a computer business that Collins was starting, and even offered her a job. Officer Kerrigan testified that she considered this conduct both highly unusual and an attempt to distract her from what was going on in the vehicle.

Officer Kerrigan informed the other officers that the men in the Jeep had disregarded her orders and failed to keep their hands in sight; she added...