Baye trial delayed after judge allows second look at confession issue
1
NORTHAMPTON - A ruling issued Friday by a single judge on the state's highest court means the murder and arson trial of Anthony Baye will not take place this month as scheduled - and is likely to be delayed until at least the spring.
After a three-way telephone conference call involving Baye's defense team, prosecutors and Supreme Judicial Court Justice Ralph D. Gants Friday afternoon, Gants ruled that the full panel of SJC justices should take up the question of whether Baye's confession to Northampton and state police on Jan. 4, 2010, should be allowed at trial.
The issue arose after Hampshire Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney ruled, in a 44-page decision last month, that a jury should see Baye's videotaped confession at trial. She said Baye made his confession voluntarily, even though she conceded that police interrogators used coercive techniques.
Baye's defense team of Northampton attorneys Thomas Lesser, David Hoose and Luke Ryan had argued their client's confession should be thrown out because police tricked him into making it.
In his ruling Friday, Gants calls the issues raised by the defense "important and difficult" and says they should be decided by the full SJC before the trial proceeds.
"The evidence the defendant seeks to suppress is central to the prosecution's case, and the trial will be lengthy - requiring approximately 20 trial days," Gants wrote in a two-page decision released within hours of the conference call. "I recognize the difficulties involved in postponing a trial of this length and complexity, but conclude, on balance, that the administration of justice is better served by resolving the issues raised by the suppression motion (now) rather than by allowing the case to proceed to trial, and, if the defendant were convicted, resolving them after final disposition."
Baye, 26, of 85 Hawley St., has pleaded innocent to two counts of murder and 42 other charges, including numerous counts of arson related to 15 fires set primarily in Ward 3 in Northampton on Dec. 27, 2009. Killed in a fire that destroyed their home at 17 Fair St. were Paul Yeskie, 81, and his son, Paul Yeskie Jr., 39. The fires that night also destroyed a house on Union Street and several cars and porches in Ward 3 and Ward 2.
Lawyers react
Lesser Friday said the ruling by Gants is unusual and, he believes, good news for Baye's case.
"We're very happy that the application was granted," Lesser said. "It's been our contention all along that police trickery induced a confession, and the justice thinks these are meritorious issues."
First Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Steven E. Gagne said the decision by a single justice to bring case to the full panel of judges is not suggestive of where the state's highest court would come down on the confession issue.
"This just means the SJC will take a second look. In no way does this indicate the full bench of the SJC is likely to overturn Judge Sweeney," Gagne said in a telephone interview Friday. "The decision could go either way, but I think they'd be hard-pressed to find that she either abused her discretion or committed an error of law. No one knows this case better than Judge Sweeney."
And, Gagne said, "We're confidant that her decision will be affirmed on appeal."
While the defense and prosecution differ in their interpretation of Gants' ruling, they do agree it means a significant delay for the Baye trial, which had been scheduled to start Sept. 26 in Hampshire Superior Court with a jury picked from a Springfield jury pool.
Before the case can go to trial, the defense motion to throw out the confession will be aired before the SJC in Boston in November, though a date for arguments has not been set. After that the SJC will issue a ruling, and while Lesser predicts that will take months, Gagne said he's seen rulings handed down within 30 days after oral arguments.
Still, both lawyers agree there's no predicting when the Baye trial will be ready to proceed.
"Our ultimate goal is to ensure that the prosecution of this case is thorough and effective," said Gagne. "It's more important that his conviction be sound. Whether the trial occurs in November of 2011 or April of 2012, we're concerned with the right outcome."
Lesser said his team will relish arguing their case before the SJC so they can outline their contention that Baye's confession should never go before a jury.
"We thought clearly that the level of police misrepresentation would lead to a finding that his statements were involuntary and therefore should be suppressed," said Lesser.
In her ruling, Sweeney said while police were coercive, Baye confessed voluntarily - and, she said, he was trapped by the evidence, not by the techniques of the police.
Special prosecutor Brett Vottero, who will be the lead in the Baye trial, represented the DA's office in Friday's conference call, according to Gagne.
