Commonwealth v. Tewolde (and five companion cases) (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-154-15)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 13-P-1689 Appeals Court COMMONWEALTH vs. YONAS TEWOLDE (and five companion cases[1]). No. 13-P-1689. Suffolk. January 5, 2015. – October 1, 2015. Present: Katzmann, Sullivan, & Blake, JJ. Homicide. Constitutional Law, Admissions and confessions, Voluntariness of statement, Self-incrimination, Grand jury, Search and seizure, Probable cause. Practice, Criminal, Admissions and confessions, Grand jury proceedings, Motion to suppress. Witness, Privilege, Self-incrimination. Search and Seizure, Expectation of privacy, Probable cause. Probable Cause. Cellular Telephone. Indictments found and returned in the Superior Court Department on July 8, 2011. Pretrial motions to suppress evidence were heard by Charles J. Hely, J. Applications for leave to prosecute interlocutory appeals were allowed by Fernande R. V. Duffly, J., in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk, and the appeals were reported by her to the Appeals Court. Cailin M. Campbell, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. Elda S. James for Karl Prescott. Matthew A. Kamholtz for Yonas Tewolde. KATZMANN, J. This is an interlocutory appeal taken from rulings in a suppression proceeding, and presents the following questions: whether a statement, given in an interview prior to grand jury testimony by a defendant who had been subpoenaed to testify after previously asserting that he did not wish to speak without an attorney, was voluntary; whether testimony before the grand jury was given in violation of the privilege against self-incrimination; and whether cellular tower data and cell site location information were obtained in violation of the protections against unreasonable searches and seizure. The case arises from the shooting murder of Paul Fagan. The two defendants here, Yonas Tewolde and Karl Prescott, were each indicted on charges of murder in the first degree of Paul Fagan, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of a loaded firearm. They were both subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury; they did so testify, and subsequently moved to suppress that testimony. Tewolde also submitted to an interview on June 7, 2010, prior to his grand jury testimony, and moved to suppress his interview statements. A Superior Court judge (motion judge) allowed both of Tewolde’s motions to suppress, suppressing the interview statements on the grounds that Tewolde’s submission to the interview was involuntary and suppressing the grand jury testimony on the grounds that he should not have been compelled to testify […]