Opinion ID: 2322376
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Arrest of Tracey Barros; His Motion to Suppress; His Trial

Text: At approximately 11:30 p.m. on December 29, 2005 ( i.e., several months after the Deivy Felipe murder had been committed), defendant Tracey Barros was arrested by the Providence police for possession of a pistol without a license. [5] At the time of his arrest, Mr. Barros readily admitted that he possessed a firearm. The next day, December 30, 2005, Mr. Barros was subjected to two separate interrogations at Providence police headquarters. [6] Those interrogations ultimately culminated in a confession by Mr. Barros to the effect that he had murdered Deivy Felipe at the behest of one Tonea Nutt Sims. (We shall hereinafter explain in detail just how Mr. Barros, who was initially arrested on a charge of possession of a firearm, eventually confessed to the murder of Deivy Felipe.) Although the interrogations of Mr. Barros consumed many hours of his time and that of law enforcement personnel, only the final twelve minutes of what transpired during the interrogations were captured in an audio recording. In that recording, Mr. Barros may be heard confessing to (1) having shot Mr. Felipe with a gun provided by Mr. Sims and (2) having done so at Mr. Sims's direction. Mr. Barros submits that no evidence other than this recorded confession (almost immediately repudiated by him) and the testimony of his interrogators about his earlier non-recorded inculpatory statements was presented by the prosecution at trial to connect him to the murder of Mr. Felipe; it is his contention on appeal that both his recorded and non-recorded statements should have been suppressed. The defendant was arraigned on the firearms charge on December 31, 2005. Subsequently, on January 3, 2006, he was arraigned with respect to the murder of Mr. Felipe. On June 20, 2006, Mr. Barros was indicted by a Providence County grand jury; the indictment charged him with the following offenses: (1) the murder of Deivy Felipe, in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-23-1; (2) conspiracy to commit murder, in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-1-6; (3) carrying a pistol without a license, in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-47-8(a); and (4) discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, causing the death of Deivy Felipe, in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-47-3.2(b)(3). On May 30 and 31, 2007, a hearing was held in the Superior Court on defendant's motion to suppress the inculpatory statements that he had made while in custody at the Providence police station on December 30, 2005. The motion to suppress was denied on June 1, 2007. A jury trial began on June 4, 2007. On June 12, the jury reported itself unable to reach a verdict, and a motion for mistrial was granted on that same day. On January 4, 2008, prior to the commencement of the second jury trial, defendant renewed his motion to suppress. The motion was again denied, and the second jury trial commenced. On January 18, after three days of deliberations, the jury found Mr. Barros guilty on all counts. On March 10, 2008, a hearing was held on defendant's motion for a new trial; at the conclusion of the hearing, the motion was denied. On June 2, 2008, Mr. Barros was sentenced to (1) the statutorily mandated consecutive life terms for murder and for causing death by means of a firearm; (2) a concurrent ten-year term to serve for conspiracy to commit murder; and (3) a consecutive ten-year term to serve for unlawful possession of a firearm. A timely notice of appeal was filed on June 4, 2008. As previously indicated, defendant contends on appeal that the trial justice erred (1) in not suppressing his confession that he murdered Deivy Felipe and (2) in barring cross-examination of a prosecution witness concerning purported third-party-perpetrator evidence.