BOSTON, Jan. 3, 2013—The Massachusetts Appeals Court today upheld the conviction of a gang member convicted in the 2007 shooting death of 22-year-old Chiara Levin, calling the evidence of his gang affiliation important to jurors’ understanding of the facts and his motive, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

CASIMIRO BARROS (D.O.B. 6/10/86) of Roxbury was convicted in 2008 of voluntary manslaughter in Levin’s fatal shooting on March 24, 2007, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for injuring his intended target, MANUEL “SPANK” ANDRADE (D.O.B. 10/30/73) of Dorchester, during the same gunfight. The Appeals Court affirmed each of the convictions.

“The trial prosecutor did an outstanding job of introducing gang evidence without unfairly prejudicing the defendant,” Conley said. “The Appeals Court recognized the value of that evidence and our right to use it in cases like this one. This is a solid decision that affirms our prosecutor’s good work, the trial judge’s professionalism, and the strength of the Commonwealth’s case.”

In his failed appeal, Barros argued that evidence of his affiliation with a gang based on Woodward Street and their ongoing feud with Andrade’s group was unfairly prejudicial. The Appeals Court found that the evidence of gang affiliation was vital to the jury’s understanding of the events that led up to the shooting and to Barros’ motive. The court also found that Judge Christine McEvoy, who presided over the trial, had taken appropriate actions to minimize prejudice.

“The gang evidence was relevant to show that the defendant was motivated by something other than heat of passion upon adequate provocation,” Justices Peter Agnes, Jr., Janis Berry, and Elspeth Cypher wrote. “In order to meet its burden of proof with respect to murder, the Commonwealth was entitled to offer evidence to show that the defendant engaged in the street shootout with Spank not so much out of loyalty to [another man shot inside the party], but rather due to a sense of self-affirmation and bravado as a gang member.… Without the gang evidence, the jury would not have had the whole picture of the events that led to the shooting.”

The appeals court also denied Barros claim that a prosecutor made an improper appeal to jurors’ conscious and duty by stating during closing arguments, “When those men opened fire on that street, they opened fire on Geneva Avenue …. Geneva Avenue is our street.”

“The prosecutor did not suggest in his closing that it was the jury’s duty to find the defendant guilty or that the jury could not go home with a clean conscience without doing so,” the justices wrote.

The evidence at trial proved that Andrade invited Levin – a visitor to Boston – and her friends to a Geneva Avenue house party after meeting them at a Tremont Street nightclub. As he, his two associates, Levin, and her friends prepared to leave the party in a Cadillac Escalade, Andrade returned to the house and became involved in an argument with an associate of Barros, shooting the man in the chest before walking outside. Testimony presented at trial showed that Barros was affiliated with a Dorchester gang that was embroiled in a feud with the Roxbury gang.

Outside the house, Andrade and Barros exchanged gunfire. A round from Barros’ 9mm handgun went through the Escalade’s window, hit Levin in the head, and mortally wounded her.

For his role in the fatal shooting, Barros was sentenced after a separate trial to a total of 27½ to 30 years in prison. Andrade was found guilty in a separate trial on charges first-degree murder; two counts each of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault with intent to kill for first shooting the Roxbury man and then exchanging gunfire with Barros; and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm for carrying the .380 semiautomatic used in the shootings. He received a sentence of life without the chance of parole plus 30 years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Celio of the DA’s Appellate Division argued the case on appeal. Assistant District Attorney Edmond Zabin, chief of the Homicide Unit, prosecuted the case at trial. Katherine Moran is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Barros was represented on appeal by Kenneth I Seiger.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.