BOSTON, March 26, 2015—The state’s highest court today affirmed the conviction of the second man convicted of murdering 21-year-old Fausto Sanchez in retaliation for a shooting that the victim had no part in, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.
In a decision authored by Judge Francis Spina, the Supreme Judicial Court today affirmed the first-degree murder conviction of EMMANUEL DASILVA (D.O.B. 10/24/84) of Dorchester for his role in Sanchez’s 2007 killing. A Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted DaSilva in 2011 – one year after a separate jury found DaSilva’s uncle, JOSEPH GOMES (D.O.B. 4/20/67) of Hyde Park, guilty of taking part in the fatal shooting.
DaSilva’s conviction was the fourth Suffolk County homicide conviction to be affirmed on appeal this calendar year and the 13th to be affirmed in the past 12 months.
Among the claims the justices rejected was DaSilva’s argument that jurors should not have heard evidence of his refusal to allow Boston Police detectives to record an interview after his arrest. The trial judge admitted that evidence “to inform the jury that the police followed proper procedures,” Spina wrote. “There was no suggestion at trial that the defendant’s refusal somehow should be held against him. There was no error.”
Conley hailed the ruling.
“Boston Police take great pains to follow best practices and record custodial interviews,” Conley said. “After all, jurors are regularly instructed that unrecorded statements should be considered with great care. So when a defendant refuses to allow detectives to record his statement, it’s only fair for jurors to hear that, too.”
DaSilva also argued that the jury should not have heard evidence of an earlier shooting incident that involved a relative of DaSilva and the intended target of the drive-by shooting in which Sanchez was killed. The court ruled that this evidence was properly admitted as it presented clear evidence of DaSilva’s reason for gunning down Sanchez, who bore a resemblance to the man involved in the prior shooting and was standing near the intended target’s vehicle at the time he was killed.
“Evidence of the earlier shooting went directly to motive,” Conley said.
Prosecutors proved at trial that on the evening of Feb. 13, 2007, DaSilva and Gomes went in search of the man they believed responsible for an earlier shooting near their family’s home. They instead came upon Sanchez and his friends, who had met on Maywood Street and happened to be standing near a vehicle that the defendants recognized as that of their intended target. The 2006 Cheverolet Impala driven by Gomes came to an abrupt stop and multiple shots were fired through an open passenger side window, mortally wounding Sanchez and seriously wounding two other men.
Based on a witness description, the Impala was stopped a short time later. Shell casings located inside the vehicle were ballistically matched to a casing found at the scene of the shooting.
DaSilva was initially tried alongside his uncle in November 2010. Jurors convicted Gomes but a mistrial was declared in DaSilva’s case after his attorney fell ill.
Assistant District Attorney Dara Kesselheim of the DA’s Appellate Unit argued the case on appeal. The case was prosecuted at trial by Assistant District Attorney Julie Higgins of the DA’s Homicide Unit and Assistant District Attorney Mark Zanini, now chief of the DA’s Juvenile Unit. Jennifer Sears was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. DaSilva was represented by John Palmer.
–30–
All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
