Baye contends he was denied his right to a lawyer during the interrogation.
01.05.2011 | NORTHAMPTON - Anthony Baye arrives at Northampton District Court for his arraignment in connection with the Northampton fires of Dec. 27, 2009. View a map and timeline of the fires.NORTHAMPTON - On a video of a police interrogation shown in Hampshire Superior Court, a taciturn Anthony P. Baye tells fire investigators he wants a lawyer if they are accusing him of the Dec. 27, 2009, blazes that terrified Northampton.
The video was shown to Judge Constance Sweeney, who will rule on a defense motion to suppress evidence from that interview on the grounds that Baye was denied his right to a lawyer. Baye, 26, has been charged with two counts of first degree murder and some 40 other crimes in connection with 15 separate fires set in the early ours of Dec. 27. On of those fires destroyed a house at 17 Fair St. and took the lives of Paul Yeski and his son, Paul Yeskie, Jr.
In the video, state police trooper Michael Mazza, a fire investigator, and state police Sgt. Paul Zipper question Baye extensively about his whereabouts that night. After Baye tells them he was at a friend's house at the time of the fires, the officers debunk his alibi telling him he and his Toyota Camry were seen by several police officers in the vicinity of the fires during those hours.
Mazza then tells Baye that he does not believe he is a bad person, but that he likely set the fires because he had too much to drink, or because of "tomfoolery." Baye listens but makes little to no response.
"Let me prove to them that you didn't plan to do it," Mazza says, telling Baye he is on his side. "You need me to help you. I think your intentions were just screwing off."
After about two hours, Baye is seen asking for a lawyer. Mazza and Zipper assure him they will provide a lawyer but urge him to talk to them, saying it is in his own best interest. Noting that he could be charged with murder for the deaths of the Yeskies, Mazza says, "You need me to be reporting (to his superiors) that this is not murder; you didn't go there with the intention of killing anyone. Only you can tell them it was an accident."
The hearing will determine how much evidence the judge will allow the prosecution to present at Baye's trial. Defense lawyers David P. Hoose and Thomas Lesser contend that police stopped Baye without probable cause while he was driving in the vicinity of the fires on the night of Dec. 29. They have filed a motion to suppress that evidence as well as Baye's Jan. 4 interview with police, where he admitted to setting some of the fires. Baye contends he was denied his right to a lawyer during that interrogation.
The bodies of Paul Yeskie, Sr., 81, and his son, Paul Yeskie, Jr., 39, were discovered near an open window. Investigators believe they were trying to escape the fire at their 17 Fair St. home when they were overcome by smoke. On Tuesday, the court heard a tape of a 911 call in which Paul Yeskie, Jr. reports the fire in a frantic voice, crying that he can't get out. His mother, Elaine Yeskie, who was in the courtroom, covered her face and sobbed as she listened.