The actual trial is expected to begin on Tuesday.
05.16.2011 | WESTFIELD - Former Springfield Police Patrolman Danilo Feliciano in Westfield District Court Monday. WESTFIELD – Jury selection was underway Monday afternoon Westfield District Court for the assault trial of fired Springfield patrolman Danilo Feliciano stemming from a Springfield incident in September, 2009.
He is accused beating Rolando E. Rivera, then 19, of 73 School St., Springfield Sept. 24, 2009 at Rivera’s apartment.
Judge Philip A. Contant is presiding and proceedings Monday were repeatedly delay because he was the only judge sitting at Westfield court.
Feliciano, who was fired as a result of the incident by Springfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet in March 2010, denied the assault change at his January, 2010 court arraignment.
That incident allegedly followed an earlier domestic assault involving Rivera and a woman, identified as Feliciano’s niece.
Fitchet fired Feliciano and patrolman Pedro R. Mendez after an independent hearings officer found they had violated departmental standards.
Mendez was accused of falsifying the police report of the Rivera incident but does not face criminal charges.
The trial is expected to last at least two days with at least five witnesses being called between prosecutor David Gagne and defense attorney Robert C. Butler.