Danilo faces 2½ years in jail if convicted on charges of assault on his niece's ex-boyfriend.
05.16.2011 | WESTFIELD - Former Springfield Police Patrolman Danilo Feliciano in Westfield District Court Monday. WESTFIELD – Jury deliberations are scheduled to continue in Westfield District Court Wednesday morning in the assault trial of former Springfield police officer Danilo Feliciano.
The eight-person jury of five women and three men deliberated Tuesday beginning shortly after 3:30 p.m. until Judge Philip A. Contant sent them home at 5 p.m. with instructions to return to court to resume their review of the case Wednesday at 9 a.m..
Only six jurors, four women and two men, will decide the fate of Feliciano, who is accused of beating Rolando E. Rivera, then 19, during Rivera’s arrest on domestic assault at his 73 School St., Springfield apartment Sept. 24, 2009.
In court Tuesday, jurors heard the victim recount how he was beaten and had bleach poured on his face and body by several officers. He reported being struck by Feliciano’s police weapon and how he suffered a fractured eye socket and numerous bruises while being punched and kicked.
Jurors also heard from two police officers and Rivera’s former girlfriend Tatiana Ayala, the alleged victim of a domestic assault at the hands of Rivera earlier that day at the apartment. She testified that she obtained a restraining order and filed a formal complaint against her former boyfriend.
Ayala and Feliciano are related. She is his niece but she said she did not tell her uncle of her domestic assault.
Also, Springfield Police Lt. John K. Slepchuk, command officer of the street crimes unit, testified he sent officers to Rivera’s apartment to assist after Feliciano, assigned to the gang intelligence unit, called seeking support, if needed. Feliciano had told Slepchuk that he was looking for Rivera because he had assaulted his niece, the lieutenant said.
Ayala said her mother helped her file the police complaint and restraining order that afternoon. She said she sent a text message to Rivera at about 4 p.m., informing him she had the restraining order.
“I never spoke to my uncle that day,” she said.
Officer Gail Gethens testified she responded to a call for assistance at the School Street incident, but never entered Rivera’s apartment. She said she and her partner transported Rivera to police headquarters for booking following the arrest.
An internal investigation of Rivera’s arrest resulted in the firing of Feliciano, a nine-year police veteran, and Patrolman Pedro R. Mendez by Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet in March 2010. Mendez faces no criminal charges but was accused of falsifying his report of the incident.
Both Hampden County Assistant District Attorney David Gagne and defense attorney Robert C. Butler told the jury in opening remarks the trial is a case of revenge.
Gagne said it was revenge by Springfield police officers against Rivera because of the earlier domestic assault.
Butler charged that Rivera is seeking revenge on Springfield police. “He is also trying to escape the charges against him and then there is a little bit of money involved.” said Butler noting that Rivera sought out a personal injury lawyer.
The domestic assault charge against Rivera remains pending in Springfield District Court, according to testimony Tuesday.
Rivera was on the witness stand about 90 minutes recalling the events of Sept. 24, 2009.
Some printed reports of Rivera’s arrest and hospital treatment indicated he had told emergency medication technicians and nurses that his injuries resulted from falling down stairs.
On the witness stand he said he did not remember some of the statements. Of others, he said, “Mendez and Feliciano were right there and I was scared.”
He said a short while after returning home from work there was a knock on his back door. He said four police officers were at that door when there was another knock at his front door, where three plain-clothed officers stood.
He said he opened the front door, was grabbed by the neck and knocked to the ground. That is when other officers began hitting and kicking him and he was doused with bleach. “Feliciano punched me in the face,” he said. He also said he “was getting beat on for awhile. One officer sprayed me in the eyes with pepper spray.”
Rivera testified that he knew Feliciano by sight but not by name until after his arrest. He testified he knew the officer's face from attending previous “family” events with Ayala.
While Rivera claimed he was assaulted by several police officers, only Feliciano has been charged as a result of the September 2009 incident.
During closing remarks, Butler showed booking photos of Rivera to the jury, saying the photos “show no signs of bleach.”
Gagne produced photos he said were taken at Mercy Hospital where Rivera was treated before booking and suggested those showed some signs of bleach stains on his clothing.
Feliciano faces a jail sentence of 2½ years in the House of Correction if convicted.