The prosecutor called the 2009 killing of Jose E. Colon "another act of senseless violence in this city."
Rodney Briggs at his 2009 arraignment for murderSPRINGFIELD – Rodney D. Briggs, of Springfield, was sentenced Wednesday to 25 to 28 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in a 2009 strip club killing.
The prosecutor called the killing of Jose E. Colon “another act of senseless violence in this city.”
Briggs had been charged with murder in the Jan. 21, 2009, early morning fatal shooting of Colon, 22, at the Mardi Gras strip club. He also faced illegal firearms charges.
Colon’s killing in January that year was followed by another strip club killing in June, focusing the spotlight temporarily on enforcement of weapons bans and security at such clubs.
The guilty plea process for Briggs had an added procedural dimension because Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni, when he was a defense lawyer prior to his election to the top law enforcement post, represented Briggs in the murder case for about 10 months.
Assistant District Attorney Donna S. Donato told Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis the defense could have raised an issue of self-defense if the case went to trial because medics treating Colon found a knife, unopened, under him.
She said she agreed to having Briggs plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and take a 19-20-year sentence on that, in addition to pleading guilty to carrying a firearm without a license, with another 6-8-year sentence added to the first. That means he can’t be eligible to apply for parole until serving 25 years.
She said if Briggs had pleaded guilty to second degree murder he would be eligible to apply for parole after 15 years of a life sentence.
Mastroianni withdrew as Briggs lawyer in July 2010, and Linda J. Thompson became defense lawyer.
Mastroianni had filed a “disclosure of appearance of conflict of interest” in February and an affidavit in March. Velis delayed the plea and had Donato get Mastroianni to come into the courtroom for a sidebar conference.
Mastroianni then left the room and Donato put on the record Mastroianni had had no role in the plea agreement and she and Assistant District Attorney James C. Orenstein had never talked about it in front of him.
Velis then put on the record all ethical standards were satisfied.
In relating what happened, Donato did not discuss possible motive, saying Briggs shot Colon in the head and fled the club. A 9mm loaded firearm was found outside the club and Brigg’s fingerprints were on the clip.
Briggs was arrested without incident Feb. 16, 2009 by agents of the New York and New Jersey Violent Fugitive Task Force in Atlantic City, N.J.
Thompson said there was evidence Colon, of Springfield, told Briggs he was armed and said some of the eyewitnesses changed their statements after seeing part of a surveillance video.
She said the scene was the Mardi Gras at 1:30 a.m. when people “had been drinking, had been agitated.”
“He ruined more than one life, including his own, when this act was committed,” Thompson said of Briggs.
Ivy Lopez, Colon’s long-time girlfriend, said he was killed when their daughter was very young so the child will know him only by pictures and what she is told.
She said all Colon ever wanted was a child.
Lopez said, “I shouldn’t have to be a single parent” raising her child without the father.
She also said she is not satisfied with the punishment issued, saying Briggs shouldn’t be able to walk the same earth as her and her daughter.
In initial police reports a witness described the scene after the shooting, with dancers jumping from the stage and taking cover behind the bar, and patrons trying to pay their bills and depart.
In January Marcus Blanton, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed armed assault with intent to murder and firearms charges, admitting he opened fire in July 2009 at the former Club 418 on Worthington Street, killing Aaron L. Waldon and wounding four others, including a dancer and other employees of the bar.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno called the Club 418 shooting a “black eye” for the city, and a state police lieutenant called that incident, combined with Colon’s shooting at the Mardi Gras “a disgrace.”
