Judge tosses statements Springfield officer made before arrest

A judge on Friday tossed statements that a Springfield police officer accused of throwing his girlfriend to the ground and handcuffing her made to a superior before his arrest, according to court records.

Springfield District Court Judge Tina Cafaro ruled in favor of Officer Jeffrey Alicea’s motion to quash statements he made at Springfield police headquarters on April 15 to Lieutenant Brian Elliott, finding that Elliott failed to properly apprise Alicea of his Miranda rights before questioning him about the encounter with his girlfriend.

Alicea was arrested after a 23-minute interview with Elliott and is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a family or household member, court records show.

He has pleaded not guilty and is free on personal recognizance. He is on leave from the department while the case is pending.

“We’re happy with it,” Alicea’s lawyer, Daniel D. Kelly, said of the ruling. Kelly said the requirement of Miranda warnings is “the same for everyone,” and that Alicea “looks forward to putting this behind him and getting back to work.”

In a five-page ruling, first reported by MassLive, Cafaro wrote that on April 15, Elliott went to a Springfield address for a report of a domestic violence incident involving a city police officer.

Alicea’s girlfriend told Elliott that she had been riding in a car with Alicea when he was headed to work because she needed to use the vehicle later.

She said they began arguing and when she got out of the car, Alicea allegedly “picked her up, threw her to the ground, and then handcuffed her,” the ruling said. She had minor abrasions “consistent with” being thrown to the ground and struggling, the ruling said.

Her father also spoke to Elliott, saying he watched as Alicea “body slammed” his daughter, the ruling said. The father showed Elliott video he took on his phone that showed his daughter brushing herself off as he yelled “let her go,” Cafaro wrote.

Elliott later went back to the police station to interview Alicea, leading him to a private area described in the ruling as a small “OUI room” with another supervisor.

In the room, Alicea told Elliott that he had tried to stop his girlfriend from jumping out the window of his moving car and running into traffic, the ruling said.

Alicea voiced concerns that his girlfriend was “unstable” and told Elliott she had attempted suicide in the past and had also cut herself.

He said he called her father for help and believed his girlfriend needed involuntary hospitalization “for her safety” under a state mental health law known as Section 12, the ruling said.

Elliott asked follow-up questions about the use of handcuffs and later told Alicea, “OK, so at this point, I’m going to stop you right there,” the ruling said.

He told Alicea that he had spoken to his girlfriend and her father and later provided a Miranda warning before explaining that Alicea had corroborated the girlfriend’s account. He later placed Alicea under arrest, Cafaro wrote.

She ruled that Alicea’s statements to Elliott are not admissible, since Elliott failed to provide a Miranda warning to him at the start of the interview. Such warnings inform suspects they have a right to remain silent and request an attorney, otherwise any statements they make can be used against them in court.

“The court finds that a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would not have felt free to leave after being told to accompany his commanding officer to the OUI room at the Springfield Police Department, during his shift, and with two superior officers questioning him on the suspicion of having committed a domestic assault and battery,” Cafaro wrote. “As such, Miranda warnings should have been provided to the defendant prior to the interview.”

Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni’s office couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Ryan Walsh, a Springfield police spokesperson, referred questions about Alicea’s duty status to the state POST Commission, which maintains a database of police disciplinary records covering thousands of sustained police complaints that span more than four decades.

“He is not currently certified so he is not an officer,” Walsh said via email.

A commission spokesperson said Wednesday that Alicea “is currently on our suspended officer list.”

The next hearing in Alicea’s case is scheduled for Nov. 3, according to legal filings.