Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveNicholas Barros - Direct
128 linesCOURT CLERK: ...the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you?
MR. BARROS: I do.
JUDGE CANNONE: Whenever you're ready, Mr. Lally.
MR. LALLY: Thank you. Good morning, sir.
MR. BARROS: Morning.
MR. LALLY: Could you please state your name and spell your last name for the jury?
MR. BARROS: Nicholas Barros, B-A-R-R-O-S.
MR. LALLY: And how are you employed, sir?
MR. BARROS: The town of Dighton.
MR. LALLY: And what do you do for the town?
MR. BARROS: I'm a police sergeant for the police department.
MR. LALLY: And how long in total have you been a member of the police?
MR. BARROS: In total, I started in 2011, fourteen years this December.
MR. LALLY: And how long have you had the rank of Sergeant?
MR. BARROS: About a year and a half now.
MR. LALLY: If I could direct your attention to January 29th, 2022. Do you recall that date?
MR. BARROS: I do.
MR. LALLY: And were you working that date?
MR. BARROS: I was.
MR. LALLY: Did you recall what kind of shift you were working on that occasion?
MR. BARROS: I was working the 8-to-4, the day shift.
MR. LALLY: And was that the only shift that you had worked on that occasion, or how long had you been on shift by the time you came on for the 8-to-4?
MR. BARROS: That particular day I was working from 8:00 a.m. to midnight. I was on a double.
MR. LALLY: Now, at some point when you first came in — if you could explain to the jury just briefly in general terms, when you come on shift for the Dighton Police, what if any communication — well, first and foremost, what was your role as far as that particular shift was concerned?
MR. BARROS: I was the officer in charge that day from 8:00 a.m. to midnight. When I came in at 8:00 a.m., the outgoing shift — the midnight-to-8 shift — had advised me that a resident had called the police station on a 911 call requesting a ride to Brockton Hospital to meet his daughter, due to her daughter's boyfriend passing away, and he needed a ride due to the snowstorm.
MR. LALLY: And then as your shift continued, what if any further contact — or who, if anyone, reached out to you in regard to that earlier situation?
MR. BARROS: Later on, I believe it was around 2:30 in the afternoon, I received a phone call from the Norfolk District Attorney's office, with the troopers assigned there, and they had stated that they were going to come to Dighton to retrieve a vehicle that was involved in a homicide.
MR. LALLY: And did they give you a specific address as far as where they were going?
MR. BARROS: I believe the address was 345 Country Hill Drive in Dighton, north Dighton.
MR. LALLY: And with regard to that address, what if anything did you recognize between that and the earlier call that you were just speaking about?
MR. BARROS: That was the address that came up on the 911 call when that gentleman had called earlier on the prior shift.
MR. LALLY: And at some point did you come to find out who the residents were at that address on Country Hill?
MR. BARROS: I did.
MR. LALLY: Okay, where did you find that out?
MR. BARROS: It was the Read residence.
JUDGE CANNONE: All right, Sergeant, I'm going to ask you to keep your voice up, and Mr. Lally, you too.
MR. LALLY: And the Read residence — was that a William and Janet Read? Is that correct?
MR. BARROS: Correct.
MR. LALLY: Now, as far as you received that call at about 2:30, do you know specifically who you spoke to around 2:30 in the afternoon?
MR. BARROS: Trooper Michael Proctor.
MR. LALLY: And as far as that earlier information that you were talking about with the 911 call, what if anything from that did you impart to Trooper Proctor?
MR. BARROS: I advised Trooper Proctor that we did receive a 911 call on the midnight-to-8 shift about the resident looking to get a ride to Brockton Hospital.
MR. LALLY: And during that initial call, how was it sort of left as far as what if anything you were going to provide as far as assistance, or with regard to the troopers?
MR. BARROS: On that first call, the troopers just had asked me if I could meet them at that residence as a courtesy, since they were coming into my jurisdiction.
MR. LALLY: And what if anything did they indicate to you as far as where they were or when they felt they would be arriving in that area?
MR. BARROS: Trooper Proctor advised me that they were heading — I believe from Canton — and once they were about 10 minutes away they would recontact me so that I could meet them at the residence.
MR. LALLY: And subsequently, later in that afternoon, did you receive further contact from Trooper Proctor?
MR. BARROS: I did.
MR. LALLY: And do you know about what time that was?
MR. BARROS: I believe the first phone call was around 3:00 p.m., that he had called me and said that they would be there in about 10 minutes.
MR. LALLY: And upon receiving that call, what if anything did you do?
MR. BARROS: I had contacted — Trooper Proctor had asked me to contact our tow company to have them meet us at the residence as well, and I said once I hung up with him I would contact the tow company and then respond to that address on Country Hill Drive.
MR. LALLY: Is there a specific tow company that that ...the Dighton Police uses with regard to towing vehicles within the town?
MR. BARROS: During that period it was Diamond Towing.
MR. LALLY: And so did you contact someone at Diamond Towing in reference to responding to that address as well?
MR. BARROS: I did. I contacted the owner and he responded.
MR. LALLY: Now as far as that area of Dighton, if you could explain to the jury sort of what you observed as you were coming down towards that residence on that day.
MR. BARROS: Okay, so when I responded to that address — that street is off of 138. When I turned onto Country Hill Drive I was traveling west. When I arrived on that street I observed a black pickup truck parked on the street facing east. I was flagged down by that black pickup truck by the driver and was told that they were the troopers — that I had spoken to Trooper Michael Proctor and the other sergeant.
MR. LALLY: The sergeant that left the room as you were coming in, correct?
MR. BARROS: Correct.
MR. LALLY: And what identification did they provide to you in reference to them?
MR. BARROS: They showed me their ID and their badges.
MR. LALLY: And then from there, where did you proceed?
MR. BARROS: I had parked my marked police vehicle at the end of the driveway since it was a snowstorm and we could not get into the driveway, and then we walked up to the residence.
MR. LALLY: So when you say it was a snowstorm and we couldn't get into the driveway, can you expound upon that a little — explain to the jury why it was that you couldn't get into the driveway?
MR. BARROS: It was about a foot of snow in the driveway.
MR. LALLY: And as far as that snow that you observed when you arrived there, how did that snow appear? Did it appear as if it had been shoveled or snow-blown, or untouched, or how did it —
MR. BARROS: It was untouched.
MR. LALLY: Now as you're going through the snow — and correct me if I'm wrong — it's yourself, Trooper Proctor, and a sergeant from the State Police. Is anyone else going along with you?
MR. BARROS: I had a an officer that was field training with me that day and he was with me as well. And we went up to the residence.
MR. LALLY: And as you're walking up to the residence, what if anything did you come upon as you're going towards any door or getting closer to the home?
MR. BARROS: I remained at the garage. The two troopers went to the front door and made contact with the homeowner.
MR. LALLY: Now, you were there specifically for a vehicle, correct?
MR. BARROS: Correct.
MR. LALLY: Did you observe a vehicle in the driveway at any time?
MR. BARROS: Yes, we observed a black Lexus SUV in the driveway.
MR. LALLY: And what if any observations did you make to the rear area of that vehicle specifically?
MR. BARROS: At first I did not go up to the vehicle, I just remained at the driveway and waited for the troopers to come back. And once they came back they were let into the house through the garage. I had walked in with them briefly and then went back out to the garage and remained with the vehicle.
MR. LALLY: And at any point in time, did you have any conversation with anyone named Karen Read that day while you were at the house?
MR. BARROS: I did not.
MR. LALLY: Now, you come back out to the garage, is that correct?
MR. BARROS: Correct.
MR. LALLY: And the troopers are inside the house, is that also correct?
MR. BARROS: Correct.
MR. LALLY: Now at some point, do other vehicles come down to the driveway area of this residence that you were at?
MR. BARROS: I had contacted the highway superintendent after speaking with the troopers about how to retrieve the vehicle, since the driveway was untouched and had about a foot of snow. I had made the decision I would call the highway superintendent and see if he would come and plow the driveway so that the tow truck would have access inside the driveway.
MR. LALLY: And just in reference to this driveway — not exact footage or anything — but how far is this Lexus SUV parked in relation to the roadway? How long is that driveway?
MR. BARROS: It's got to be about 150 feet off the roadway, if not more.
MR. LALLY: And if you recall, from where you're standing at the point of the garage, what part of the vehicle was facing you? Was it the front of the vehicle, the back of the vehicle, the side of the vehicle?
MR. BARROS: I was looking at the left side of the vehicle.
MR. LALLY: And at some point did you make any observations of the right rear part of that Lexus SUV?
MR. BARROS: I did.
MR. LALLY: And what if anything did you observe about that area of the vehicle?
MR. BARROS: I saw that there was some damage to the right rear tail light. To my best ability and recollection that tail light was not completely damaged — it was cracked and a piece was missing, but not completely damaged.
MR. LALLY: And then beyond the tail light area of that vehicle, what if anything else did you observe as far as damage to the rear passenger side area?
MR. BARROS: Like a dent on the rear quarter.
MR. LALLY: And as far as the dent on the rear quarter panel that you saw, was that above the tail light, below the tail light, or something else?
MR. BARROS: It's probably right in conjunction with the tail light, in that same area.
MR. LALLY: And from the time that you made these observations of the vehicle, at any point did you go sort of physically up to the vehicle?
MR. BARROS: I walked up to the vehicle, correct.
MR. LALLY: And about how far away from the vehicle did you get?
MR. BARROS: Five to ten feet away.
MR. LALLY: And as far as the exterior of the vehicle — you mentioned obviously there was about a foot of snow on the ground — what if anything precipitation-wise or weather-wise was around that area on the outside of the vehicle?
MR. BARROS: Just snow.
MR. LALLY: And in particular in this area, the right rear passenger side on that tail light — was there any snow or ice or anything around that area that you observed on the vehicle itself?
MR. BARROS: Yes, on the vehicle there was snow on the vehicle.
MR. LALLY: And not to put words in your mouth, but sort of caked on there — is that correct?
MR. BARROS: I guess you could say caked on, correct.
MR. LALLY: So you reached out to the highway superintendent to have someone come out and plow the driveway, correct?
MR. BARROS: Correct.
MR. LALLY: And do you know about how long it was between the time that you made that call and the time that the plow driver came out to clear it?
MR. BARROS: Less than 10 minutes.
MR. LALLY: And the clearing of the driveway — about how long did that take?
MR. BARROS: I'd say another 10 minutes or so.
MR. LALLY: And as far as the time that the troopers went into the house — at some point the troopers obviously came out of the house, correct?
MR. BARROS: Correct.
MR. LALLY: Do you know about how long it was that they were inside of the house?
MR. BARROS: More than 30 minutes, less than an hour.
MR. LALLY: Now at any point in time while you were there, did you yourself, or did you see anyone else, touching or making any contact or manipulating anything in that rear passenger side area — either the tail light or the dent?
MR. BARROS: I did not. I'm sorry, I did not.
MR. LALLY: May I have a moment, Your Honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. LALLY: Thank you. I have no further questions.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. Cross-examination?
MS. LITTLE: No questions.
JUDGE CANNONE: All right, Sergeant Barros, you are all set. Thank you. Do you want to call another witness or morning recess?
MR. LALLY: Morning recess, but if I could just — either before or after — I just need to address one thing with the court at sidebar.
JUDGE CANNONE: All right, so we'll send the jurors out. Jurors, why don't we take the morning — Court in recess