Victor Rosario: Flawed arson 'science' case; Massachusetts; (The Lowell Sun): On Tuesday, (November 8, 2016) a prosecutor will ask state's highest court to reinstate his 1980 murder and arson convictions..."Two years ago, acting on an appeal by Rosario, Middlesex Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman reversed his convictions and ordered a new trial citing, in part, advances in fire science and new information in the area of false confessions."..."Defense attorney Lisa Kavanaugh argues that Rosario was in the throes of delirium due to alcohol withdrawal and could not have provided a voluntary confession to police. She also said Rosario's confessions were coerced by investigators."..."Rosario cut his hand on broken glass and was treated at the scene by the Red Cross, which is how he first appeared on the investigators' radar. Kavanaugh argues that Rosario was breaking windows to try to rescue people who were trapped inside. According to court documents, in their investigation of the fire, Waterhouse and Gilligan determined the fire was "incendiary" and not accidental. That opinion was based, in part, by examining areas of heavy burning inside the building and the location of the smoke that poured from the multi-family structure. The intensity of the fire and the burn pattern suggested a burning flammable liquid moving along the floor, the investigators said. Kavanaugh argues that fire science used three decades ago is now considered "scientifically invalid." She contends the allegations that Rosario and his two friends started the fire by throwing Molotov cocktails into the building "does not fit the fire scene evidence." There were no broken pieces of glass bottles and there was no proof that an accelerant was used, Kavanaugh said. No other cause has ever been determined for the fatal blaze."...Reporter Lisa Redmons; Lowell Aun.

 

"The Middlesex District Attorney's Office will ask the state's highest court on Tuesday to Victor Rosario. The former Lowell man spent 32 years in prison for one of the most deadly fires in Lowell's history before his convictions were overturned. Rosario, now 59, was convicted of arson and murder in the deaths of eight people, including five children, in a March 5, 1982, inferno at 32-36 Decatur Street. As she prepares to argue the case before the state Supreme Judicial Court, Assistant District Attorney Jessica Langsam wrote in her brief that Rosario was incorrectly granted a new trial. Nothing Rosario's defense attorney has presented, she wrote, indicates an "extraordinary confluence of factors" that warrant a new trial. If the SJC sides with the DA's office, Rosario, an ordained Baptist minister, will be sent back to prison for life. If the SJC sides with Rosario, the DA's office must decide if it can retry a 36-year-old arson case. At the time, according to court records, Rosario allegedly confessed to the crime. He spent six weeks at Bridgewater State Hospital, where he was deemed competent to stand trial. But at trial, Rosario said he could not remember what he had said during the police interrogation and did not recognize the statements attributed to him. Despite Rosario's testimony, a judge found Rosario's statements to police voluntary and reliable. Defense attorney Lisa Kavanaugh argues that Rosario was in the throes of delirium due to alcohol withdrawal and could not have provided a voluntary confession to police. She also said Rosario's confessions were coerced by investigators.........Police accused Rosario and two brothers, Edgardo and Felix Garcia, both now deceased, of tossing Molotov cocktails into the building as payback for a bad drug deal involving one of the building's residents, who was killed in the fire. Rosario was identified by a witness as being at the scene breaking windows, allegedly to throw Molotov cocktails into the structure to start the fire. Rosario cut his hand on broken glass and was treated at the scene by the Red Cross, which is how he first appeared on the investigators' radar. Kavanaugh argues that Rosario was breaking windows to try to rescue people who were trapped inside. According to court documents, in their investigation of the fire, Waterhouse and Gilligan determined the fire was "incendiary" and not accidental. That opinion was based, in part, by examining areas of heavy burning inside the building and the location of the smoke that poured from the multi-family structure. The intensity of the fire and the burn pattern suggested a burning flammable liquid moving along the floor, the investigators said. Kavanaugh argues that fire science used three decades ago is now considered "scientifically invalid." She contends the allegations that Rosario and his two friends started the fire by throwing Molotov cocktails into the building "does not fit the fire scene evidence." There were no broken pieces of glass bottles and there was no proof that an accelerant was used, Kavanaugh said. No other cause has ever been determined for the fatal blaze. In a combined Amicus brief submitted to the SJC, the New England Innocence Project, the Innocence Project, Inc. and the Boston College Innocence Program, support Rosario, believing he was wrongly convicted. The brief argues that improvements and approaches to fire science have changed in the 34 years since the Decatur Street fire. Those changes, the group argues, could have been a "real factor" in the jury's deliberations. "Faulty forensic evidence can cause a cascade of errors tainting every stage of the criminal case, contaminating other lines of evidence resulting in a wrongful conviction," the group wrote. The combined effect creates a "perfect storm for a wrongful conviction," the group wrote."

http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_30538529/da-seeking-reinstatement-convictions-1980-lowell-arson-murder


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