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"Danvers student’s confession quashed in death of teacher; Teen faces charges in teacher’s slaying" by Laura Crimaldi, Globe Staff March 03, 2015
The confession that a Danvers High School freshman gave to investigators hours after prosecutors allege he killed a math teacher cannot be presented to jurors at his murder trial, an Essex County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.
In a 48-page decision, Judge David A. Lowy said he does not believe “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Philip Chism, then 14, paid adequate attention to his Miranda rights when he agreed to speak with officers at the Danvers police station about 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2013.
In the same ruling, however, Lowy said prosecutors may introduce statements Chism made and evidence officers collected from the teenager in Topsfield, where police found him walking along Route 1 about midnight of the previous night, hours after he and the teacher, Colleen Ritzer, were reported missing.
During that encounter, officers said, they found Chism had credit cards in Ritzer’s name, women’s underwear, and a box cutter with a protruding blade covered in a reddish-brown substance believed to be blood.
When asked whose blood was on the blade, Chism responded, “It’s the girl’s,” according to testimony. He later disclosed that the girl was “buried in the woods” and could not be helped if found.
Prosecutors allege Chism killed Ritzer, 24, in a school bathroom the afternoon of Oct. 22, 2013, stabbing her 16 times in the neck and then putting her body in a recycling bin and dragging it into woods near the school. He is also accused of sexually assaulting her.
Lowy’s decision revealed new details about Chism’s confession to police. During the videotaped interview, Chism told officers he attacked Ritzer after she humiliated him and that he does not “really have a sense of morals.”
“After she insulted me, that’s when I became the teacher,” Chism said, according to Lowy’s account of the interview.
The teen also said he struck a “meridian,” knowing it would generate a lot of blood, “like a dragon’s kiss,” Lowy wrote.
Chism, now 16, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and aggravated rape, and is being tried as an adult. His trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 7.
Lowy’s ruling came in response to a defense request to bar from the trial statements that Chism made and evidence that was collected during initial interactions with police in Topsfield and Danvers.
His lawyers said the teen was not properly informed of his rights against self-incrimination during initial interactions with police, and therefore a jury should not be allowed to consider statements he allegedly made or evidence that was collected during those encounters.
In his decision, Lowy noted Chism’s strained interactions with his mother, Diana, who had been summoned to meet her son after he was found in Topsfield.
While they were together, Chism refused to look at his mother and asked if he had to speak to officers in her presence, Lowy wrote. Near the end of the interview, Chism said, “I have a very dislike [sic] for [my mother] and anybody else,” according to Lowy.
“This court . . . cannot find, based upon the defendant’s demeanor and detachment while his rights were being read to him, along with his palpable hostility toward his mother during the recitation of the Miranda warnings, that the defendant made a valid waiver of his Miranda rights ‘beyond a reasonable doubt,’ ” Lowy wrote.
He also ruled the prosecution could not enter into evidence cellphones belonging to Chism and Ritzer. The cellphones were found near Hollywood Hits movie theater based on information Chism gave to officers in Danvers.
Chism’s defense lawyer, Denise Regan, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, whose office is prosecuting Chism, said lawyers are reviewing the ruling.
Randy Chapman, a past president of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said that even without the confession, the case is still an uphill battle for Chism.
He pointed to other evidence, including the box cutter; Chism’s assertion to Topsfield officers that he hurt someone; and surveillance video from Danvers High. That footage includes Ritzer and Chism going into the same bathroom, followed by Chism exiting and pushing a recycling bin.
“The case still stands independent of whether the confession is admissible or not,” said Chapman, who watched some of the testimony. “I don’t think it’s going to change the trial strategy of either party.”
Ritzer’s family issued a statement Tuesday thanking officers who searched for the teacher and saying they respect Lowy’s ruling.
“We are also confident in the ability of the district attorney’s office to successfully prosecute the individual charged with this horrific crime so that justice is served for Colleen and our family,” the statement said.
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UPDATE: Lawyers seek rape charge dismissal
