Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
Last week, he was trying to get to Boston. Now, he is in Bridgewater. The state hospital, that is, for a mental evaluation. He was not going to make it to his desired location anyway. The prosecuting attorney already convinced the court to hold him without bail.
It is the tale of Jquan D., 30 (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). Last Wednesday night, he allegedly carjacked a car, and kidnapped three women, for his wild ride. Those felonies were not enough for the Defendant, though. He is also said to have repeatedly punched and threatened to rape and kill the women whom he ordered to drive to Boston. According to police reports, the Defendant kept explaining that he did not want to strike them, but “the spirit is going to get him”, which, apparently, caused him to nonetheless hit the 21 to 22 year old women several times.
One of the women lives in Fitchburg. The other two had come to visit when the ordeal began. The three women were outside the car, and the driver told police she had gone to move items into the back when the Defendant, who she did not know, approached and said the women were supposed to get into the car.
“She stated that once she saw him, he was striking her friend in the back seat and that he would kill them all,” Officer James S. McCall wrote in his report. “She stated that she started to resist when she was struck in the mouth by him.”
The punch sent her tooth into her lip, she said, and the man continued to hit her as she drove and made repeated threats to kill them.
Another of the women said she was punched while sitting in the front seat.
“She stated that while they were traveling the Defendant started talking all crazy and said that, ‘We are all God’s children,’ ” Officer McCall wrote in his report. “She stated he then reached in the front seat and punched her in the face several times with a closed fist.”
A 911 call placed by one of the women from the car alerted police to the case. The call was taken by state police in Northampton, who relayed information to Fitchburg police.
Officer McCall’s report indicates police were able to trace the call to a Charles Street woman and called the cell phone number. After several attempts to get an answer, Officer McCall wrote, a laughing male voice finally answered the phone.
Not surprisingly, the laughter turned to agitation when the Defendant learned that he was speaking to a Fitchburg police officer.
“Damn, I said I’ll be back in Fitchburg in five, no, three minutes,” the officer quoted the Defendant as saying. The Defendant refused to say where he was, and the line disconnected. Officer McCall called back, and the man answered again, and the officer asked if he could speak to the owner of the phone.
“He then said, ‘OK, I’ll let you speak to the white devil,’ ” and handed her the phone, Officer McCall wrote.
The woman “was crying and extremely shaken on the phone,” the officer wrote. He asked her several “yes or no” questions to determine if the Defendant was armed – she said he had a knife and tried to glean a description of the car. At one point during the questioning the officer said the woman yelled, “Stop touching me.” She indicated they were heading to Boston.
City police relayed information on the vehicle to the state police, who saw it on Route 2 near Exit 42 in the Acton area and made the arrest.
Naturally, the Defendant resisted police as he was removed from the vehicle, according to state police. He was wearing a chain around his neck with a razor blade attached to it.
One of the women said she feared the Defendant would force her to have sex with him. She became ill during questioning and was taken to Emerson Hospital in Concord, according to police reports.
State police have charged the Defendant with three counts of Massachusetts assault and battery, six counts of threats to commit a crime, and a single count of resisting arrest. That got changed, though, and he now faces 17 counts against him in Fitchburg, including three counts each of kidnapping, intimidating a witness, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault to commit a felony and assault and battery. He is also charged with single counts of carjacking, assault to rape.
The Defendant was held without bail and court-ordered to be taken to Bridgewater State Hospital for a mental evaluation before being returned to court March 24 for a pretrial hearing.
Attorney Sam’s Take
As bad as it is, regular readers to this daily blog know that the Defendant’s troubles (not to mention those of those around him) could have been worse. Had he caused the car to either out-speed the police or simply drive dangerously so that someone was killed, he would be looking at Massachusetts Homicide charges as well as all the others.
There should be no surprise that the Defendant did not go home, or to Boston, after his arraignment. Had he not been sent to Bridgewater, the Commonwealth would certainly have moved to have him held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing. I would imagine that such a request would have been allowed without much deliberation.
It would appear that the defense in this case will be what is known as the “insanity” plea. He will have to convince the judge or jury that, at the time of the offenses, he did not understand the quality of his actions. According to the description, he does seem a bit confused. I have not heard of many people who couple a proclamation that we are all brothers and sisters under the Almighty with a punch to the face. Then there is the matter of that spirit chasing him…!
It would also not be surprising if Bridgewater finds that there is a question as to whether the Defendant is competent to stand trial at this time.
In this story, you also have another example of how different police departments can work together these days in order to solve what, otherwise, could well have been a very tragic story.
The full article of this story can be found at http://www.telegram.com/article/20090306/NEWS/903060363/1003/NEWS03
