Anthony Grassi — Direct - Day 32 - 2015 Federal Trial

Witnesses described Collier's shooting scene and autopsy, while Dun Meng recounted the armed carjacking and his escape. Surveillance, bank records, and police tracking testimony followed. Counsel also addressed proposed gun-request testimony, the temporal limits of glove DNA evidence, and the source of Whole Foods footage.

← Day 31Day 33 →

.transcript-viewer .proc-meta-panel { position: static; } .transcript-viewer .proc-meta-panel .proc-meta-list[hidden] { display: block; position: static; box-shadow: none; } .transcript-viewer .proc-current-row { display: none; } .transcript-viewer .proc-divider-first { height: auto; padding: var(--cd-krt-s8) 0; overflow: visible; }

Anthony Grassi — Direct

DirectDirectAnthony Grassi — Direct

ANTHONY GRASSI, duly sworn

COURT CLERK: Have a seat. State your name, spell your last name for the record, keep your voice up and speak into the mic so everyone can hear you.

ANTHONY GRASSI: My name is Anthony, last name is Grassi, G-R-A-S-S-I.

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. WEINREB:

MR. WEINREB: Good morning, sir.

ANTHONY GRASSI: Good morning.

MR. WEINREB: Where do you work?

ANTHONY GRASSI: I work for the Cambridge Police Department.

MR. WEINREB: For how long?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Twenty-eight years.

MR. WEINREB: What's your job there?

ANTHONY GRASSI: I'm assigned as a detective to the Criminal Investigation Unit.

MR. WEINREB: What does a criminal investigator or detective do?

ANTHONY GRASSI: We investigate criminal acts that include homicide, domestic abuse, sexual assaults. We handle B&Es, robberies. We interview witnesses, we interview suspects, we interview victims of crimes. We also obtain search warrants, subpoenas, and arrest warrants if needed, and we collect evidence and process crime scenes.

MR. WEINREB: Have you obtained training in doing all those things?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Yes.

MR. WEINREB: Including the processing of crime scenes?

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's correct.

MR. WEINREB: Have you had experience investigating crime scenes?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Yes.

MR. WEINREB: Approximately how many have you investigated in the course of your 28 years?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Probably hundreds.

MR. WEINREB: Did you investigate the Sean Collier crime scene?

ANTHONY GRASSI: I assisted in that, correct.

MR. WEINREB: What drew you to the scene?

ANTHONY GRASSI: I was responding to an armed robbery call at the 7-Eleven store on Central Square, and en route to the call our emergency communications operator dispatched a call that an MIT police officer was down at Main and Vassar, shots fired. I was only four blocks away from the call, so I responded to that location.

MR. WEINREB: How long did it take you to get there?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Within 30 seconds.

MR. WEINREB: And what did you see when you got there?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Upon my arrival, I saw an MIT police officer down on the ground. He was bleeding profusely from trauma to his face and head, and there were several MIT police officers rendering first aid.

MR. WEINREB: What did you do when you got there?

ANTHONY GRASSI: When I arrived at the scene, I was told by an MIT police officer that Officer Collier's gun was taken and there was an active shooter in the area, so I provided cover for the units responding, along with the medical personnel.

MR. WEINREB: Then what?

ANTHONY GRASSI: After Officer Collier was transported to the hospital, we set up a crime scene perimeter.

MR. WEINREB: Well, before we get there, so you said that when you got there you received a report that Officer Collier's gun was missing?

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's correct.

MR. WEINREB: Did that turn out to be true?

ANTHONY GRASSI: No. An MIT police officer informed me after Officer Collier was transported to the hospital that his gun was secured in an MIT police cruiser.

MR. WEINREB: So I interrupted you. What did you do then?

ANTHONY GRASSI: After the -- after Officer Collier was transported to the hospital, we set up a perimeter of a crime scene.

MR. WEINREB: What does that mean?

ANTHONY GRASSI: We set up yellow tape around a crime scene and we had patrol officers doing security outside the tape.

MR. WEINREB: What's going on inside the tape?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Inside the tape was myself, Detective Clavette and Detective Regal began searching for evidence.

MR. WEINREB: Did you find any?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Yes.

MR. WEINREB: What did you find?

ANTHONY GRASSI: I was searching the back of Officer Collier's cruiser when I observed three shell casings on the ground -- empty shell casings on the ground.

MR. WEINREB: What's a shell casing?

ANTHONY GRASSI: A shell casing contains a primer with black powder and a bullet. When a gun is fired, it activates the primer which causes exposure with the black powder, and the bullet is projected out through the -- out from the casing and through the barrel of the gun leaving an empty casing behind.

MR. WEINREB: And then what happens to the casing?

ANTHONY GRASSI: The casing suggests -- in a revolver the casings are automatically ejected out of the gun.

MR. WEINREB: What direction are they ejected in?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Typically up and to the right.

MR. WEINREB: What did you do with the shell casings you found?

ANTHONY GRASSI: I placed three crime scene placards labeled 1, 2 and 3 in the order in which I found the casings.

MR. WEINREB: Can we have Exhibit 694 for identification, please.

MR. WEINREB: Detective Grassi, I'm going to show you a series of photos now all in a row. And when I'm done, I'm going to ask you if they are fair and accurate photos of what's depicted in them.

MR. WEINREB: So, Mr. Bruemmer, if we could just go from 694 all the way through 701, please, just for the witness.

(Photographs displayed.)

MR. WEINREB: Detective Grassi, are those all fair and accurate pictures of the placards that you placed and the items you placed them next to?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Correct. Those are the placards that I placed.

MR. WEINREB: Your Honor, the government offers 694 through 701.

MR. WATKINS: No objection.

THE COURT: Okay.

(Government Exhibit Nos. 694 through 701 received into evidence.)

MR. WEINREB: So let's begin with 694.

BY MR. WEINREB:

MR. WEINREB: Detective, what's pictured in this photograph?

ANTHONY GRASSI: The picture is Officer Collier's cruiser. And to the left of the cruiser you could see where the medical personnel was working on him, and then the back is where I found the three casings.

MR. WEINREB: When you say "the back," you're referring to the back of the cruiser?

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's correct, the rear of the cruiser.

MR. WEINREB: All right. It's actually the front of the photo?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Excuse me?

MR. WEINREB: It's actually the foreground of the photo?

ANTHONY GRASSI: Correct.

MR. WEINREB: 695, please.

MR. WEINREB: What's this a picture of?

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's also a picture of the placards 1 and 2. There's a yellow circle in it that I did not -- I did not place that circle there.

MR. WEINREB: Someone put that there later?

ANTHONY GRASSI: That was done probably by the state police crime scene.

MR. WEINREB: This is essentially what we just saw in 694 but from a different angle?

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's correct.

MR. WEINREB: 696, please.

MR. WEINREB: And again, is this the same thing, just closer up?

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's correct.

MR. WEINREB: 697, please.

MR. WEINREB: What's that a picture of?

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's the picture of the Placard No. 1 where I placed for the first shell casing that I observed. Again, I didn't do the circle or the ruler.

MR. WEINREB: 698, please.

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's Placard No. 1 against the first shell casing that I saw.

MR. WEINREB: 699, please.

MR. WEINREB: Number 2 is the second shell casing.

MR. WEINREB: 700, please.

MR. WEINREB: What's that?

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's Number 3. That's where I found the third one.

MR. WEINREB: 701, please.

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's the placard I placed on Number 3.

MR. WEINREB: Did you actually collect those items?

100

ANTHONY GRASSI: No, I did not.

101

MR. WEINREB: You marked them for someone else to collect?

102

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's correct.

103

MR. WEINREB: In addition to looking for evidence outside of the car, did you look inside the car?

104

ANTHONY GRASSI: Yes, I did.

105

MR. WEINREB: I'm going to show you another series of photos and at the end I'm going to ask you the same question as I asked you last time.

106

ANTHONY GRASSI: Okay.

107

MR. WEINREB: This time I would ask just for the witness that we have 706 through 714.

108

(Photographs displayed.)

109

BY MR. WEINREB:

110

MR. WEINREB: Detective, are those all fair and accurate photographs of what you saw that night?

111

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's correct.

112

MR. WEINREB: The government would offer 706 through 714.

113

MR. WATKINS: No objection.

114

THE COURT: Okay.

115

(Government Exhibit Nos. 706 through 714 received into evidence.)

116

MR. WEINREB: Start with 706, Mr. Bruemmer.

117

BY MR. WEINREB:

118

MR. WEINREB: What is this a picture of?

119

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's a picture of the passenger side of Officer Collier's cruiser.

120

MR. WEINREB: The view from the camera here is through the front passenger window?

121

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's correct.

122

MR. WEINREB: 707, please.

123

MR. WEINREB: What's this a picture of?

124

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's Officer Collier's personal property that he had placed on his -- on the front passenger seat.

125

MR. WEINREB: Right in the center of the photo I've drawn a circle. Do you -- what's inside that circle?

126

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's the fourth shell casing that I observed. It was resting on top of Officer Collier's hat.

127

MR. WEINREB: 708, please.

128

MR. WEINREB: What's that?

129

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's the close-up of the shell casing.

130

MR. WEINREB: 709.

131

MR. WEINREB: What's that a photo of?

132

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's the front passenger side of the vehicle. On the floor we observed a bullet fragment and damage to the center console where the mic is normally held.

133

MR. WEINREB: Now, in this photo, the door's been open, correct?

134

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's correct.

135

MR. WEINREB: When you got to the scene and just discovered the car the way it was, was the door open or closed?

136

ANTHONY GRASSI: No, all doors were closed.

137

MR. WEINREB: 710, please.

138

MR. WEINREB: What's that a photo of?

139

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's a bullet fragment.

140

MR. WEINREB: Where is it?

141

ANTHONY GRASSI: It's located on the floor on the passenger front.

142

MR. WEINREB: 711, please.

143

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's a close-up of the bullet fragment.

144

MR. WEINREB: So this isn't a casing anymore; this is an actual piece of a bullet?

145

ANTHONY GRASSI: Piece of a bullet that sheered off.

146

MR. WEINREB: 712, please.

147

MR. WEINREB: What's this a photo of?

148

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's the radio console that holds the mics for communication.

149

MR. WEINREB: So this is the center console of the car?

150

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's correct.

151

MR. WEINREB: Do you see the cup holders over here?

152

ANTHONY GRASSI: Correct.

153

MR. WEINREB: And the white item that's broken in half, what exactly is that?

154

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's the microphone that we use to communicate back and forth to our communications center.

155

MR. WEINREB: And the red that we see in the photo?

156

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's blood from Officer Collier's driver's side.

157

MR. WEINREB: Exhibit 713, please.

158

MR. WEINREB: What is that a photo of?

159

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's a view of the backseat. Officer Collier's report tins are on the backseat, and you could see a puddle of blood under the driver's seat.

160

MR. WEINREB: And looking over to the rear passenger compartment, what is it that I've circled there?

161

ANTHONY GRASSI: That appeared to be a mic cover that covered a communication microphone in the cruiser.

162

MR. WEINREB: Exhibit 714, please.

163

MR. WEINREB: Do we see that again? I'll draw a circle around it.

164

ANTHONY GRASSI: That's a cover to a mic for a radio.

165

MR. WEINREB: And was that -- would that -- what relationship does that have to the white, actual, microphone that we saw split on the front seat?

166

ANTHONY GRASSI: To me that appeared to be like a handheld mic that we typically put on -- when we're in uniform to put on our shoulder to communicate.

167

MR. WEINREB: What did you do after searching for evidence?

168

ANTHONY GRASSI: After we searched for evidence, I gave all the information to Sergeant McHale who was in charge of the crime scene. Then myself, Detective Mike Regal, Donna Mahoney and Michael Logan, we entered the Stata building, and we started at the top floor and worked our way down trying to find any witnesses who might have seen something that happened out front.

169

MR. WEINREB: Were you able to find any?

170

ANTHONY GRASSI: None.

171

MR. WEINREB: While you were interviewing, or looking for potential witnesses with these other officers, was someone guarding the crime scene?

172

ANTHONY GRASSI: The crime scene was covered by Sergeant McHale who had control of it. We had patrol officers stationed on the outside of the yellow tape, and Sergeant McHale assigned an officer as a scribe to document who's been entering and exiting the crime scene.

173

MR. WEINREB: When you returned after your search for witnesses, was all the evidence still in place, right where you had left it?

174

ANTHONY GRASSI: Yes, it was.

175

MR. WEINREB: Thank you. I have no further questions.

176

MR. MELLIN: Your Honor, may I one second?

177

MR. WEINREB: Oh, I'm sorry.

178

(Counsel confer off the record.)