SUPERIOR COURT

BARNSTABLE, SS

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS F~1 JAN 2 5 2019

BARNSTABLE , ss BARNSTABLE
DOCKET NO : ;~cft1·~ Clerk

COMMONWEALTH
COUNSEL ' S AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT
v. OF MOTIONS FOR RULE 17 SUMMONSES
TO THE CAPE COD AREA POLICE DEPARTMENTS
THOMAS LATANOWICH

The Affiant , Joseph F. Krowski Jr . , Esquire, hereby states

and deposes the following:

1. I represent the Defendant , Thoma s Latanowich

("Latanowich"), in the above captioned case .

2. Latanowich is charged , among other things , with murder

stemming from the April 12 , 2018 , shooting death of
Yarmouth Police Officer Sean Gannon .

3. It is alleged that Officer Gannon was working in

conjunction with officers from the State Police , the
Yarmouth Police , and the Barnstable Police to serve a
warrant on Latanowich .

4. Officers arrived at 109 Blueberry Lane , in Marstons Mills ,

Barnstabl e, to serve the wa r rant on Latanowich .

5. Officer Gannon had his canine , Nero with him on the date
and time of the incident.

6. Latanowich was charged with murde r and arraigned in the

Barnstable District Court o n April 13, 2018.

7. At Latanowich's District Court arraignme nt , the spectator

gal l ery was packed wi t h armed uniformed police officers .

8. Th e p ol ice presence at Latanowich ' s Barnstable District

Court arraignment was documented by local news reports .

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 According to an April 13 , 2018 , Cape Cod Times Reportl ,
"Hours before the arraignment , scores of spectators began
to arrive at the county court complex-many holding American
flags-waiting for Latanowich to arrive . Many questioned how
Latanowich could have been free in the first place with his
c rimina l record .u

10. The article reported , "At least 100 uniformed police

officers and state troopers were present at the courthouse ,
including dozens of Yarmouth officers who occupied several
rows of benches in the courtroom during the brief
arraignment . u See Exhibit 1 .

11 . Latanowich ' s case was ultimately indicted to the Barnstable

Superior Court .

12. His arraignment was held on August 31 , 2018 .

13 . I was present with Latanowich for his Superior Court

arraignment .

14 . Prior to the arraignment , I overheard the Chief of Police

ask a Court Officer where Latanowich would be positioned in
the courtroom for his arraignment.

15 . Thereafter , the Chief and other officers positioned

themselves immediately behind Latanowich.

16 . There were more than forty (40) uniformed officer s

representing many of the surrounding Cape Cod towns present
inside the courtroom for the Superior Court arraignment.
These same officers congregated around the van used to
transport Latanowich back to the jail after the
arraignment .

17 . The Chief of Police has been quoted as associating the

police presence at Latanowich ' s court event s with what he
has described as a " powerful u show of poli ce support2 .

18 . The police officers ' presence and behavior at Latanowich ' s

court hearings is part of a larger intentio nal and

1
" Suspect in killing o f Yarmou th Offi c er Sean Gannon held without
bail ,u Cape Code Times , p o s t ed April 13 , 2018 . Attached as
Exhibit 1.
2 "Yarmouth Officer fatally shot in Barnstableu The Barnstable
Patriot , posted April 13 , 2018. Attached as Exhibit 2 .

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 deliberate attempt to intimidate the Defendant and to
prejudice the jury pool against him .

19 . The public record demonstrates that the Yarmouth Police

Department ' s objectivity has been compromised by the
personal feelings and opinions of the Police Chief and
fellow offices .

20 . Chief Frederickson has referred to his police force as his

"ch ildren ." "'As chief , they are all my children .'
Frederickson said . ' My son is a Barnstable Police Officer .
They are all my kids .' " See Exhibit 2 .

21. State Rep . William Crocker of Centerville is on record

stating , "'I respect (Frederickson) ; he is coming from a
place of emotion , and said so many times . He considers
these guys his kids , and he seems to think he may have let
the community down a bit . He has not done that ; he is
lifting the community up and is leading the community. He
speaks from the heart , and he ' s angry , and I think he has
the right to be angry3. '"

22. Within twenty-four (24) hours of the incident , the Yarmouth

Police Department ' s Facebook page had an " emotional post"
stating Latanowich had "earned the death penalty . " The
post cont inued , that Latanowich would "forever be known in
their building as ' 125 ' -the number of charges the police
said were on Thomas Latanowich ' s board of probation
record 4 . "

23 . The "language was blunt ." " ' The Massachusetts Criminal
Justice System has let us down and failed to protect our
community and our Yarmouth Police Department ,' the post
says . ' Our organizat i on is pushing forward as we have
broken families to support-a community who loves us-and a
coward known as 125 behind bars ...who has earned the death
penalty .' " See Exhibit 3 .

24 . Chief Frederickson gave a " fiery address at a candlelight

3 "Death of Yarmouth police Officer Sean Gannon sparks call for

change ," Cape Cod Times , April 15 , 2018 . Attached as Exhibit 3.
4 " Grie ving PO l ashes o ut over patrolman 's slaying ," Boston

Herald, April 15 , 20 1 8. Attac hed as Exhibit 4 .

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 vigil held at the Yarmouth Police Department on April 14. 5"
In his remarks , he referred to Latanowich as.a "disgusting
person . "

25. Law enforcement's public comments and demonstrations are

succeeding in influencing the potential jury pool . Numerous
reports have documented the public ' s response.

26 . "In a nearly unprecedented expression of public mourning ,

the shooting death of 32-year-old Yarmotuh police Sgt . Sean
Gannon on April 12 tugged the heart of Cape Cod almost to
the breaking point6."

27 . On the night of Chief Frederickson ' s fiery candlelight

vigil comments , online donations flooded the Yarmouth
Police Foundation crashing the website several times 7 .

28. Hundreds of people from the community gathered along the

roadways for Sgt. Gannon's April 17, 2018, wake and funeral
procession . See Exhibit 6.

29. The prevalence of blue bows and ribbons on Cape Cod

residences and business caused a number of candidates
running for local office to forgo campaign signs so the
public would be "able to mourn without the visual clutter
of campaign singsB."

30 . The Defendant has a constitutional right to receive a fair

trial before an impartial jury. Commonwealth v . Toolan,
460 Mass. 452 (2011) ; Irwin v. Dowd , 366 U. S . 717 (1961) ;
Sheppard v . Maxwell , 384 U. S . 333 (1966) .

31. Sustained and repeated negative publicity about a defendant

or the alleged incident can virtually guarantee that a
defendant will be prejudged such that it will be
practically impossible to empanel an impartial jury.
Commonwealth v. Anguilo, 415 Mass . 502, 514-516 (1993) . In

5 "In time of tragedy, Barnstable police moved by show of

support , " The Barnstable Patriot , April 26, 2018 . Attached as
Exhibit 5 .
6 "Gannon tragedy sparks reflection , memories of loss , " Cape Cod
Times , April 21 , 2018 . Attached as Exhibit 6 .
7 "Police warn of fundraising scam for Gannon donations , " Cape

Cod Times , April 21 , 2018 . Attached as Exhibit 7.

s "Ribbons of mourning replace Yarmouth campaign signs ," Cape Cod
Times , April 26 , 2018. Attached as Exhibit 8 .

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 fact , pretrial publicity may be s o pervasive t hat the
prejudice to a defendant ' s right t o a fair tria l is
presumed , mandating transfer of venue. Murphy v . Florida ,
421 U. S. 794 (1975 ) ; Irvin , 366 U.S. 7 17. This is true even
if the reporting is accurate . United States v . Blanton ,
700 F . 2d 298 (6t h Cir. 1983).

32. Based on the forgoing , I have filed fifteen (15) Rule 17

Motions seeking documents from the various Cape Cod
Community police departments .

33. The records will reveal the deliberate conduct by members

of the Cape Cod law enforcement community to contribute to
a denial of Latanowich's fair trial rights guaranteed by
Due Process , supporting and bolstering motions for a
change of venue and other appropriate relief .

34 . The records will also likely reveal evidence of a police

bias , which is material and relevant to the defense . See
Commonwealth v. Bowden , 379 Mass. 472 ( 1980); Commonwealth
v . Silva- Santiago, 453 Mass. 782 , 799- 805 (2009).

Subscribed and sworn under the pains and penalties of

perjury this 9th day of January, 2019 .

IRE