Sunday, June 20, 2010

"My Client has a strong alibi. This is clearly a case of mistaken identify." - Attorney Powderly on behalf of Joseph Rocha

FOUR CHARGED WITH ARMED ROBBERY IN FALL RIVER

By Kevin P. O'Connor

Herald News Staff Reporter

Posted June 14, 2010 @ 10:38 PM

FALL RIVER —

Four men, charged with a robbery that netted a few hundred dollars in cash, will need thousands of dollars if they want to post bail for their freedom.

Derek Rocha, 23, and Joseph Rocha, 24, both of Whipple Street, Bruce Alves, 24, of Healey Street, and Andrew Aguiar, 23, of Church Street, were all arrested Sunday, charged with robbing two Fall River men, both 18, on Brown Street earlier that day.

The men told police they were sitting in their car in a parking lot, waiting for a friend, when they were approached by two of the men, whom they knew slightly.

The men began to speak and then one of the four defendants requested a cigarette. When one of the 18-year-olds complied, he had a knife put to his throat and was ordered to turn over his cell phone and cash, police said. Both men complied, police were told.

The two 18-year-old men called police an hour later to report the crime. Officer Charles Freitas took the report and relayed a description of the car the men said the robbers used. The four suspects were arrested shortly after that when Officer Dwayne Cabeceiras spotted their car on Hope Street and went into the Santo Cristo Club to find them.

Judge Christopher Welch set bail at $2,000 cash for Derek Rocha, $2,500 cash for Joseph Rocha, $1,000 cash for Alves and $3,000 cash for Aguiar. An individual’s past police record is taken into account when bail is set.

All four men told police they had been in the Santo Cristo Club all afternoon, watching World Cup soccer, defense lawyers argued Monday.

“My client has a strong alibi,” said lawyer James Powderly, the lawyer for Joseph Rocha. “This is clearly a case of mistaken identity.”

Both Powderly and lawyer Kenneth Van Colen, the lawyer for Alves, asked for and received permission to hire an investigator to find witnesses who saw the four men in the Santo Cristo Club through the afternoon.

“Everything about this tells you something else is going on,” Van Colen said. “These two victims don’t want to report the crime. It took them an hour to call the police. When the police arrived, they gave conflicting stories about what happened.

“The case is suspect, at best.”

The charge of armed robbery is a felony that carries a minimum 5-year sentence with a possible sentence of life in prison.

The case will go to a grand jury, which must determine if there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.

The lawyers in the case will return to court on July 9 for a status conference.

E-mail Kevin P. O’Connor at koconnor@heraldnews.com.

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