The Middlesex District Attorney’s office dropped all charges against Victor Rivas, a South Boston man involved in a fatal stabbing in Cambridge on January 6. Rivas had pled “not guilty” to charges of felony assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in the stabbing death of Antoine Johnson, a Freetown man who engaged in an altercation with Rivas at a Cambridge Housing Alliance supportive housing project. The prosecutors concluded that it was Johnson who initially attacked Rivas, and that Rivas had stabbed Johnson to defend himself.

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“It was clear to me from the start that Mr. Rivas had acted purely in proper self-defense,” Rivas’s attorney, Carolyn McGowan, said in a statement she shared with Cambridge Day. “We are grateful that the Commonwealth took seriously Mr. Rivas’ report to police about the decedent having violently attacked him with a knife, and that they remained open-minded and subsequently uncovered extensive evidence substantiating that Mr. Rivas was telling the truth.”

According to a document reviewed by Cambridge Day, assistant district attorney Nicole Allain filed a nolle prosequi (“will no longer prosecute”) motion with the court, which was accepted by Judge David E. Frank on Monday, June 8. The case was on the Middlesex District Court’s docket for Friday June 12 but was pulled from it on Monday. The two-page filing outlines the timeline of events and evidence the District Attorney’s office collected during its investigation of the case.

The motion stated that after reviewing the evidence, “the Commonwealth has determined that it is not able to meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Rivas did not act in lawful self-defense when he stabbed Mr. Johnson during this incident.”

The document expanded upon events previously reported on the incident, which occurred at 116 Norfolk Street in The Port neighborhood. It says that Rivas was let into the building by a resident to “conduct a drug transaction” with Johnson. In the bathroom of the resident’s unit, Johnson attempted to rob Rivas at knife point while also punching him. Prosecutors also write that Rivas attempted to run, but “Mr. Johnson pulled [Rivas] back into the bathroom.”

Rivas had a pocketknife with him that was attached to a set of metallic knuckles, which was Rivas used to stab Johnson once in the chest, allowing Rivas to get away. Rivas was later stopped by a Cambridge Police Department officer on Massachusetts Avenue, arrested, and transported to Cambridge Hospital for care for his injuries, including lacerations to his forehead, back of the neck and hand. The laceration on the back of Rivas’s neck could be seen by reporters who attended Rivas’s arraignment on January 9.

Surveillance video showed Johnson running after Rivas, but he collapsed in the apartment building’s vestibule, suffering from a single stab wound to the chest. First responders dispatched to the scene by a 911 call transported Johnson to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

In her statement, McGowan said she and her client were “very pleased” with the prosecutors’ decision, but said the outcome was unnecessarily delayed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).

“Two important groups in the Commonwealth deserve a lot more – grieving family members who seek answers about the deaths of loved ones, and our terrified fellow-residents who face actual or potential homicide charges that turn on the issuance of OCME written reports,” McGowan said, citing the “uncertainty” and “fear” Rivas experienced while waiting for his case to proceed.

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“This is not the first or the worst case of an accused citizen who had to wait many painful months for exculpatory autopsy reports before they could get on with their life.  Such delays — between autopsy completion and the dissemination of autopsy findings to prosecutors — are unacceptable and should be addressed by the OCME and/or the legislature.”

Arraigning Judge Kareem Morgan allowed Rivas to be released on the condition he wear a GPS monitor and adhered to a curfew that allowed him to attend a vocational educational program. McGowan commended Judge Morgan’s decision to reject the prosecution’s $75,000 bail request.

“The prosecution’s bail request would otherwise have resulted in Mr. Rivas being jailed for many months and losing everything – including his housing and educational programming.”

Neither the Middlesex District Attorney’s office nor the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (under which the OCME is housed) responded to requests for comment. Cambridge Day was unable to locate a representative from Johnson’s family for comment.

McGowan’s full statement is below.

_____

We are, of course, very pleased with the result.  It was clear to me from the start that Mr. Rivas had acted purely in proper self-defense, but not a surprise that the prosecution cited for six months to its need for the autopsy report before it could finalize its charging decisions. Thankfully, the arraignment judge took time to review the early evidence, and courageously released Mr. Rivas on zero cash bail. The prosecution’s bail request would otherwise have resulted in Mr. Rivas being jailed for many months and losing everything – including his housing and educational programming.

We are grateful that the Commonwealth took seriously Mr. Rivas’ report to police about the decedent having violently attacked him with a knife, and that they remained open-minded and subsequently uncovered extensive evidence substantiating that Mr. Rivas was telling the truth.

That said, it is lamentable and frankly tragic that the final link in the chain of corroboration – the written autopsy report by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner – took so long.  The vast majority of work relative to an autopsy such as the one in this case is completed within hours or days of a death.  I have never understood why the actual report-writing (and dissemination to prosecutors) cannot be faster.  Two important groups in the Commonwealth deserve a lot more – grieving family members who seek answers about the deaths of loved ones, and our terrified fellow-residents who face actual or potential homicide charges that turn on the issuance of OCME written reports. Sadly, Mr. Rivas had to live for six months in grave uncertainty and fear about his future, and with the restrictions, severe discomfort, and humiliations that come with wearing a GPS device.  This is not the first or the worst case of an accused citizen who had to wait many painful months for exculpatory autopsy reports before they could get on with their life.  Such delays — between autopsy completion and the dissemination of autopsy findings to prosecutors — are unacceptable and should be addressed by the OCME and/or the legislature.    

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Carolyn I. McGowan

Supervising Senior Trial Counsel/Northern Region

Committee for Public Counsel Services

Public Defender Division