Two area men charged in the first-degree murder of a Framingham man, returned to Norfolk Superior Court today, for a brief pretrial conference in which Judge Janet Sanders ruled that a bevy of discovery motions be allowed to go forward.
Daniel Bradley, 48, of Westwood and Paul Moccia, 49, of Dedham, are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Angel A. Ramirez, 37, of Framingham. The prosecution alleges that Moccia was unable to pay about $70,000 in drug money he owed to Ramirez, a Guatemalan immigrant and construction worker, so he decided to kill him.
Assistant District Attorney Robert Nelson said on the night of March 20, the two longtime friends both shot Ramirez either inside the Bradley family’s concrete business in Walpole or nearby outdoors. Bradley cut up the body before disposing of it in an incinerator, Nelson has said.
Bradley and Moccia entered the courtroom today at 12:13 p.m., both wearing dark suits, blue ties and light colored shirts.
Sanders ruled to allow a long list of motions including police reports on Ramirez, and a motion for the criminal and probation records of witnesses be presented. Bradley’s attorney, Kevin Reddington pointedly asked that Jesse Sheridan, who was in the courtroom, be added to the witness list. Sheridan’s ex-girlfriend, Shannon Murphy, is Bradley’s fiancée
Reddington asked the court hold several motions, including ones seeking police personnel files and witnesses’ FBI rap sheets. Sanders agreed to hold the motions.
At the Superior Court arraignment in September, Nelson said that Bradley helped Moccia with Ramirez in exchange for Moccia helping him to “take out” Sheridan.
The pretrial conference ended at 12:18, with the next court date set for Jan. 15, when a hearing will be held to see if the prosecution has complied with the discovery motions.
“We put together a very extensive, exhaustive list of things we need, and she allowed them,”
Moccia’s attorney, Steven Boozang, said of the evidence and witnesses’ records that the judge allowed to go forward.
Moccia’s brother, Robert Moccia, is a key source of the investigation information presented thus far in court. Said Boozang of Robert Moccia and Sheridan, “Now we’re going to look into their allegations, and see how credible they are.”
