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Murder suspects Daniel Bradley and Paul Moccia returned to Wrentham District Court yesterday, with a judge granting a prosecutor's requests to put off their pretrial hearings until August.
Bradley, 47, of Westwood, and Moccia, 48, of Dedham are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Angel Antonio Ramirez, a 37-year-old Guatemalan immigrant from Framingham.
Both men have pleaded not guilty, and will continue to be held without bail at the Norfolk County House of Correction following their brief appearances before Judge Emogene Johnson-Smith yesterday.
At their arraignments June 8, Assistant District Attorney Robert Nelson said that Moccia was a cocaine dealer who owed upwards of $70,000 to his supplier, Ramirez. Knowing there was no way he would be able to repay the debt, Moccia hatched the plan to kill Ramirez, Nelson said.
On the night of March 20, Moccia shot Ramirez in the back with a .357 Magnum, according to the prosecutor. Then, as Moccia drove Ramirez's pickup truck back to his Framingham neighborhood, Bradley took the victim's body into his family's Walpole concrete business, R.J. Bradley Co., where it was dismembered and "cooked," according to Nelson.
Yesterday morning, with Moccia en route, Bradley was called to the courtroom first. He wore a white golf shirt and black pants.
Nelson asked Johnson-Smith to continue the hearing until Aug. 6. He said the case is unusual in that "all, I believe, but two of the witnesses that I have called are represented by attorneys," and three have claimed privilege. Privilege is often invoked when a witness is trying to avoid self-incrimination. The case has been slowed down as a result, Nelson said.
Bradley's attorney Kevin Reddington objected, saying that Nelson was giving details of grand jury proceedings in open court. But Nelson and the judge agreed that he was not saying anything critical.
Nelson also asked for Bradley's bail conditions to remain the same.
Reddington objected to continuing the hearing, saying it would just "allow the government to finish its presentation to the grand jury." He argued that the court certainly has the power to order the commonwealth to go ahead with the hearing.
He also asked the judge to reconsider Bradley's bail.
"My client's been held without bail since his initial arraignment in June," and he has deep roots in the community, Reddington said.
Murder suspects Daniel Bradley and Paul Moccia returned to Wrentham District Court yesterday, with a judge granting a prosecutor's requests to put off their pretrial hearings until August.
Bradley, 47, of Westwood, and Moccia, 48, of Dedham are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Angel Antonio Ramirez, a 37-year-old Guatemalan immigrant from Framingham.
Both men have pleaded not guilty, and will continue to be held without bail at the Norfolk County House of Correction following their brief appearances before Judge Emogene Johnson-Smith yesterday.
At their arraignments June 8, Assistant District Attorney Robert Nelson said that Moccia was a cocaine dealer who owed upwards of $70,000 to his supplier, Ramirez. Knowing there was no way he would be able to repay the debt, Moccia hatched the plan to kill Ramirez, Nelson said.
On the night of March 20, Moccia shot Ramirez in the back with a .357 Magnum, according to the prosecutor. Then, as Moccia drove Ramirez's pickup truck back to his Framingham neighborhood, Bradley took the victim's body into his family's Walpole concrete business, R.J. Bradley Co., where it was dismembered and "cooked," according to Nelson.
Yesterday morning, with Moccia en route, Bradley was called to the courtroom first. He wore a white golf shirt and black pants.
Nelson asked Johnson-Smith to continue the hearing until Aug. 6. He said the case is unusual in that "all, I believe, but two of the witnesses that I have called are represented by attorneys," and three have claimed privilege. Privilege is often invoked when a witness is trying to avoid self-incrimination. The case has been slowed down as a result, Nelson said.
Bradley's attorney Kevin Reddington objected, saying that Nelson was giving details of grand jury proceedings in open court. But Nelson and the judge agreed that he was not saying anything critical.
Nelson also asked for Bradley's bail conditions to remain the same.
Reddington objected to continuing the hearing, saying it would just "allow the government to finish its presentation to the grand jury." He argued that the court certainly has the power to order the commonwealth to go ahead with the hearing.
He also asked the judge to reconsider Bradley's bail.
"My client's been held without bail since his initial arraignment in June," and he has deep roots in the community, Reddington said.
"The government has a case an inch deep and a mile wide right now," Reddington said.
Nelson has said previously that no weapon or body has been recovered, and that it was highly likely that the body would not be found if it was indeed "cooked after it was dismembered."
Johnson-Smith said she would not reconsider Bradley's bail, however.
Because Reddington had a conflict with the Aug. 6 date, Bradley's pretrial hearing was set for Aug. 13.
Moccia came into the courtroom just over a half-hour later, wearing a dark shirt with a large P on the back. As cuffs were heard clinking, Moccia hobbled momentarily as he made his way behind a glass partition.
Nelson asked the judge to continue Moccia's hearing to Aug. 13, for the same reasons as before, and Johnson-Smith did so.
Attorney Steven Boozang asked for Moccia's bail to be reconsidered, and Johnson-Smith said she would reconsider it when Moccia returns in August.
"My client is presumed innocent," Boozang said outside the courtroom. "I'm sure things will play out a little differently than they're presented here, down the road."
Nelson said the grand jury, which meets in Dedham, has heard some evidence and will hear more before Aug. 13. If an indictment comes down before that date, the case would get dismissed in Wrentham and restart in Superior Court in Dedham, Nelson said.
The assistant D.A. said he could not provide more details on the investigation due to the grand jury proceedings. But he said that a trial remains far off.
"It's a year or more away, I would think," Nelson said.
Daily News staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
