Cruzado v. Alves, No. 22-1027 (1st Cir. 2023)

In Cruzado v. Alves, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit considered an appeal by Mario Cruzado, who challenged his conviction for the first-degree murder of Frederick Allen III, a gay, African-American man. Cruzado’s conviction was partly based on a recorded police interview where he used a racial slur when referring to Allen, which was admitted as evidence to demonstrate potential racial animus as a motive for the killing.

Cruzado’s appeal argued that the admission of the recorded interview violated his due process rights because the racial slur was prejudicial. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) had previously rejected this argument, finding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence, given its probative value. The SJC also noted that the slur came directly from Cruzado, making his due process claim weak.

After the state courts denied his appeals, Cruzado sought federal habeas relief, which was denied by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. On appeal, the First Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision, ruling that Cruzado’s due process rights were not violated. The court emphasized that the racial slur had substantial probative value in establishing a potential motive linked to racial animus. Additionally, the court pointed out that any prejudicial effect was mitigated by the trial judge’s careful selection of jurors through individual voir dire to screen for bias. Furthermore, Cruzado did not request a limiting instruction to the jury to disregard the slur or to refrain from drawing inferences from it.

Thus, the First Circuit upheld the denial of Cruzado’s habeas petition, affirming his conviction and life sentence.

The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on January 26, 2024.