WESTFIELD – Three young men who stand accused of inflicting serious injury to a defenseless man have had their charges at Westfield District Court dismissed and will instead have their cases heard in Springfield Superior Court where more severe penalties may be imposed.
The three men – Andrew McGuire, Carlos O. Noel and John A. Sein III – were each arraigned in Westfield District Court for a charge of assault and battery with serious bodily injury. Noel and Sean were also charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a shod foot) and unarmed robbery.
They were held without right to bail
The charges flow from an incident reported to the court by Officer Andrew Cekovsky who reported that McGuire (22, of 43 Mattoon St., Springfield) “repeatedly punched the victim in his face and head as the victim lay on the ground, defenseless” in the area of East Bartlett Street near Phelps Avenue on Dec. 16, 2017, between 8 and 9 p.m..
Regarding Noel (18 and listed as homeless in Westfield) and Sein (22 and listed as homeless in Massachusetts), Cekovsky reported to the court that they “punched and kicked the victim in the face and head area, repeatedly.”
The officer went on to report that they both “forcibly stole $29 in cash from the victim’s pant’s pocket after the victim was incapacitated, due to his injuries.”
And the victim’s injuries were severe, Cekovsky reports.
“As a result of the assault, the Victim suffered a fractured left orbital eye socket, a small hemorrhage in his brain just behind his left temple, two black eyes, three stitches in the center of his forehead and various cuts and abrasions, randomly throughout his body” Cekovsky reports.
Noel and Sein were identified, Cekovsky reports, by a person who knows them and the officer quoted a witness to the assault who said he saw McGuire “repeatedly punch the Victim in his face and head area, with a ‘(vulgarity deleted)-ton of punches’, as the Victim lay on the ground, defenseless.”
Cekovsky’s report does not touch on the motives for the assault nor does it explain how the victim came to be defenseless.
It is not unusual for defendants who have been arraigned on serious offenses in Westfield District Court to have those charges dismissed so that they may be indicted and arraigned in Springfield Superior Court. District courts may not impose sentences of incarceration for terms longer than two and a half years in a county house of corrections but superior courts may impose longer terms in state prison.
