Com. v. Angelo Todesca Corp.

• Decision Date: 01 March 2006
• Citation: 842 N.E.2d 930,446 Mass. 128
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. ANGELO TODESCA CORPORATION.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

842 N.E.2d 930

446 Mass. 128

COMMONWEALTH v. ANGELO TODESCA CORPORATION.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Barnstable.

Argued November 8, 2005.

Decided March 1, 2006.

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Julia K. Holler, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.

Jeffrey T. Karp, Boston, for the defendant.

Present: MARSHALL, C.J., GREANEY, IRELAND, SPINA, COWIN, SOSMAN, & CORDY, JJ.

SPINA, J.

A jury found the defendant, a corporation, guilty of homicide by motor vehicle under G.L. 90, § 24G (b),¹ after a truck driver employed by the defendant struck and killed a police officer.² On appeal the defendant contends that the judge erred in denying its motion for a required finding and its posttrial motion under Mass. R.Crim. P. 25(b)(2), 378 Mass. 896 (1979), in which it argued that the Commonwealth presented insufficient evidence of negligent operation, proximate cause, and operation on a public way, and that a corporation cannot be criminally liable for motor vehicle homicide as a matter of law. The Appeals Court reversed the conviction, concluding that there was insufficient evidence of both the driver's negligence and causation, without reaching the other issues. Commonwealth v. Angelo Todesca Corp., 62 Mass.App.Ct. 599, 818 N.E.2d 608 (2004). We granted the Commonwealth's application for further appellate review, and we affirm the conviction.

1. Facts. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the jury could have found the following facts. See Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 676-677, 393 N.E.2d 370 (1979). In December, 2000, Brian Gauthier, an experienced truck driver, was employed by the defendant, Angelo Todesca Corporation, a trucking and paving company. At the time, Gauthier was driving a ten-wheel tri-axle dump truck, designated AT-56, for the defendant; he had driven this particular vehicle for approximately one year.³ The defendant had a written policy, published in its safety manual, requiring all trucks to be equipped with back-up alarms, which sound automatically whenever the vehicle is put in reverse gear, at all times.⁴ The purpose of this alarm, affixed to the back of the truck near the driver's side taillight, is to warn people behind the truck, particularly those in its blind spot, that the vehicle is in reverse.

When Gauthier was first assigned to AT-56, the truck had a functioning back-up alarm, but around November, 2000, he realized that the back-up alarm was missing. The defendant's mechanic determined that the vehicle's electrical system was working properly: it simply needed a new alarm installed. The mechanics did not have a back-up alarm in stock at the time. Although Gauthier continued to operate the truck without the back-up alarm, he noted its absence each day in a required safety report.⁵ All of the other trucks Gauthier had operated for the defendant had back-up alarms, and at least another of the defendant's drivers never had operated a truck without an alarm.

In late 2000, the defendant was hired to provide asphalt for a roadway widening and improvement project on Route 28, a State highway, in Centerville. On December 1, 2000, the defendant's drivers were repaving a mile-long section of Route 28 near the entrance to a shopping mall. Although different sections of the four-lane highway were closed as the paving work progressed, the mall was open for business, and at least one lane always remained open to traffic. To ensure that vehicles could enter and leave the mall safely, the victim, a sixty-one year old police officer, was stationed near the driveway leading into the mall parking lot, directing traffic through the work site. The victim had worked such details before and requested this assignment at the site. He wore a full-length bright orange raincoat and a hat with ear flaps, but he had no difficulty hearing or communicating with the work crew.

On December 1, Gauthier was assigned to haul asphalt from a plant in Rochester to the work site in Centerville, and he made three trips from the plant to Centerville that day. His truck weighed more than 79,000 pounds when carrying a full load of asphalt. When Gauthier delivered his first load, he beeped his "city horn" as he backed up to the paver, to warn people nearby that the truck was moving. He did not use his horn while backing up with the second load of asphalt because no one was near his truck at that time.

When he arrived at the work site with his third load of asphalt, Gauthier conversed briefly with several other drivers and the victim to discuss the order in which the drivers should deliver their asphalt. They decided that Gauthier should back up first, and he told the victim that he was next in line for the paver. Another driver then asked the victim to "watch our back[s]" as the trucks backed through the intersection. No one informed the victim that Gauthier's truck did not have a functioning back-up alarm. When Gauthier returned to his truck, he turned off the radios, rolled down his window, checked his mirrors, put the truck in its lowest reverse gear, and began to back up.⁶ A number of witnesses estimated his speed at no more than a few miles per hour. Before Gauthier started to back up, he noticed that the victim was walking toward the paver, with his back to the truck.⁷ At one point while Gauthier was backing up, he had to stop to allow a car leaving the mall to pass. When he resumed moving, another driver realized that the victim was in Gauthier's blind spot and repeatedly blasted his truck's air horn, but neither the victim nor Gauthier reacted.⁸ Other drivers also saw that the victim was in Gauthier's blind spot, and tried to get Gauthier to stop by shouting and waving their arms, but to no avail: Gauthier's truck struck the victim, pinning his legs beneath its rear wheels. As soon as Gauthier saw the victim trapped under his rear axle, he pulled the truck forward.⁹ The victim was conscious and alert when he was taken to a hospital, but he died as a result of his injuries later that day.¹⁰

Gauthier was charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, and failure to use due care in backing up. Before the defendant's trial, the manslaughter charge against Gauthier was dismissed, and the remaining charges were continued without a finding for three years. Gauthier's driving privileges were restricted, and he paid a fine.

The jury convicted the corporation of motor vehicle homicide, but found it not guilty of involuntary manslaughter. At sentencing, the defendant was fined $2,500. The Appeals Court, however, reversed the conviction, finding insufficient evidence of Gauthier's negligence because while he backed up he "took all reasonable precautions" to ensure the victim's safety. Commonwealth v. Angelo Todesca Corp., 62 Mass.App.Ct. 599, 607-608, 818 N.E.2d 608 (2004). The Appeals Court also concluded that there was insufficient evidence that the absence of a functioning back-up alarm caused the collision: the victim knew the truck was going to back up and "did not need to be warned by a beeping sound." Id. at 608, 818 N.E.2d 608. The Appeals Court found it "speculative" to suggest that a back-up alarm could have prevented the collision because the victim did not react to the much louder air horns sounded by other drivers. Id. at 608-609, 818 N.E.2d 608.

2. Standard of review. In determining whether the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to sustain a conviction, we must view that evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth to determine whether "any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt" (emphasis in original). Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 677, 393 N.E.2d 370 (1979), quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). "A jury may find a crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt even though the inference of guilt from the facts established is not inescapable or necessary." Commonwealth v. Gagnon, 408 Mass. 185, 200-201, 557 N.E.2d 728 (1990). Such inferences need only be reasonable and possible. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Longo, 402 Mass. 482, 487, 524 N.E.2d 67 (1988), quoting Commonwealth v. Casale, 381 Mass. 167, 173, 408 N.E.2d 841 (1980). "If, from the evidence, conflicting inferences are possible, it is for the jury to determine where the truth lies, for the weight and credibility of the evidence is wholly within their province." Commonwealth v. Lao, 443 Mass. 770, 779, 824 N.E.2d 821 (2005). Likewise, in reviewing a decision on a rule 25(b)(2) motion for a required finding of not guilty following a guilty verdict, this court "does not properly exercise discretion concerning the weight or integrity of the evidence, but instead must assess the legal sufficiency of the evidence by the standard set out in Commonwealth v. Latimore, [supra]." Commonwealth v. Doucette, 408 Mass. 454, 456, 559 N.E.2d 1225 (1990).

3. Corporate liability for motor vehicle homicide. As a threshold matter, the parties agree that corporate criminal liability is governed by the standards outlined in Commonwealth v. Beneficial Fin. Co., 360 Mass. 188, 275 N.E.2d 33 (1971), cert. denied sub nom. Farrell v. Massachusetts, 407 U.S. 910, 92 S.Ct. 2433, 32 L.Ed.2d 683 (1972), and sub nom. Beneficial Fin. Co. v. Massachusetts, 407 U.S. 914, 92 S.Ct. 2433, 32 L.Ed.2d 689 (1972), and in Commonwealth v. L.A.L. Corp., 400 Mass. 737, 511 N.E.2d 599 (1987). In Commonwealth v. Beneficial Fin. Co., supra at 256, 275 N.E.2d 33, we held that before criminal liability may be imposed on a corporate defendant:

"The Commonwealth must prove that the individual for whose conduct it seeks to charge the corporation criminally was placed in a position by the corporation where he had enough power, duty, responsibility and authority to act for and in behalf of the corporation to handle the particular business or operation or project of the...