Com. v. Brown

• Decision Date: 08 October 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-P-968.,08-P-968.
• Citation: 75 Mass. App. Ct. 361,914 N.E.2d 332
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. Isaiah I. BROWN.
• Court: Appeals Court of Massachusetts

914 N.E.2d 332

75 Mass. App. Ct. 361

COMMONWEALTH v. Isaiah I. BROWN.

No. 08-P-968.

Appeals Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

Argued May 6, 2009.

Decided October 8, 2009.

Christopher L. Maclachlan, Boston, for the defendant.

Zachary Hillman, Assistant District Attorney (Christine Walsh, Assistant District Attorney, with him) for the Commonwealth.

Present: GRASSO, COHEN, & FECTEAU, JJ.

COHEN, J.

The defendant appeals from his conviction of possession of a firearm without a license, pursuant to G.L. c. 269, § 10(a). The charge arose from an incident, on September 27, 2006, when two police officers observed the defendant standing on a sidewalk with a pistol visible in his waistband. The pistol contained no bullets.

At trial, the primary issue was the defendant's criminal responsibility. As originally briefed, the defendant's appellate arguments related only to that issue and, in particular, the testimony of the forensic psychologist on whom the Commonwealth relied. However, subsequent to oral argument, and shortly after the issuance of the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 2527, 174 L.Ed.2d 314 (2009), the defendant filed a motion seeking leave to file a supplemental brief that he submitted with his motion, arguing that the Commonwealth's reliance on a ballistics certificate to meet its burden of proving that the pistol was a firearm within the meaning of the Massachusetts gun statutes violated his right of confrontation under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Commonwealth filed an opposition requesting that we deny the motion and also addressing the merits of the defendant's new argument.

In the circumstances of this case, the ballistics certificate issue is of sufficient import that we exercise our discretion under Mass.R.A.P. 16(a)(4), as amended, 367 Mass. 921 (1975), to consider it even though it was not raised in the defendant's original brief. See Dean v. Springfield, 38 Mass.App.Ct. 910, 910-911, 645 N.E.2d 39 (1995). Although there is no merit to the initial issues raised by the defendant, we conclude that the admission of the ballistics certificate without the opportunity to cross-examine the ballistician requires that his conviction be reversed.

1. Ballistics certificate. Immediately before trial, the Commonwealth presented a motion in limine seeking permission to rely on a certificate from a police department ballistics expert to establish that the pistol was a working firearm.¹ See G.L. c. 140, § 121A.² Citing to Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), the defendant opposed the Commonwealth's motion, on the ground that admitting the ballistics certificate without affording him an opportunity to cross-examine the person who tested the gun and certified its operability would violate his constitutional right of confrontation. The judge rejected the defendant's argument and allowed the Commonwealth's motion. During the Commonwealth's case-in-chief, the certificate was admitted in evidence over the defendant's renewed objection.

As the Commonwealth concedes, in light of Melendez-Diaz, supra, the admission of the ballistics certificate without the opportunity to cross-examine the certifying ballistician was constitutional error.³ As the Commonwealth further concedes, because the issue was properly preserved at trial, the applicable standard of review is whether, on the whole record, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Miles, 420 Mass. 67, 73, 648 N.E.2d 719 (1995).

We are unpersuaded that the Commonwealth has met its burden to show that the erroneously admitted evidence did not contribute to the verdict. See Commonwealth v. Charros, 443 Mass. 752, 765, 824 N.E.2d 809, cert. denied, 546 U.S. 870, 126 S.Ct. 374, 163 L.Ed.2d 162 (2005). Notwithstanding the emphasis at trial on the question of the defendant's criminal responsibility, the functionality of the gun was not conceded by the defendant, and other than the certificate, there was no competent evidence from which the jury reasonably could draw the inference that the weapon could fire. By itself, the admission of the gun in evidence did not establish that it was operable, see Commonwealth v. Nieves, 43 Mass.App.Ct. 1, 3, 680 N.E.2d 561 (1997), and other circumstantial evidence of operability was lacking. When it was seized from the defendant, the gun did not contain any bullets. Compare Commonwealth v. Fancy, 349 Mass. 196, 204, 207 N.E.2d 276 (1965); Commonwealth v. Stallions, 9 Mass.App.Ct. 23, 26, 398 N.E.2d 738 (1980). Nor was there any evidence that the gun had been fired at any time, much less at the time of the offense. Compare Commonwealth v. Sperrazza, 372 Mass. 667, 670, 363 N.E.2d 673 (1977); Commonwealth v. Sylvester, 35 Mass.App.Ct. 906, 907, 617 N.E.2d 661 (1993).

Nevertheless, the Commonwealth claims that the following other evidence amply proved that the gun was a working firearm: the testimony of one of the arresting officers that he owned several firearms and that the weapon taken from the defendant was a "big gun"; the testimony of the other arresting officer that he "cleared" the weapon to make sure there was no live ammunition inside; and the testimony of the defendant's psychiatric witness, Dr. David Rosmarin, that the defendant told him that he had removed the bullets from the gun before putting it in his pants and going out with it. However, none of this evidence was probative that the gun was operable.

Furthermore, an unusual slant to this case was that the capacity of the gun to fire was of no apparent concern to this defendant. Dr. Rosmarin testified that the defendant thought that the unloaded gun was a "prop," the sight of which would stop anyone from trying to kill him. Dr. Stacey Fiore, the forensic psychologist called by the Commonwealth, testified that the defendant told her that he bought the gun on the street after his cousin had been murdered, that it did not have bullets, but that he carried it when he left the house because he felt that if people knew that he had a gun he would be less likely to be harmed.

A constitutional error is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt only if it "did not influence the jury, or had but very slight effect." Commonwealth v. Diaz, 453 Mass. 266, 275, 901 N.E.2d 670 (2009), quoting from United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 112, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976). Here, we have no such assurance. The erroneously admitted ballistics certificate was the only evidence enabling the Commonwealth to meet its burden of proof that the pistol was a working firearm. Its admission cannot be characterized as harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and would mandate relief even under a less onerous standard of review. See Commonwealth v. Freeman, 352 Mass. 556, 564, 227 N.E.2d 3 (1967).

2. Criminal responsibility issues. Because the Commonwealth is entitled to retry the defendant, see Commonwealth v. DiBenedetto, 414 Mass. 37, 45, 605 N.E.2d 811 (1992); Kater v. Commonwealth, 421 Mass. 17, 18, 653 N.E.2d 576 (1995), and similar issues may present themselves at a retrial, we comment on the remaining arguments made by the defendant.

In support of his defense of lack of criminal responsibility, the defendant introduced the testimony of Dr. Rosmarin. In rebuttal, the Commonwealth introduced the testimony of Dr. Fiore, who had examined the defendant at Bridgewater State Hospital pursuant to a court order, issued at the time of the defendant's arraignment, for assessment of both his competence and criminal responsibility, in accordance with G.L. c. 123, § 15(b).⁴ Although Dr. Fiore and Dr. Rosmarin agreed that, at the time of the incident leading to his arrest, the defendant was suffering from mental illness, they differed as to its severity and effect. A major point of contention was whether he was capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of carrying the gun. On that score, both experts testified concerning statements made by the defendant with respect to his mental state at the time of the offense.

The defendant does not dispute that, on giving notice of his intent to rely on a defense of lack of criminal responsibility, the Commonwealth could have obtained an order requiring him to undergo a mental examination and thereby could have developed evidence to rebut his expert testimony on the subject. See Blaisdell v. Commonwealth, 372 Mass. 753, 364 N.E.2d 191 (1977); Mass.R.Crim.P. 14(b)(2)(B), 378 Mass. 874 (1979). He claims, however, that the Commonwealth should not have been permitted to introduce Dr. Fiore's testimony because it was based on an examination that predated the defendant's notice under Mass.R.Crim.P. 14(b)(2)(A). He also claims that portions of Dr. Fiore's trial testimony violated G.L. c. 233, § 23B, and that the judge erroneously restricted the defendant's cross-examination of Dr. Fiore by ruling that there should be no reference at trial to a dismissed charge.⁵ None of these arguments has merit.

a. Admission of Dr. Fiore's testimony. The Commonwealth was entitled to rely on and introduce Dr. Fiore's opinion in rebuttal even though it was based on the postarraignment court-ordered psychological examination that she performed, rather than a new examination ordered pursuant to rule 14(b)(2)(B). There is nothing in our rules or in Blaisdell v. Commonwealth supra, requiring that the Commonwealth use expert testimony derived from an examination performed subsequent to the defendant's notice under rule 14(b)(2)(A).⁶ Indeed, in a case like this one where a court-ordered examination for criminal responsibility already has taken place, another examination may well be unnecessary and a poor use of limited resources.⁷

Contrary to the defendant's position, the sequence of examinations did not result in any improper or unfair argument by the prosecutor. Both sides appropriately attempted to use the timing and order of...