Com. v. Mathews

• Citation: 450 Mass. 858,882 N.E.2d 833
• Decision Date: 21 March 2008
• Docket Number: No. SJC-09716,SJC-09716
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. Louis H. MATHEWS.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

882 N.E.2d 833

450 Mass. 858

COMMONWEALTH v. Louis H. MATHEWS.

No. SJC-09716

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Barnstable.

Argued December 6, 2007.

Decided March 21, 2008.

Stewart T. Graham, Jr., for the defendant.

Thomas G. Shack, III, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.

Present: MARSHALL, C.J., IRELAND, SPINA, CORDY, & BOTSFORD, JJ.

CORDY, J.

Shortly after midnight on June 23, 2004, Louis Mathews and Scott Turner left a bar in Mashpee and began walking the short distance to a house where Turner had been staying. Later that morning, Turner's badly battered body was discovered on the lawn of a house located in the same neighborhood. Mathews was charged with Turner's murder and, following a five-day jury trial, was convicted of murder in the first degree by reason of extreme atrocity or cruelty. He now appeals that conviction, as well as the denial of his motion for a new trial.

On appeal, he asserts that the Commonwealth's introduction of the inconclusive results of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing at trial created a substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice. He also contends that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to object to the introduction of the inconclusive DNA evidence; to move to dismiss the indictment based on alleged misconduct by the Commonwealth in its grand jury presentation and to move to suppress a statement made by Mathews purportedly given before he had been advised of his Miranda rights. After considering Mathews's arguments and undertaking a complete review of the trial record pursuant to G.L. c. 278, § 33E, we affirm the conviction and the order denying the motion for a new trial.

1. Trial. We summarize the evidence presented at the trial. In June, 2004, Turner was living with his sister, Linda, at 181 Ninigret Avenue in Mashpee. On June 22, Linda decided to host a cookout for a few friends. Among those invited was Mathews, Linda's former boy friend. Mathews had known Turner for only a short time, but the two had become close. It was Turner who called Mathews to invite him to the cookout that day.

Mathews arrived between 10 A.M. and noon, and those at the small gathering began to drink vodka and beer. They continued to do so for the remainder of the day.¹ In the early evening, Linda roasted a chicken in the kitchen and the party continued. By 9:30 P.M., the crowd had dwindled. Only Linda, her live-in boy friend Wayne Dougherty, Mathews, and Turner remained. Around that time Mathews and Turner left on foot for Dino's Restaurant and Sports Bar (Dino's), a local establishment, while Linda and Dougherty headed to bed. Mathews was wearing a pair of red shorts when he left the house.

On their way to Dino's, Mathews and Turner stopped at a market to purchase two packs of cigarettes and a small bottle of sambuca liqueur. After arriving at Dino's, they sat at the bar for the remainder of the evening. Mathews introduced Turner to the bartender as his friend. Each ordered shots of bourbon and beer, leaving the bar only once to go outside for a cigarette. While there, both Mathews and Turner kept to themselves and seemed to be having a good time.

The bartender observed the two leaving Dino's just past midnight to begin the short walk back to 181 Ninigret Avenue. Both had consumed a great deal of alcohol.² At some point during this walk, they became involved in a heated discussion. Several witnesses reported seeing a small African-American man (matching Mathews's appearance), and a taller Caucasian man with a ponytail (matching Turner's appearance) arguing along Ninigret Avenue around 1 A.M.³

When Mathews arrived back at 181 Ninigret Avenue, he was agitated and excited. He opened the door to the room where Linda and Dougherty were sleeping three times. Each time he yelled to Linda and then slammed the door shut. He shouted, alternatively: "I need your help"; "I'm going to ... kill your brother"; and "He's trying to leave me." Linda, thinking this exchange was little more than liquor-induced bluster, replied that her brother was a "grown man" who could go wherever he wanted, and went back to sleep.

Turner's body was found at approximately 6:40 A.M. on June 23, by a neighbor on an area of lawn at 152 Ninigret Avenue, approximately 700 feet from Linda's house. A police officer responding to the scene noticed that Turner had suffered severe facial and head trauma. His hands were outstretched over his head, his black jeans were pulled down, his pockets were turned out, and his boots were tied together, apparently to facilitate the dragging of the body. Bloodstains located by investigators indicated that he had been dragged from an area closer to 181 Ninigret Avenue. The blood spatter evidence found in the area suggested that the victim was struck with a club-like instrument numerous times, including when he was lying on the ground.

A thirty-inch long branch, between one and one and one-half inches in diameter and weighing approximately one and one-half pounds, was eventually found in the woods near 181 Ninigret Avenue. The branch had bloodstains and dried hairs on it. DNA testing revealed that the blood on the branch matched the victim's blood, leading the police to conclude that it was the murder weapon. An autopsy revealed that the victim suffered multiple fractures of the jaw, nose, temporal bone, and lower skull. These injuries were caused, at least in part, by ten or more blows to the head with the branch. The cause of death was blunt trauma to the head and face, resulting in brain bruising, hemorrhaging, and swelling.

Linda awoke around 4 A.M. on the morning of June 23, to use the bathroom. As she walked through her living room, she encountered Mathews sitting on a white ottoman. She asked him where her brother was, and Mathews told her that "he must have got lucky; he left with two Jamaicans and some girl." Shortly thereafter, Linda returned to bed. She awoke again around 6 A.M., and found Mathews sitting in a recliner in the living room. He got up and started pacing back and forth, muttering, "Got to go, got to go." Linda's boss, Michael Mayne, arrived at approximately 7 A.M. to drive her to work, and Mathews asked for a ride across town to Mashpee Village. Mayne agreed, and Mathews and Linda got into his red pickup truck. Both Linda and Mayne noted that Mathews's face had dried blood on it, which appeared to have dripped from a recently opened scab on the bridge of his nose.

After Mayne pulled out of the driveway of 181 Ninigret Avenue, he proceeded down the road toward 152 Ninigret Avenue. Police cruisers were present, and the area had all of the obvious markings of a crime scene. As they drove by, Mathews took a quick look at the scene, and then shielded his face. His behavior caught the attention of an investigating officer, who noted the registration number of the vehicle.

Mayne drove Mathews to 28 Wampanoag Drive in Mashpee Village, the residence of Shauna Mathews, his former wife, and her housemate Shannon Price. Price saw Mathews come in early on the morning of June 23, and head to the bathroom. She noted that he was acting in an unusual fashion, and observed him leaning over the bathtub rinsing out some red clothing.⁴

Meanwhile, the police continued their investigation at the crime scene. As Dougherty left 181 Ninigret Avenue and headed for work, he too noticed the ongoing investigation. He walked up the street, spoke with the investigating officers, and identified the victim as Turner. At the time, Dougherty was wearing a white T-shirt that had two small red spots on it. The police asked if they could have the shirt for testing, and Dougherty complied with their request.⁵

Later on that same morning, Mathews was taken into custody on an unrelated charge. At the Mashpee police station, he was met by Trooper Richard Cosgrove of the Massachusetts State police and Detective Robert R. Waterfield of the Mashpee police department. Mathews was given Miranda warnings, which he waived, and agreed to speak to the officers. Mathews told them that he and the victim left Dino's separately, and that he arrived back at 181 Ninigret Avenue about 11:30 P.M., where he fell asleep watching television. According to Mathews, he later awoke when Turner returned to the house and asked him for money. Mathews refused to give Turner any money, at which time Turner became angry and "shoved" him in the back. After this, Mathews admitted yelling into Linda's room about wanting to "kill [Linda's] brother," but claimed that Turner then left as a passenger in an automobile, perhaps with a "girl from Dino's." Mathews made no mention of any "Jamaicans."⁶

The Commonwealth also presented testimony from a crime scene investigator employed by the State police crime laboratory (crime lab). His testimony focused on the results of multiple orthotolidine tests, which are screening tests to determine whether blood is present in or on a given substance.⁷ The results indicated that blood was present in a series of significant locales. The white ottoman where Linda found Mathews at 4 A.M. on the morning of June 23 tested positive for the presence of blood, as did the blue recliner where he was sitting two hours later. The passenger seat of Mayne's pickup truck, where Mathews sat that morning, tested positive for the presence of blood, as did the corresponding floor area in the truck. The bathtub, shower curtain, and the bathroom carpet in front of the bathtub at 28 Wampanoag Drive all tested positive for the presence of blood, as did the red shorts that Mathews had worn the previous night and early that morning. Swabs obtained from Mathews's hands also revealed the presence of blood.

Defense counsel responded to this testimony by questioning the significance of orthotolidine testing, and the sufficiency of the investigation into the blood evidence. He elicited testimony that the test only confirmed that blood was present, not whose blood or even...