Com. v. Purinton, 91-P-713

• Decision Date: 03 September 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-P-713,91-P-713
• Citation: 593 N.E.2d 1307,32 Mass.App.Ct. 640
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. Richard A. PURINTON.
• Court: Appeals Court of Massachusetts

Page 1307

593 N.E.2d 1307

32 Mass.App.Ct. 640

COMMONWEALTH v. Richard A. PURINTON.

No. 91-P-713.

Appeals Court of Massachusetts,

Middlesex.

Argued April 7, 1992.

Decided June 9, 1992.

Further Appellate Review Denied Sept. 3, 1992.

Conrad W. Fisher, Worcester, for defendant.

David R. Marks, Asst. Dist. Atty. (Catherine E. Sullivan, Asst. Dist. Atty., with him), for Com.

Before BROWN, JACOBS and GILLERMAN, JJ.

GILLERMAN, Justice.

A jury found the defendant guilty of the charge of rape of a child, see G.L. c. 265, § 22A. Later, released on parole and with the assistance of new counsel, the defendant claimed, in a motion for a new trial, Mass.R.Crim.P. 30(b), 378 Mass. 900 (1979), and in a motion to set aside the verdict and enter a required finding of not guilty, Mass.R.Crim.P. 25(b)(2), 378 Mass. 896 (1979), that his trial counsel failed inexcusably "to effectively litigate" his claim that prosecution for the crime with which he had been charged was barred by the statute of limitations, G.L. c. 277, § 63. In consequence, the defendant claims he was denied his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel. The judge who tried the case denied the motions, and the defendant appealed his conviction and the denial of his motions. We affirm the judgment and the order denying the posttrial motions. ¹

The issue concerning the statute of limitations arose in this context. The offense of rape of a child, like many others, is governed by the statute of limitations set out in G.L. c. 277, § 63. Effective September 30, 1985, St.1985, c. 123, extended the period of limitations from six years to ten years. Commonwealth v. Bargeron, 402 Mass. 589, 524 N.E.2d 829 (1988), held that the ten-year limitations period applied to offenses that were not time-barred when the amendment became effective. ² This meant that the Commonwealth was required to prove that the defendant's crimes were committed no earlier than six years prior to September 30, 1985, or September 30, 1979. ³ See Commonwealth v. Cogswell, 31 Mass.App.Ct. 691, 694, 583 N.E.2d 266 (1991). The only clear evidence of his having committed the crime with which he was charged, says the defendant, was of those events which took place prior to September 30, 1979.

The defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, adequately presented by his motion for a new trial, Commonwealth v. Saferian, 366 Mass. 89, 90-91, 315 N.E.2d 878 (1974), turns on whether trial counsel's management of the case fell "measurably below that which might be expected from an ordinary fallible lawyer," id., at 96, 315 N.E.2d 878, and, if so, whether the defendant has made a showing that "better work might have accomplished something material for the defense." Commonwealth v. Satterfield, 373 Mass. 109, 115, 364 N.E.2d 1260 (1977). Commonwealth v. Wright, 411 Mass. 678, 681, 584 N.E.2d 621 (1992). Both tests are satisfied in this case, the defendant argues, because his trial counsel failed to file (i) a pretrial motion to dismiss the indictment, (ii) a motion for a required finding of not guilty at the close of the Commonwealth's case, and (iii) a request for special questions or a request that the judge instruct the jury that the burden was on the Commonwealth to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the offense charged occurred after September 30, 1979. Any one of these actions by his trial counsel would have been successful, the defendant claims, but his counsel did nothing to press the statute of limitations argument. Additional arguments by the defendant are that the judge failed to instruct the jury, sua sponte, on the limitations issue, and that trial counsel failed to object to certain remarks of the prosecutor.

1. The failure of counsel to file a pretrial motion to dismiss the indictment. There is no merit to this argument. The indictment was not defective on its face, and, as the judge concluded, had a hearing been held, see Mass.R.Crim.P. 13(d), 378 Mass. 873 (1979), there would, no doubt, have been testimony--as there was at the trial--that at least one act of rape was within the period of limitations.

2. The failure of counsel to file a motion for a required finding of not guilty. Had a motion under Mass.R.Crim.P. 25, 378 Mass. 896 (1979), been filed by defendant's counsel, the judge would have applied the familiar test whether, after viewing the evidence at the close of the Commonwealth's case in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 676-677, 393 N.E.2d 370 (1979). The trial judge, in denying the motion for a required finding of not guilty, concluded that the jury could have found from the evidence that at least one incident of forcible rape occurred within the period of limitations. We agree.

The evidence at the close of the Commonwealth's case, seen in a light most favorable to the Commonwealth, was substantially as follows. Ann (fictitious name) was born July 17, 1971. In 1977, Ann and her family moved next door to the residence occupied by the defendant with his wife and children. Ann became friendly with Jennifer, the daughter of the defendant. Ann and Jennifer remained close friends for five or six years; the two young girls played together and Ann often "slept over" at Jennifer's house on a Friday or Saturday night. On those nights the defendant would be at home, but not Jennifer's mother, who worked both nights.

When Ann spent the night at Jennifer's house, she slept in a sleeping bag on the floor next to Jennifer's bed. On one occasion in the summer before Ann entered the third grade, the defendant, about an hour or two after saying good night to the two girls, returned to their room, unzipped Ann's sleeping bag, held her arm down and inserted his finger in Ann's vagina. On several occasions after she entered the third grade, Ann managed to evade the defendant's attempts to repeat the penetration. ⁴ On one such occasion he threatened her with physical harm. However, on three or four other occasions while Ann was in the third grade, the defendant did manage to repeat his penetration of Ann's vagina. There was also a penetration in April, 1981. ⁵ Ann was firm on the point that "a lot of it happened in 1980. I know that for sure." On this evidence, a judge would have denied a motion for a required finding of not guilty, and the defendant was not harmed by the failure to file the motion.

The Commonwealth concedes, however, that Ann entered the third grade in September, 1979, just after her eighth birthday. Thus evidence of the first rape--in the summer before Ann entered the third grade--occurred prior to September 30, 1979, the earliest permissible date within the ten-year period of limitations. It is this trial configuration--the introduction of evidence by the Commonwealth that the offense was committed both before and after September 30, 1979--that gives rise to the argument we consider next.

3. The failure of trial counsel to request instructions or special questions on the statute of limitations issue. The defendant, as we have observed, has the burden of showing that the work of trial counsel was measurably below that of an ordinarily fallible lawyer, and that better work might have accomplished something material for the defense.

The motion judge, who was the trial judge, concluded that counsel had made the tactical decision which "focused chiefly and forcefully on the credibility of the complaining witness and because that focus clearly was rational and effective, although not ultimately persuasive, any error in failing to ask the jury to focus on the statute of limitations was not so egregious that the failure on its face demonstrated ineffective assistance of counsel. Counsel reasonably could have concluded that raising the issue would divert the jury's attention from the paramount question of the credibility of the complaining witness and, in the process, actually weaken the strength of defendant's attack on her credibility by combining it with what the jury might view as a defense based on a 'technicality.' "

The judge's remarks, while perhaps directed to counsel's examination of witnesses, are equally applicable to the absence of any request for instructions on the limitations issue; that, too, could reasonably have been a choice not to divert the jury's attention from the central issue of the credibility of Ann. The judge concluded that "the absence of any evidence of what counsel was actually thinking or planning means that defendant has not carried his burden of proving that failure to request an instruction on the question of the statute of limitations amounted to 'serious incompetency'...." We cannot conclude that counsel's judgment was "manifestly unreasonable." See Commonwealth v. Adams, 374 Mass. 722, 728, 375 N.E.2d 681 (1978). See Commonwealth v. White, 409 Mass. 266, 272, 565 N.E.2d 1185 (1991) ("In cases where tactical or strategic decisions of the defendant's counsel are at issue, we conduct our review with some deference to avoid characterizing as unreasonable a defense that was merely unsuccessful").

The transcript provides no basis for disagreement with the judge. The cross-examination of Ann was skillful, well prepared, and, up to a point, effective. For example, using Ann's testimony before the grand jury, counsel succeeded in gaining her admission that "[i]t was over ten years ago and I don't remember a lot." In the end, of course, she could not be moved from her position: "Well, a lot of it happened in 1980. I know that for sure." Ann's insistence on an accusatory stance cannot be attributed to poor defense work.

Even if we were to conclude that counsel's work was seriously deficient, we would not conclude that better work would have made a material difference. This is not a case, such as Commonwealth v. Frisino, 21 Mass.App.Ct. 551, 488...