Com. v. Del Valle
| Court | Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court |
| Writing for the Court | Before WILKINS; WILKINS |
| Citation | 353 Mass. 684,234 N.E.2d 721 |
| Decision Date | 28 February 1968 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH v. Hipalito DEL VALLE (and a companion case 1 ). |
Page 721
v.
Hipalito DEL VALLE (and a companion case 1).
Decided Feb. 28, 1968.
Lazar Lowinger, Boston, for defendants.
Joseph R. Nolan, Asst. Dist. Atty., for the Commonwealth.
Before WILKINS, C.J., and SPALDING, WHITTEMORE, CUTTER and KIRK, JJ.
[353 Mass. 685] WILKINS, Chief Justice.
Upon these indictments for murder in the second degree the defendants were convicted. In Commonwealth v. Del Valle, 351 Mass. 489, 221 N.E.2d 922, the judgments were reversed and the verdicts set aside. Thereafter each defendant filed a motion to dismiss the indictments and a motion to challenge the array. The motions were denied. A judge of the Superior Court has reported to us certain questions of law which he deemed so doubtful and important as to require decision by this court. G.L. c. 278, § 30A (inserted by St.1954, c. 528).
Page 722
The motion to challenge the array of jurors is based 'on the ground that they did not represent a fair cross section of the community by reason of having been selected by methods contrary to the state and federal Constitutions and laws, in that persons of Puerto Rican origin, qualified to vote in this state, have been consistently and deliberately excluded from regular jury service.'
The motion to dismiss the indictments is based on the grounds that they were 'returned by an unconstitutionally and illegally constituted grand jury which did not fairly represented (sic) a cross section of the community. This grand jury was selected in contravention of the Massachusetts Statutes * * * (and) Constitution and the United States Constitution in that for a long period of time persons of Puerto Rican origin, qualified to serve as grand jurors were consistently and deliberately excluded from serving as such.'
The judge reported these additional facts. The voting list in Boston is prepared from the list of registered voters. Persons eligible to vote must register at City Hall, and are required, among other things, to read five lines of the Constitution of the Commonwealth in English. The jury lists are drawn from the voting list. According to the United States census in 1960 there were 1,980 Puerto Ricans in Boston. 1 Every person who wishes to register must complete a questionnaire which asks for information concerning [353 Mass. 686] his 'birthplace--city, state, and nation.' There were approximately 8,000...
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Commonwealth v. Bins, SJC–10864.
...court which is offered to prove the truth of what it asserted.” Commonwealth v. DelValle, 351 Mass. 489, 491, 221 N.E.2d 922 (1966), S.C.,353 Mass. 684, 234 N.E.2d 721 (1968). “However, declarations out of court may be admissible to prove the state of mind or intent of a person when it is a......
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Com. v. Diaz, SJC-09559
...Amendment." Id. The statements at issue were plainly hearsay. Commonwealth v. DelValle, 351 Mass. 489, 491, 221 N.E.2d 922 (1966), S.C., 353 Mass. 684, 234 N.E.2d 721 (1968). There were six references to the fact that "people" had identified the defendant as being "in the car" or "involved ......
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Commonwealth v. Amaral, SJC-12244
...and the speaker's unavailability for cross-examination. See Commonwealth v. DelValle, 351 Mass. 489, 491, 221 N.E.2d 922 (1966), S.C., 353 Mass. 684, 234 N.E.2d 721 (1968) (theory underlying exclusion of hearsay is that "the trier of fact is forced to rely upon the declarant's memory, truth......
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Commonwealth v. Alcantara, SJC–11468.
...which is offered to prove the truth of what it asserted.” Commonwealth v. DelValle, 351 Mass. 489, 491, 221 N.E.2d 922 (1966), S.C., 353 Mass. 684, 234 N.E.2d 721 (1968). However, a statement is admissible as an excited utterance, “if (1) there is an occurrence or event ‘sufficiently startl......
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Commonwealth v. Bins, SJC–10864.
...court which is offered to prove the truth of what it asserted.” Commonwealth v. DelValle, 351 Mass. 489, 491, 221 N.E.2d 922 (1966), S.C.,353 Mass. 684, 234 N.E.2d 721 (1968). “However, declarations out of court may be admissible to prove the state of mind or intent of a person when it is a......
-
Com. v. Diaz, SJC-09559
...Amendment." Id. The statements at issue were plainly hearsay. Commonwealth v. DelValle, 351 Mass. 489, 491, 221 N.E.2d 922 (1966), S.C., 353 Mass. 684, 234 N.E.2d 721 (1968). There were six references to the fact that "people" had identified the defendant as being "in the car" or "involved ......
-
Commonwealth v. Amaral, SJC-12244
...and the speaker's unavailability for cross-examination. See Commonwealth v. DelValle, 351 Mass. 489, 491, 221 N.E.2d 922 (1966), S.C., 353 Mass. 684, 234 N.E.2d 721 (1968) (theory underlying exclusion of hearsay is that "the trier of fact is forced to rely upon the declarant's memory, truth......
-
Commonwealth v. Alcantara, SJC–11468.
...which is offered to prove the truth of what it asserted.” Commonwealth v. DelValle, 351 Mass. 489, 491, 221 N.E.2d 922 (1966), S.C., 353 Mass. 684, 234 N.E.2d 721 (1968). However, a statement is admissible as an excited utterance, “if (1) there is an occurrence or event ‘sufficiently startl......