Commonwealth v. Alden

• Decision Date: 21 June 2018
• Docket Number: No. 16–P–309,16–P–309
• Citation: 105 N.E.3d 282,93 Mass.App.Ct. 438
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. Matthew G. ALDEN, Jr.
• Court: Appeals Court of Massachusetts

93 Mass.App.Ct. 438

105 N.E.3d 282

COMMONWEALTH

v.Matthew G. ALDEN, Jr.

No. 16–P–309

Appeals Court of Massachusetts, Middlesex..

Argued March 8, 2018

Decided June 21, 2018

Luke Rosseel, Boston, for the defendant.

Erin D. Knight, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.

Present: Green, C.J., Kinder, & Henry, JJ.

KINDER, J.

Following a jury trial in the District Court, the defendant, Matthew G. Alden, Jr., was convicted of intimidating a witness by sending her threatening text messages in violation of G. L. c. 268, § 13B. On appeal, the defendant claims (1) evidence regarding the text messages was improperly admitted, (2) the judge incorrectly instructed the jury regarding the Commonwealth's burden of proof, and (3) the evidence was not sufficient to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. We affirm.

Background. We summarize the facts the jury could have found, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth. See Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 676–677, 393 N.E.2d 370 (1979). The victim in the case, E.B., was the defendant's former girl friend. At the time of trial, she had known the defendant for at least five years. In January, 2015, there was a criminal case pending against the defendant, in which E.B. was a potential witness. On January 19, 2015, E.B. reported to the police that she was receiving threatening text messages from someone she believed to be the defendant. The messages were received from the telephone number E.B. had used to communicate with the defendant by text messages and telephone calls every few days for over one year.

The messages threatened that, if E.B. "went to court[, she would] be sorry[,] and that [the defendant] would have people come after [her] if [she] went to court." More specifically, "[o]ne of [the messages] told [E.B.] to keep her hoe ass mouth shut.

[Another] implied that she should kill herself and she should do it tonight." An additional text message stated that E.B. should "leave their personal stuff out of the courtroom and that if she opened her mouth it'd be the worst thing she tried to do—... or the biggest mistake she ever made." E.B. believed the text messages referred to her role as a witness in the criminal case then pending against the defendant.

The defendant testified that at the time the threatening messages were received by E.B., he and his new girl friend had been living with his aunt for "[a] couple of months." The defendant and his mother testified that the cellular telephone (cell phone) associated with the number from which the threatening messages were received was not owned by the defendant. According to the defendant, his aunt had purchased the cell phone, but it was shared with the defendant and at least six other people who lived at his aunt's residence.¹ The cell phone was not password protected and remained at the aunt's house for use by its residents. The defendant denied sending the threatening text messages to E.B. He testified that, at the time the text messages were sent, he was at the mall and did not have the cell phone with him. Finally, the defendant testified that his new girl friend did not like E.B.

Discussion. 1. Evidentiary issues. a. Authentication of text messages. "[B]efore admitting an electronic communication in evidence, a judge must determine whether sufficient evidence exists ‘for a reasonable jury to find by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant authored’ the communication." Commonwealth v. Oppenheim, 86 Mass. App. Ct. 359, 366, 16 N.E.3d 502 (2014), quoting from Commonwealth v. Purdy, 459 Mass. 442, 447, 945 N.E.2d 372 (2011). "[I]rrespective of whether the communication is introduced through testimony or a physical item of evidence," proponents seeking to introduce such electronic communications into evidence must first establish authenticity. Commonwealth v. Connolly, 91 Mass. App. Ct. 580, 587, 78 N.E.3d 116 (2017).

Here, the defendant filed a motion in limine to preclude evidence of the text messages because they were not "properly authenticated"—that is, because the evidence was not sufficient to authenticate them as having been authored by him. The judge deferred ruling until trial, but ultimately concluded that the Commonwealth had established by a preponderance of the evidence that the text messages were authentic. We discern no error in that decision.

"A judge making a determination concerning the authenticity of a communication sought to be introduced in evidence may look to ‘confirming circumstances’ that would allow a reasonable jury to conclude that this evidence is what its proponent claims it to be." Purdy, supra at 448–449, 945 N.E.2d 372, citing Commonwealth v. Hartford, 346 Mass. 482, 488, 194 N.E.2d 401 (1963). Here, there was evidence that, for over one year, E.B. had contacted the defendant multiple times each week using the telephone number from which the threatening messages originated. When she called that number, the defendant answered. When she sent a text message to that number to arrange a meeting with the defendant, he appeared. From this pattern of conduct, the judge could reasonably infer a direct connection between the defendant and the telephone number from which the threatening messages were sent. See Commonwealth v. Amaral, 78 Mass. App. Ct. 671, 672, 941 N.E.2d 1143 (2011) ("Fatal to the defendant were the actions he took in conformity with the information contained in [the messages]").

The content of the text messages reinforced their link to the defendant. It is undisputed that at the time she received the text messages, E.B. was a witness in a pending case against the defendant. In this context, where there was evidence that the text messages directed her to "keep her hoe ass mouth shut" and "leave their personal stuff out of the courtroom" or "people [would] come after [her] if [she] went to court," it was reasonable to infer that the defendant was responsible for sending the messages.

The defendant's reliance on Commonwealth v. Williams, 456 Mass. 857, 926 N.E.2d 1162 (2010), and Commonwealth v. Salyer, 84 Mass. App. Ct. 346, 996 N.E.2d 488 (2013), is misplaced. In those cases, electronic communications sent on the social networking Web site MySpace were not properly authenticated. In Salyer, the Commonwealth failed to introduce admissible evidence establishing any connection between the offending pages and message on MySpace and the defendant. Salyer, supra at 355–356, 996 N.E.2d 488. In Williams, where the messages were alleged to have been sent by the defendant's brother, the Supreme Judicial Court emphasized that there was no evidence regarding any limitation on access to a MySpace account, and no circumstances beyond the messages' content that linked them to the defendant's brother. Williams, supra at 868–869, 926 N.E.2d 1162. The Supreme Judicial Court explained that "[a]nalogizing a My[S]pace Web page to a telephone call, a witness's testimony that he or she has received an incoming call from a person claiming to be ‘A,’ without more, is insufficient evidence to admit the call as a conversation with ‘A.’ " Id. at 869, 926 N.E.2d 1162. Here, by contrast, there was more. In addition to the content of the text messages, E.B.'s prior relationship with the defendant and her use of the telephone number to communicate with him over a significant period of time provided the necessary link. Simply put, these confirming circumstances sufficiently connected the defendant to the threats. See Purdy, 459 Mass. at 450–451, 945 N.E.2d 372.

b. Best evidence rule. The defendant claims that the best evidence rule precluded testimony regarding the content of the text messages. Because the defendant never raised this argument at trial, we review any error for a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice. See Commonwealth v. Leary, 92 Mass. App. Ct. 332, 336, 85 N.E.3d 989 (2017). "The best evidence rule provides that, where the contents of a document are to be proved, the party must either produce the original or show a sufficient excuse for its nonproduction." Commonwealth v. Ocasio, 434 Mass. 1, 6, 746 N.E.2d 469 (2001). There is an exception, however, regarding statements of parties. "The proponent may prove the content of a written statement of the party against whom the evidence is offered without producing or accounting for the original." Mass. G. Evid. § 1007 (2018). Here, once the judge made a preliminary determination that the evidence was sufficient to authenticate that the text messages were sent by the defendant, this exception applied. Accordingly, the best evidence rule did not. There was no error, much less a substantial risk that justice miscarried.

c. Cross-examination of the defendant. At the close of cross-examination of the defendant, the prosecutor posed to the defendant a series of ten questions, each asking whether the defendant had sent a particular text message. Each question incorporated the exact language of the text message.² In each instance, the defendant denied sending the text message. On appeal, the defendant claims that this line of cross-examination improperly relied on facts not in evidence. We are not persuaded.

Generally, "[a] prosecutor may not conduct cross-examination ‘in bad faith or without foundation.’ " Commonwealth v. Christian, 430 Mass. 552, 561, 722 N.E.2d 416 (2000), quoting from Commonwealth v. White, 367 Mass. 280, 285, 325 N.E.2d 575 (1975). Here, although some of the questions included text messages not previously described by E.B., the Commonwealth had a "reasonable belief that the facts implied by the questions could be established by admissible evidence." Commonwealth v. Peck, 86 Mass. App. Ct. 34, 39, 12 N.E.3d 1020 (2014). The jury had already heard the general nature of the threatening text messages through the testimony of E.B. and a police witness. Moreover, "screen shot[s]" of the text messages had been preserved and made available to the defendant. Although the screen...