Commonwealth v. Carroll

• Decision Date: 31 May 2018
• Docket Number: 17–P–385
• Citation: 103 N.E.3d 1241 (Table),93 Mass.App.Ct. 1113
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. Ronald L. CARROLL, Jr.
• Court: Appeals Court of Massachusetts

93 Mass.App.Ct. 1113
103 N.E.3d 1241 (Table)

COMMONWEALTH
v.
Ronald L. CARROLL, Jr.

17–P–385

Appeals Court of Massachusetts.

Entered: May 31, 2018

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 1:28

A jury convicted the defendant, Ronald L. Carroll, Jr., of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol (OUI), G. L. c. 90, § 24(1)(a )(1).² In this consolidated appeal from the jury's verdict and the order denying the defendant's motion for a new trial, the defendant contends that trial counsel's performance was constitutionally infirm. We affirm both the judgment and the order denying his motion for a new trial.

Discussion. 1. Motion for a new trial. a. Request for hearing. When the motion raises a substantial issue, the "better practice" is for a judge to hold an evidentiary hearing. Commonwealth v. Drayton, 473 Mass. 23, 31 (2015). The judge need not hold an evidentiary hearing if no substantial issue is raised by the motion affidavits. See Commonwealth v. Goodreau, 442 Mass. 341, 348–349 (2004). The decision to hold a hearing rests within the sound discretion of the trial judge. See Commonwealth v. Almonte, 84 Mass. App. Ct. 735, 738 (2014).

Here, the defendant raises several challenges to counsel's performance which, he claims, deprived him of effective assistance of counsel. He asserts that (1) counsel's cross-examination of the Commonwealth witness elicited the only evidence on an essential element, i.e., a public way, (2) counsel failed to move to exclude evidence of his difficulty in answering questions at his booking, and (3) counsel failed to elicit evidence of the officer's mistaken belief that the defendant stored alcohol in an open container. None of these claims required the judge to take additional testimony; therefore, the judge did not abuse his discretion in deciding the defendant's claims without an evidentiary hearing. We turn now to the substance of the defendant's claims.

b. Standard of review. "[A] motion for a new trial is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial judge," Commonwealth v. Smith, 381 Mass. 141, 142 (1980), and the judge abuses that discretion when he or she makes " ‘a clear error of judgment in weighing’ the factors relevant to the decision ... such that the decision falls outside the range of reasonable alternatives." L.L. v. Commonwealth, 470 Mass. 169, 185 n.27 (2014), quoting from Picciotto v. Continental Cas. Co., 512 F.3d 9, 15 (1st Cir. 2008).

c. Ineffective assistance of counsel. "To prevail on a motion for a new trial claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show that there has been a ‘serious incompetency, inefficiency, or inattention of counsel—behavior of counsel falling measurably below that which might be expected from an ordinary fallible lawyer,’ and that counsel's poor performance ‘likely deprived the defendant of an otherwise available, substantial ground of defence.’ " Commonwealth v. Millien, 474 Mass. 417, 429–430 (2016), quoting from Commonwealth v. Saferian, 366 Mass. 89, 96 (1974). Under this standard, counsel's performance was not subpar.

Contrary to the defendant's assertion, this is not a situation in which "but for defense counsel's question[ing], there was no evidence supporting one element of the crime," i.e., public way. Commonwealth v. Congdon, 68 Mass. App. Ct. 782, 784 (2007). Rather, the jury...