Commonwealth v. CLERK-MAGISTRATE OF THE WEST ROXBURY DIV. OF THE …
| Decision Date | 08 May 2003 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH v. CLERK-MAGISTRATE OF THE WEST ROXBURY DIVISION OF THE DISTRICT COURT DEPARTMENT. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Present: MARSHALL, C.J., GREANEY, IRELAND, SPINA, SOSMAN, & CORDY, JJ.
John P. Zanini, Assistant District Attorney (Joseph M. Ditkoff, Assistant District Attorney, with him) for the Commonwealth.
Dean A. Mazzone, Assistant Attorney General, for the defendant.
The following submitted briefs for amici curiae:
Thomas C. Carrigan, pro se.
Timothy J. Cruz, District Attorney, & Robert C. Thompson, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.
Donald S. Bronstein, Committee for Public Counsel Services, for Committee for Public Counsel Services.
At issue in this case is whether a clerk-magistrate of a District Court has the authority to conduct a show cause hearing prior to acting on an application for the issuance of process with respect to a felony complaint where the person charged in the complaint is not under arrest. The single justice, ruling on a petition filed by the Commonwealth pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3, concluded that a clerk-magistrate has no such authority. The clerk-magistrate of the West Roxbury Division of the District Court Department (District Court), represented by the office of the Attorney General, appealed from the order of the single justice. We now affirm.1
The parties have agreed on the following facts. On December 6, 2001, Luis Santos was arrested and charged in the District Court with larceny over $250, in violation of G. L. c. 266, § 30. The Commonwealth subsequently filed an application for the issuance of a complaint charging Santos with the felony of breaking and entering in the nighttime with the intent to commit a felony, in violation of G. L. c. 266, § 16. The two complaints arose from the same events. The clerk-magistrate did not act on the felony application but, instead, scheduled a show cause hearing. The Commonwealth sought review of the clerkmagistrate's decision by a judge in the District Court. The judge refused to order the clerk's office to issue or deny the complaint and refused to issue the complaint herself. The judge opined that the clerk-magistrate had discretion to hold a show cause hearing.
On February 4, 2002, a police detective filed an application in the District Court for the issuance of a complaint charging Illyion Samuels with assault and battery on a child under fourteen years of age, in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 13J. The clerk-magistrate refused to act on the application and scheduled a show cause hearing, advising the detective that the child would have to appear at the hearing. There is no indication in the record that there was any review by a judge in this matter.
The Commonwealth then filed a petition pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3, in the county court, requesting that the single justice "vacate the scheduling of probable cause hearings by the Clerk-Magistrate of the West Roxbury District Court and issue a supervisory order directing the Clerk-Magistrate to desist from scheduling such probable cause hearings where a felony complaint is requested." After the single justice determined that it was appropriate for her to exercise her discretionary power under G. L. c. 211, § 3,2 she concluded that there is no statutory authority for a clerk-magistrate to conduct a show cause hearing on an application for the issuance of a felony complaint. Therefore, the single justice allowed the Commonwealth's petition for relief and vacated the clerk-magistrate's orders scheduling the show cause hearings for Santos and Samuels. She further ordered that the complaints issue and that the clerk-magistrate of the District Court "desist from scheduling such hearings in the future."
Our review of a decision by the single justice is limited. "[O]rders entered by a single justice under G. L. c. 211, § 3, are not to be disturbed, absent abuse of discretion or clear error of law." Palaza v. Superior Court, 393 Mass. 1001, 1002 (1984). See Schipani v. Commonwealth, 382 Mass. 685, 685 (1980). Here, we discern no abuse of discretion or clear error of law in the single justice's allowance of the Commonwealth's petition for relief.
The position of clerk-magistrate is one created by statute. See G. L. c. 218, § 8; G. L. c. 221, § 62B. See also Pineo v. Executive Council, 412 Mass. 31, 33 (1992). As such, the clerkmagistrate's authority is defined and limited by statute. See G. L. c. 218, §§ 33, 35A. It is undisputed, as acknowledged by the clerk-magistrate, that a potential defendant, who has not been arrested, is not explicitly entitled to a show cause hearing prior to the issuance of process with respect to a felony complaint. The statutory authority for show cause hearings is set forth in G. L. c. 218, § 35A, which provides that, "[i]f a complaint for a misdemeanor is received by a district court ... or by a clerk ... thereof under section thirty-two, thirty-three or thirty-five, as the case may be, the person against whom such complaint is made, shall, if not under arrest for the offence for which the complaint is made, upon request in writing, seasonably made, be given an opportunity to be heard personally or by counsel in opposition to the issuance of any process based on such complaint."3 At the time this statutory provision was first enacted in 1943, the language was more broad in the sense that it did not specify the type of complaint that would give rise to a show cause hearing. It merely provided that "[i]f a complaint is received by a ... clerk," the person against whom the complaint was made could request a show cause hearing. St. 1943, c. 349, § 1. However, in 1945, this broad statutory language was modified to specify that "[i]f a complaint for a misdemeanor is received by a ... clerk," then the person against whom the complaint is made may request a show cause hearing (emphasis added). St. 1945, c. 293.
It is a standard canon of statutory construction that "the primary source of insight into the intent of the Legislature is the language of the statute." International Fid. Ins. Co. v. Wilson, 387 Mass. 841, 853 (1983). A court may not add words to a statute that the Legislature did not put there. See General Elec. Co. v. Department of Envtl. Protection, 429 Mass. 798, 803 (1999), and cases cited. "[S]tatutory language should be given effect consistent with its plain meaning and in light of the aim of the Legislature unless to do so would achieve an illogical result." Sullivan v. Brookline, 435 Mass. 353, 360 (2001). See O'Brien v. Massachusetts Bay Transp. Auth., 405 Mass. 439, 443-444 (1989). Where, as here, the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, it is conclusive as to the intent of the Legislature. See Pyle v. School Comm. of S. Hadley, 423 Mass. 283, 285 (1996).
The plain and unambiguous language of G. L. c. 218, § 35A, viewed in the context of the 1945 version of the statute, reveals a legislative intent to limit the types of complaints with respect to which a clerk-magistrate may order a show cause hearing to those involving misdemeanors. See generally Commonwealth v. Smallwood, 379 Mass. 878, 884-885 (1980) (); Commonwealth v. O'Brien, 35 Mass. App. Ct. 827, 829 n.2 (1994) (); Commonwealth v. Cote, 15 Mass. App. Ct. 229, 235-236 (1983) (). "The implicit purpose of the § 35A hearings is to enable the court clerk to screen a variety of minor criminal or potentially criminal matters out of the criminal justice system through a combination of counseling, discussion, or threat of prosecution...." Id., quoting Snyder, Crime and Community Mediation — The Boston Experience: A Preliminary Report on the Dorchester Urban Court Program, 1978 Wis. L. Rev. 737, 746. See Gordon v. Fay, 382 Mass. 64, 69-70 (1980). In other words, a show cause hearing pursuant to G. L. c. 218, § 35A, will often be used by a clerk-magistrate in an effort to bring about an informal settlement of grievances, typically relating to minor matters involving "the frictions and altercations of daily life." Bradford v. Knights, 427 Mass. 748, 751 (1998).
While recognizing that there is no explicit statutory authorization for a show cause hearing prior to the issuance of process on a felony complaint, the clerk-magistrate contends that he has the discretion to hold such a hearing where a defendant is charged with a felony and is not under arrest. In support of his position, the clerk-magistrate relies on Standard 3:10 of the District Court Standards of Judicial Practice: The Complaint Procedure (1975) (Standards of Judicial Practice), which provides, in pertinent part, that (Emphasis added.)4
The Standards of Judicial Practice are administrative regulations promulgated by the Chief Justice of the District Court that, although treated as statements of desirable practice, are not mandatory in application like statutes and rules.5 See Commonwealth v. Ray, 435 Mass. 249, 255 & n.14 (2001). The Standards of Judicial Practice, as a whole, constitute a "field guide or practice manual" for clerk-magistrates and "are not intended to create a new form of criminal disposition that can be utilized beyond the boundaries of existing rules and statutes." Commonwealth v. Norrell, 423 Mass. 725, 729 (1996). See Commonwealth v. Clerk of the Boston Div. of the...
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