Commonwealth v. CLERK OF THE BOSTON DIVISION OF THE JUVENILE COURT …

• Decision Date: 11 September 2000
• Citation: 738 NE 2d 1124,432 Mass. 693
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. CLERK OF THE BOSTON DIVISION OF THE JUVENILE COURT DEPARTMENT.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

432 Mass. 693

738 NE 2d 1124

COMMONWEALTH v. CLERK OF THE BOSTON DIVISION OF THE JUVENILE COURT DEPARTMENT.¹

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

September 11, 2000.

November 28, 2000.

Present: MARSHALL, C.J., ABRAMS, GREANEY, IRELAND, SPINA, COWIN, & SOSMAN, JJ.

Christopher Pohl, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. Conrad John Bletzer, Jr., for the juvenile.

The following submitted briefs for amici curiae:

Merita A. Hopkins & Alicia S. McDonnell for Boston Police Department.

Barbara J. Dougan for Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association.

Gary M. Bishop for Boston Municipal Court Department.

Carl Valvo & Angela G. Lehman for Association of Magistrates and Assistant Clerks of the Trial Court.

Jennifer L. Levi for Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders.

John J. Conte, Paul F. Walsh, Jr., Kevin Michael Burke, William M. Bennett, & Michael J. Sullivan, District Attorneys, & Katherine E. McMahon, Assistant District Attorney, for District Attorney for the Bristol District & others.

Alexander G. Gray, Jr., for Administrative Office of the Trial Court & others.

ABRAMS, J.

Pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3, the Commonwealth appeals from a single justice's denial of its request for an order requiring the first assistant clerk-magistrate (magistrate) of the Boston Juvenile Court to either grant or deny its request for criminal process to issue against a juvenile under G. L. c. 218, § 35A. The magistrate had declined to grant or deny the request but had held the application "open" in contemplation of dismissal. The magistrate also had ordered the juvenile to comply with certain conditions during the time period that the application was kept pending. On appeal the Commonwealth asserts that the magistrate erred in failing either to grant or deny its application for criminal complaints. The Commonwealth argues that the magistrate lacks authority to simply hold its application open conditionally. We agree. We vacate the judgment of the single justice denying the Commonwealth's request for relief.²

We set forth the facts. On April 17, 1998, Greg Margolin, his son, and two other young men were walking to a temple in the Brighton section of Boston for services. They were dressed in formal attire for services, including yarmulkes (skull caps). An automobile with four white males slowly drove by Margolin and the young men. The driver shouted obscenities at Margolin and his companions. The men in the car also made obscene gestures toward Margolin and his companions. Another male in the automobile tossed a lit cigarette at two of the young men. The automobile drove on, abruptly turned around, and again approached Margolin and the young men. The driver pulled the automobile into the lane next to the sidewalk and again shouted obscenities. When Margolin looked toward the automobile, the driver shouted, "What are you looking at?" When Margolin did not respond, the driver exclaimed, "I'm talking to you!" The automobile then drove away.

Margolin and the young men immediately walked to a nearby Boston police station and reported this incident. Margolin recited the registration number of the automobile. A police investigation followed. That investigation included an interview with the juvenile. The juvenile admitted that he and his companions "said something" to Margolin and the young men. Thereafter, Detective John Maloof of the Boston police department sought, on behalf of the victims, four counts of "violation of civil rights," G. L. c. 265, § 37 (a misdemeanor). At the show cause hearing conducted by the magistrate of the Boston Juvenile Court (BJC), the juvenile admitted he was the driver of the automobile.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the magistrate informed the parties that he would neither grant nor deny the application for issuance of process against the juvenile. Instead, he indicated that the application would remain "open" until December 31, 1999. The magistrate informed the juvenile that any further incidents would result in the issuance of process. In the interim, the magistrate ordered the juvenile to (i) write letters of apology to Margolin and each of the young men, to be conveyed through Detective Maloof, (ii) stay away from Margolin and the young men, (iii) successfully complete a diversity awareness program, and (iv) furnish the names of the other passengers in the vehicle at the time of the incident. The magistrate also "ordered" the police department to provide him with status reports on the juvenile's compliance with these conditions.³

After learning of the magistrate's decision, Margolin told Detective Maloof that he wished to appeal, but the magistrate replied that, because the application remained "open," there was no avenue of appeal available. Subsequently, Detective Maloof and Sergeant Detective Robert Albano, accompanied by an assistant district attorney, appeared before the magistrate, seeking reconsideration of his earlier decision, and a "final determination." They requested the magistrate either to grant or deny the request for the issuance of process. If the magistrate did not do so, the assistant district attorney said that his office would seek leave to appeal. The magistrate affirmed his previous decision, but agreed to consult with his supervisor, the magistrate of the BJC on the matter. After doing so, the supervising magistrate reportedly spoke with a judge in the Suffolk County Juvenile Court, who agreed that a new hearing could be arranged.

No hearing was held, however, and no further action was taken by the magistrate with respect to the application. The district attorney's office filed a petition with a single justice seeking relief pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3. The single justice denied the petition. The Commonwealth appeals. We vacate the denial.

1. Relief pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3. The juvenile asserts that the Commonwealth improperly invoked G. L. c. 211, § 3. We do not agree. The Commonwealth did not have an adequate appellate remedy and relief pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3, was appropriate.

The Commonwealth acknowledges that a magistrate has the power, pursuant to G. L. c. 218, § 35A,⁴ to grant or deny the issuance of process with respect to criminal complaints, including those sought against this juvenile. The Commonwealth asserts the magistrate lacked authority to keep its application for criminal process "open."

Our power of "general superintendence of all courts of inferior jurisdiction to correct and prevent errors and abuses therein if no other remedy is expressly provided" is "extraordinary" and will only be exercised in "the most exceptional circumstances" (emphasis added). McGuinness v. Commonwealth, 420 Mass. 495, 497 (1995), quoting Planned Parenthood League of Mass., Inc. v. Operation Rescue, 406 Mass. 701, 706 (1990). Further, a party seeking review under G. L. c. 211, § 3, must demonstrate both a substantial claim that a violation of the party's substantive rights occurred below, and that this error cannot be corrected through the ordinary appellate process. Planned Parenthood League of Mass., Inc. v. Operation Rescue, supra,

quoting Dunbrack v. Commonwealth, 398 Mass. 502, 504 (1986).

The juvenile accepts the contention that G. L. c. 218, §§ 35 and 35A, do not provide a right of appeal to an unsuccessful applicant. Relying on our decision in Bradford v. Knights, 427 Mass. 748, 751 (1998), the juvenile argues that the Commonwealth has failed to show that any error it has been subjected to cannot be remedied under the ordinary appellate review process. We do not agree. There is no support for the juvenile's argument that the Commonwealth has a "right" under standard 3:21 of the District Court Standards of Judicial Practice: The Complaint Procedures (1975) (District Court complaint standards) to petition a judge of the BJC for a review of the magistrate's decision to hold this matter open. Standard 3:21 does not apply to the BJC.⁵ We have, however, said that the judges of the BJC have inherent authority to rehear denials of applications for criminal complaints by magistrates of that court. Bradford v. Knights, supra at 748. Here, the Commonwealth sought a reconsideration of the magistrate's decision to defer action on its application. After reconsideration by the magistrate, which still did not result in either the granting or denial of its application, the Commonwealth had no express appellate remedy. Therefore, relief pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3, was properly sought.⁶

The juvenile asserts that any disposition of a complaint by a magistrate was a "decision" that could then be appealed under Bradford. But there is nothing in Bradford that would equate a denial of a criminal complaint by a clerk with holding such a complaint "open." The magistrate himself told the adult victim and the police that his ruling was not appealable. We reject the juvenile's argument that the magistrates of the BJC may exercise potentially unbridled discretion by holding complaints "open," without any avenue of appeal for the Commonwealth.⁷

We add that the Commonwealth may well be the only party that has standing to challenge the magistrate's actions in the case before us. "[T]he right[] to pursue criminal prosecution `[is] not private but [is] in fact lodged in the Commonwealth as it may proceed to enforce its laws.'" Bradford v. Knights, supra at 751, quoting Whitley v. Commonwealth, 369 Mass. 961, 962 (1975). In the absence of any other appellate remedy, we conclude that the complaint for relief pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3, is properly before us.⁸

2. Inherent judicial powers. We turn now to the juvenile's argument that the magistrate possesses inherent judicial powers that allow for dispositions such as the one being challenged here. "The Juvenile Courts, like all the courts of the Commonwealth, except the Supreme Judicial Court, are creatures of the Legislature and derive their powers, other...