Commonwealth v. Conaghan

• Decision Date: 07 September 2000
• Citation: 740 NE 2d 956,433 Mass. 105
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. DEBORAH CONAGHAN.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

433 Mass. 105

740 NE 2d 956

COMMONWEALTH v. DEBORAH CONAGHAN.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Worcester.

September 7, 2000.

December 22, 2000.

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

Dana Alan Curhan for the defendant.

Anne S. Kennedy, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.

ABRAMS, J.

We granted the defendant's application for further appellate review, see Commonwealth v. Conaghan, 48 Mass. App. Ct. 304 (1999), to determine, among other issues,¹ whether Conaghan's motion for a competency examination or examinations pursuant to G. L. c. 123, § 15 (a),² was erroneously denied. Conaghan filed her motion four and one-half years after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of her minor son.

1. The standard. A postsentence motion to withdraw a plea is treated as a motion for a new trial. See Commonwealth v. Russin, 420 Mass. 309, 318 (1995), quoting Mass. R. Crim. P. 30 (b), 378 Mass. 900 (1979). A "plea is valid only when the defendant offers it voluntarily, with sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances, Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 748-749 (1970), and with the advice of competent counsel. Id. at 758." Commonwealth v. Fernandes, 390 Mass. 714, 715-716 (1984). "[A] guilty plea is void if it is involuntary and unintelligent for any reason." Huot v. Commonwealth, 363 Mass. 91, 96 (1973).

We conclude that Conaghan's motions cannot be decided without examination or examinations by an expert in the field of battered woman syndrome. We therefore vacate the order denying her an examination or examinations pursuant to G. L. c. 123, § 15 (a), on the issue of competence to assist her counsel and to enter a voluntary plea of guilty. Dusky v. United States, 562 U.S. 402 (1960). We remand this matter to the Superior Court which should order an examination or examinations pursuant to G. L. c. 123, § 15 (a), by an expert in battered woman syndrome, and for such further proceedings as are needed in light of the expert's opinion.

2. Conaghan's plea hearing. At the plea hearing, the assistant district attorney read Conaghan's statement to the police concerning the events surrounding her son's death. Conaghan told the police that no one else was in the house when she pushed her son and that she previously had pushed him in the same manner four or five other times. Additionally, she stated that these punishments had begun in September, 1991,³ and that there was no one else present when they took place. Conaghan also stated twice in response to the judge's questions that she was pleading guilty out of her own free will. The trial judge⁴ specifically asked her whether anybody had threatened her or made promises in order to get her to plead guilty and she replied, "No."

(a) Materials in support of motion to withdraw guilty plea and for new trial. In support of her motion to withdraw the guilty plea and for a new trial, Conaghan filed supplementary materials regarding Paul Haynes's violent conduct with other women and children; an affidavit narrating her own history of physical and psychological abuse, and some of her psychiatric and medical records since her incarceration. The judge concluded that there was nothing in Conaghan's affidavit creating a substantial issue that would require a psychiatric examination or examinations and an evidentiary hearing.

(b) Conaghan's affidavit. In 1991, Conaghan met Paul Haynes. Shortly after beginning a relationship with Haynes, he moved in with her. Because Haynes was unemployed, Conaghan used her earnings and child support payments to pay his rent and bills. Haynes told Conaghan that he worked for an individual named "Tony" who was affiliated with the mafia. Haynes would often threaten Conaghan with Tony if she did not obey him or if she displeased him in any way. While she was living with Haynes, she learned that Haynes also owned a gun. Haynes ordered Conaghan to punish her son physically in order to cure his behavioral problems and illnesses. Haynes also physically punished Conaghan's son. At Haynes's direction, Conaghan assisted him. According to Conaghan, prior to Haynes's moving in she had only punished her son through nonphysical means.

Conaghan stated in her affidavit that Haynes instructed her to lie to the authorities about her son's death. Haynes told her to "cover for him" because, if charged, he would receive life imprisonment given his prior criminal record. Haynes also instructed Conaghan to kill herself. When she refused, Haynes instructed her to turn herself in to the authorities; Conaghan did so. In addition, Haynes continued to instruct her on what to tell her lawyer and the authorities. According to Conaghan, Haynes also told her to plead guilty in order to avoid further investigation which might result in his being charged.

(c) Conaghan's psychiatric records. Conaghan submitted some of her mental treatment records since her incarceration. She has received extensive therapy for severe bipolar disorder. These records also make references to her "past tendencies to be lorded over by abusive males." Conaghan has not been evaluated for battered woman syndrome while at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Framingham, because diagnosis of and treatment for battered woman syndrome is beyond the mandate of the prison's medical services department.

(d) Evidence at Paul Haynes's trial. One year and eleven months after Conaghan's plea, Haynes was convicted by a jury of forcible rape of a child, indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen years of age, assault and battery, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon in connection with his abuse of James and Joyce Sanford.⁵ The partial transcript of that trial submitted by Conaghan in support of her motion to withdraw her guilty plea and for a new trial reveals the violent and abusive personality of Paul Haynes.

Haynes moved in with Rebekah Sanford. He brought Conaghan with him and told Sanford that Conaghan was his sister. The testimony reveals that the Sanford children, especially James, were continually "disciplined" by Haynes. The testimony revealed the Sanfords' fear of Haynes and fear of being killed. Conaghan's affidavit expressed the same fear.

Conaghan testified at Haynes's trial. She said Haynes would beat the Sanford children and afterward show her the bruises to humiliate the children. According to Conaghan, Haynes was particularly violent toward James.

Haynes also would talk to Conaghan about Tony who was involved in the mafia and was "very mean and ... when he wanted something, he got it and didn't care how he got it." Conaghan also said that Haynes had a gun in his briefcase and that he would carry his briefcase with him "all the time." After Conaghan and Haynes separated in May, 1992, they continued to exchange letters until sometime in October, 1992,⁶ after Conaghan's plea to manslaughter. At Haynes's trial, Conaghan stated that she "still loved him in a sense because of what we shared but that he was now in her past."

(e) Investigative reports from the district attorney's office. The district attorney's office interviewed friends of Rebekah and various other women involved with Haynes prior to his trial. These reports reveal Paul Haynes as a violent and abusive person, especially toward women and children.

3. Delay. The Commonwealth asserts that Conaghan's delay makes her claim not credible. The Commonwealth also asserts that Conaghan is not credible because she did not come forward until after Haynes's trial.⁷ Where, as here, the claim is that Conaghan was not competent rationally to assist her counsel in her defense or to meet the constitutional requirement that a plea must be voluntary with "sufficient present ability to consult with [her] lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding and whether [she] has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against [her]," Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402 (1960); Commonwealth v. Robbins, 431 Mass. 442, 445 (2000), expert testimony is required. See Commonwealth v. Crawford, 429 Mass. 60, 64-65 (1999).

Evidence of battered woman syndrome is "material to the issue whether [Conaghan] could assist her counsel in preparing a defense that served her best interests." McMaugh v. State, 612 A.2d 725, 732 (R.I. 1992). A common characteristic of battered women is a learned helplessness which manifests itself in the inability to perceive herself as abused and to communicate the abuse to others. Commonwealth v. Pike, 431 Mass. 212, 222 (2000). Evidence of battered woman syndrome may be considered newly discovered evidence warranting a new trial because usually there is delay in coming forward with information on the abuse, even if there were some knowledge of the abuse at trial. Id. See United States v. Brown, 891 F. Supp. 1501, 1509-1510 (D. Kan. 1995) (granting new trial because there was no way trial counsel would have discovered defendant suffered from battered woman syndrome because victims usually do not come forward with information on abuse); McMaugh v. State, supra (noting that it was not until after defendant began serving her sentence that she was able to reveal she was victim of extreme abuse and domination). Therefore, the fact that Conaghan was not able to come forward with claims of abuse at the hands of Haynes until 1997 does not render her allegations less credible, if she suffered from battered woman syndrome.

4. Conclusion. Conaghan's motion raises a serious question as to her mental competency to assist her attorney in establishing a defense and to plead guilty voluntarily. On this record, Conaghan is entitled to an examination or examinations by an expert in battered woman syndrome under G. L. c. 123, § 15 (a), as to her competency to assist counsel in her defense and to enter a voluntary plea due to battered woman syndrome. G. L. c. 123, § 15 (a), provides that "[w]henever a court of...