Commonwealth v. Gaboriault
| Decision Date | 04 April 2001 |
| Docket Number | CR9673CR290AB |
| Citation | 2001 MBAR 324 |
| Parties | Commonwealth v. Brian J. Gaboriault |
| Court | Massachusetts Superior Court |
Judge (with first initial, no space for Sullivan, Dorsey, and Walsh): Brassard, J.
On December 4, 1997, a jury found the defendant Brian Gaboriault guilty on two counts of first degree murder for the deaths of his girlfriend, Jennifer Pike, and their eight-week old son Brian Gaboriault, Jr. Gaboriault now moves for a new trial pursuant to Mass.R.Crim.P. 30(b) on the ground that he was denied effective assistance of counsel due to counsel's failure to present expert testimony concerning the effects of sleep deprivation on his mental state, counsel's failure to elicit testimony from neuropsychological expert Chet Lesniak opining that the defendant was not criminally responsible for his actions, counsel's withdrawal of a criminal responsibility defense, counsel's failure to present the defendant in an unmedicated state during the trial, and counsel's failure to impeach prosecution witness Shawn Moniz. For the reasons discussed below, the defendant's motion is DENIED.
On August 22, 1996, a Bristol County Jury indicted the defendant Brian Gaboriault on two counts of murder in the first degree in violation of G.L.c. 265, §1. Attorney Gerald FitzGerald (FitzGerald) was appointed to represent Gaboriault. FitzGerald immediately filed a notice of intent to rely upon a lack of criminal responsibility pursuant to Mass.R.Crim.P 14(b)(2) and applied for and received funds for psychological testing and expert witnesses.
Prior to trial, Attorney FitzGerald filed a motion to suppress statements made by the defendant in a videotaped interview with police conducted on July 9, 1996, approximately eight hours after the killings. This Court held hearings on the motion to suppress on November 3 and 4, 1997. Fairhaven Police Detective Glenn Souza (Souza) and State Police Trooper Ronald Blais (Blais) testified that after arresting Gaboriault and arriving at the police station, Souza asked him if he was tired, to which Gaboriault responded that he had lain down on the grass and fallen asleep in the cemetery until he awoke to see a police officer approaching him. Souza read Gaboriault his rights and Gaboriault signed a Miranda waiver form, after which Souza and Blais interviewed him for one hour. Gaboriault told Souza that he was "screwed up in the head," "was losing it" and needed help, and that for four days he had "been in another world." Gaboriault further told Souza that the day before the killings, at Jennifer Pike's request, he went to a crisis center, where they said they could not help him, and then went to a psychologist, Dr. Smoula, and was given an appointment for the following morning. Gaboriault stated that after the killings, he had climbed to the roof of a building to throw himself off of the radio tower but could not do it. When Souza asked Gaboriault if he had done any drugs, Gaboriault stated that although he had done all kinds of drugs in the past, he had been clean for a year and was not under the influence of any drugs at that time.
Yvonne Gaboriault, the defendant's mother, testified that in the days leading up to the killings on July 8, Gaboriault was "acting really crazy", "flipping out," like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." She testified that for several weeks before the killings, Gaboriault had uncontrollable crying episodes during which he would bang his head against the tiles in the bathroom, that he and Pike were constantly fighting, crying and screaming, and that he was under intense financial pressure due to mounting bills and the family's imminent eviction.
Dr Chet Lesniak, a clinical neuropsychologist, testified that on February 15 and March 15, 1997, over the course of over approximately ten hours, he administered a series of tests to Gaboriault to evaluate his neuropsychological functioning. Dr. Lesniak opined that Gaboriault suffered from an organic brain syndrome causing major impairments in his intellectual functioning, reasoning, judgment and control. Dr. Lesniak testified that Gaboriault's IQ was 78, on the border between low average and mentally retarded, and that he had the expressive language skills of an eleven year old. In addition, Dr. Lesniak testified that Gaboriault showed suicidal tendencies and opined that he suffered from dysthymic disorder, meaning long term depression. Dr. Lesniak testified that Gaboriault had a personality disorder in which when under situational stress, his thinking and emotions are disorganized. Dr. Lesniak further testified that Gaboriault suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as the result of severe physical abuse by his father. Dr. Lesniak testified that at the time of the killings, Gaboriault was under severe stress due to his family relationships, his financial problems and his working repeated overtime shifts at work without breaks, and that this stress exacerbated the disorganization and difficulty coping caused by his organic brain disorder, depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Fairhaven Police Detective Omer Blanchette (Blanchette) testified that following the interview, he booked Gaboriault, asking him a series of questions listed on a suicide evaluation form. In response to the question, "Are you sad?" Gaboriault responded, "Like you would not believe." In response to the question, "Are you tired?" Gaboriault responded, "I have not slept in four days." In response to the question, "Are you confused?" Gaboriault responded, "Big time." In response to the question, "Do you hear voices?" Gaboriault responded, In response to the question, "Have you tried to commit suicide?" Gaboriault responded, "I have tried to kill myself plenty of times." Blanchette testified that according to the results of the evaluation, Gaboriault was at risk for suicide. Following all of this testimony, this Court denied the motion to suppress, concluding that the defendant's waiver of his Miranda rights and statements to police were voluntary, knowing and intelligent.
Gaboriault was tried before a jury from November 13, 1997 to December 4, 1997. In his opening statement, on November 18, 1997, defense counsel Attorney FitzGerald stated:
this case... is no way about whether or not Brian Gaboriault killed the two persons he most loved in the world. He most certainly did... This case is about whether or not the Commonwealth proves to you beyond any reasonable doubt that within the meaning of the law as the judge will give it to you at the close of this case, that those acts were the acts of a criminally responsible, euphemistically a sane man. You have to decide whether or not someone, as Mr. Moses has just told you, who stabbed an eight-week old child, his son, to death in this manner because he didn't like the clothes that his girlfriend wore, whether that person is sane or not within the meaning of the law, or whether he has the capacity, the ability to fully premeditate the acts. That's what this trial's about.
Later in the opening statement, Attorney FitzGerald stated:
the question of criminal responsibility, that is whether someone as a result of a mental disease or defect is unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his act, or being able to appreciate right from wrong, is unable to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. Or if you find that not to be the case, another issue is whether or not the defendant is fully capable, if he has the full substantial capacity to premeditate within the meaning of that term as his Honor will describe it and instruct it to you.
The first witness was State Police Trooper Joseph Condon (Condon) from Crime Scene Services, who testified that at 10: 30 p.m. on July 8, 1996, he was called to the Gaboriault residence at 26 Middle Street in Fairhaven. Condon then walked the jury through a videotape of the crime scene which he filmed that evening. The next witness was Dale Linden, a signal processing analyst with the FBI, who testified as to audio enhancements made to a videotape received on August 5, 1996 from State Police Trooper Ronald Blais.
The next witness was Fairhaven Police Sergeant David Sobral (Sobral), who testified that at approximately 10: 00 p.m. on July 8, 1996, he responded to a dispatch call of a disturbance at 26 Middle Street. When he arrived, he saw Yvonne Gaboriault laying on the ground in front of 24 Middle Street, crying and screaming that someone had been stabbed in the house. When Sobral asked what had happened, Mrs. Gaboriault stated, Sobral then described entering 26 Middle Street and discovering eight-week old Brian Gaboriault, Jr. in his crib, still alive, with a large steak knife protruding from his chest, and discovering Jennifer Pike dead from multiple stab and slash wounds. Fairhaven Police Detective Michael Botelho (Botelho) then testified that after arriving at the scene shortly after Sergeant Sobral, he asked Yvonne Gaboriault who had done this and she responded, "My son, Brian Gaboriault." Botelho also testified as to the efforts the police officers made to save the life of Brian Gaboriault, Jr.
The next witness was Police Officer and Emergency Medical Technician Phillip Lacerda, who testified that he assisted the other officers on the scene in attempting to save the baby's life. The jury further heard testimony from Police Officer David Wordell, who testified to the numerous stab and slash wounds he observed on Jennifer Pike, and his observation of a pair of green gym shorts and a bloody footprint on the floor near her body, and a...
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