Commonwealth v. Lastowski, SJC–12280

• Citation: 478 Mass. 572,88 N.E.3d 263
• Decision Date: 04 January 2018
• Docket Number: SJC–12280
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. Aaron A. LASTOWSKI.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

478 Mass. 572

88 N.E.3d 263

COMMONWEALTH

v.Aaron A. LASTOWSKI.

SJC–12280

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Franklin..

Argued October 3, 2017

Decided January 4, 2018

Edward Gauthier, Greenfield, for the defendant.

Cynthia M. Von Flatern, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.

Present (Sitting at Greenfield): Gants, C.J., Gaziano, Lowy, Budd, Cypher, & Kafker, JJ.

KAFKER, J.

In 2014, the defendant pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person age fourteen or older. One year later, the defendant moved to withdraw his guilty pleas, contending that plea counsel was constitutionally ineffective because plea counsel failed to advise him of the duty to register as a sex offender, and its consequences, or explain that he might have sought a continuance without a finding. A judge in the District Court, who had also been the plea judge, denied the defendant's motion, finding the defendant's affidavit and assertions not credible.

The defendant appealed from the denial of his motion, and we granted his motion for direct appellate review. We conclude that the motion judge correctly determined that the defendant did not satisfy the prejudice requirement of the Saferian test. See Commonwealth v. Saferian, 366 Mass. 89, 315 N.E.2d 878 (1974). We therefore affirm the decision of the judge in denying the defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty pleas.

1. Background. We summarize the following facts from findings made by the judge and other undisputed record materials, reserving certain details for discussion of the legal issues.

a. Plea hearing. On May 7, 2014, the defendant, Aaron Lastowski, tendered guilty pleas on three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person age fourteen or older in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 13H. As part of his pleas, the defendant was required to submit a tender of plea or admission and waiver of rights form. The plea judge first had the defendant acknowledge that the form had the defendant's signature and that the signature manifested his having read and understood the paragraphs regarding his waiver of rights.

After this acknowledgment, the prosecutor presented the factual basis for the charges. According to the prosecutor, if the Commonwealth took this case to trial, it would have been able to prove the following facts.

On May 7, 2013, the first victim reported to the Montague police department that she had been sexually assaulted at the Hillcrest Homes apartment complex in the Turners Falls area of Montague. The next day, Detective William Doyle of the Montague police department spoke with her. She stated that the defendant had approached her with an alcoholic drink in his hand and had squeezed her breast while stating, "I really like to squeeze titties when I'm drinking." She was bruised from the assault and allowed the apartment complex's property manager to take a photograph of the injury.¹

On May 9, 2013, Detective Doyle spoke with a second victim, who also lived at the apartment complex. She told the detective that, a few months prior, she had been standing at the rear door of her apartment and had asked the defendant to move. The defendant had responded by deliberately rubbing his elbow on her breast. When she confronted the defendant about this, he said, "Oh, you know you like it." In addition, the second victim reported that the defendant had told her that he gets "touchy-feely" when he drinks.

Finally, Detective Doyle spoke with a third victim, who lived in an apartment complex near where the defendant lived. She stated that, on six or seven occasions, the defendant had knocked on her door asking for a cigarette. She reported that he would reach out and grab her breast, and that on one occasion he had grabbed her groin area.

After conducting a plea colloquy explaining the defendant's trial rights, the judge found that there was a factual basis for the admissions and that they were made knowingly, willingly, and voluntarily with knowledge of the consequences. The judge accepted the defendant's tender of plea. The judge, however, did not inform the defendant of the possible consequences of registration as a sex offender.

After considering the Commonwealth and the defendant's recommendations, the judge adopted the defendant's recommendations.² The defendant was placed on probation for one year and was required to complete sex offender and mental health evaluations with follow-up counselling and treatment as recommended. The defendant was also ordered to abstain from alcohol, to submit to testing, and to remain fifty yards away from and have no contact with any of the three victims.

b. Motion hearing. On May 14, 2015, the defendant, represented by new counsel, filed a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas, contending that plea counsel had been ineffective and that his pleas had not been made willingly, freely, and voluntarily with full knowledge of the consequences. After hearing arguments, the motion judge, who, as stated, had also been the plea judge, denied the defendant's motion on the basis of the affidavits and pleadings without an evidentiary hearing. The judge did not credit the defendant's contention that he would not have pleaded guilty had he known he might have had to register as a sex offender. Likewise, the judge did not find credible the defendant's assertion that he had pleaded guilty in error because he had not known he could request a continuance without a finding.

The judge based his findings on several factors: (1) the strength of the evidence; (2) the defendant's past criminal record; and (3) the timing of the request to withdraw the guilty pleas. First, the judge explained that there were three separate victims who were willing to cooperate with the prosecutor and, consequently, the defendant faced a very real possibility of incarceration if convicted at trial. If sentenced consecutively, the defendant could have faced over six years in a house of correction. Additionally, the judge found that the "defendant-capped plea" had been favorable because it would have allowed the defendant to withdraw his pleas and proceed to trial if the disposition imposed had exceeded the terms of the defendant's request.

Second, the judge reviewed the defendant's record and noted that the defendant had had four different charges continued without a finding, including one for assault and battery. Further, the defendant had a conviction on his record. Consequently, the judge found it "extremely unlikely" that the instant case would have been continued without a finding.

Third, the judge found the timing of the defendant's request to be suspect. The request came one year after he had been placed on probation and just twelve days before he faced a second violation of probation hearing, thus suggesting that the probation violation was the real reason for the motion to withdraw the guilty pleas, not the failure to inform him of registration requirements.

2. Standard of review. "A motion to withdraw a guilty plea is treated as a motion for a new trial pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 30 (b) [, as appearing in 435 Mass. 1501 (2001) ]." Commonwealth v. Sylvester, 476 Mass. 1, 5, 62 N.E.3d 502 (2016), quoting Commonwealth v. Lavrinenko, 473 Mass. 42, 47, 38 N.E.3d 278 (2015). "We review the denial of a motion to withdraw a guilty plea to determine whether there has been a significant error of law or other abuse of discretion" (quotation omitted). Sylvester, supra."A judge may make the ruling based solely on the affidavits and must hold an evidentiary hearing only if the affidavits or the motion itself raises a ‘substantial issue’ that is supported by a ‘substantial evidentiary showing.’ " Id., quoting Commonwealth v. Scott, 467 Mass. 336, 344, 5 N.E.3d 530 (2014). "Particular deference is to be paid to the rulings of a motion judge who served as the [plea] judge in the same case." Sylvester, supra at 6, 62 N.E.3d 502, quoting Scott, supra.

3. Discussion. To prevail on a motion to withdraw a guilty plea claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show that (1) the "behavior of counsel [fell] measurably below that which might be expected from an ordinary fallible lawyer," and (2) counsel's poor performance "likely deprived the defendant of an otherwise available, substantial ground of defence." Commonwealth v. Millien, 474 Mass. 417, 429–430, 50 N.E.3d 808 (2016), quoting Saferian, 366 Mass. at 96, 315 N.E.2d 878. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).³ Here, the requirement of prejudice in the second prong of the Saferian standard resolves the issue.⁴

As the motion judge found, the defendant had no substantial ground of defense and rejecting the advantageous pleas here would not have been rational. Commonwealth v. Clarke, 460 Mass. 30, 46, 47, 949 N.E.2d 892 (2011). Most importantly, no one was in a better position than the motion judge, who was also the plea judge, to know that another continuance without a finding was "extremely unlikely."

The defendant contends that he had an available, substantial ground of defense that the three victims were conspiring to evict him and his fiancée from their apartment. He also asserts that had he known he could request a continuance without a finding or that a guilty plea could trigger sex offender registration, he would not have pleaded guilty but instead would have opted for a trial. The judge found, and we agree, that the prejudice requirement had not been satisfied.

"In the context of a guilty plea, in order to satisfy the ‘prejudice’ requirement, the defendant has the burden of establishing that ‘there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial.’ " Clarke, 460 Mass. at 47, 949 N.E.2d 892, quoting Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 59, 106 S.Ct. 366, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (1985). See Commonwealth v. Roberts, 472 Mass. 355, 365, 34 N.E.3d 716 (2015). Additionally, the defendant mu...