Commonwealth v. Louis
| Decision Date | 06 November 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 17-P-966,17-P-966 |
| Citation | 113 N.E.3d 893 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH v. Emmanuel LOUIS. |
| Court | Appeals Court of Massachusetts |
Alexandra H. Deal, Boston, for the defendant.
Jamie M. Charles, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.
Present: Blake, Sacks, & Ditkoff, JJ.
The defendant, Emmanuel Louis, appeals from his convictions following a jury-waived trial of armed assault with the intent to murder, G. L. c. 265, § 18 (b ) ; armed assault in a dwelling, G. L. c. 265, § 18A ; aggravated assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, G. L. c. 265, § 15A (c ) (i) ; and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon on a person sixty years or older, G. L. c. 265, § 15A (a ). We conclude that the evidence that the defendant swung his arm while holding a knife, knowing that the primary victim's mother was in close proximity, was sufficient to establish a reckless assault and battery on the mother. Further concluding that the trial judge could have rationally found that the defendant was armed at the time he entered the primary victim's house, we affirm.
1. Background. The defendant's wife was living in the victim's home in Waltham, and the victim had forbidden the defendant to come to the house. The defendant told his wife that he believed that the victim was "trying to destroy his relationship."
One morning, the defendant's wife and the victim saw the defendant outside the victim's house, in front of a sliding glass door. The defendant's hand was raised above his head in a fist, and he was apparently grasping an object. The defendant entered through the sliding glass door, tripped and fell to the floor, stood up, and then began stabbing the victim. Although the victim could not see what the defendant was holding, she testified that he used the object that was in his hand to stab her.
While the defendant was stabbing the victim, the victim's eighty-two year old mother attempted to intervene by grabbing the defendant's shoulder. In response, the defendant stepped away from the victim and swung his arm. The victim's mother suffered a deep cut to the palm of her hand
. The defendant said, "Hey, Grandma, stay away," and fled. Both the victim and her mother required medical care and were brought to the hospital. The victim suffered thirty-one stab wounds and was hospitalized for ten days. The victim's mother required stitches to her hand.
After being arrested, the defendant "continuously mumbled about what did you expect me to do, she was trying to break up my family." The defendant later left a recorded message with his family in which he stated that he "just made an example out of" the victim, and that he "did it because [the victim] must never think that she could do that again."
2. Standard of review. "When reviewing the denial of a motion for a required finding of not guilty, ‘we consider the evidence introduced at trial in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, and determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.’ " Commonwealth v. Faherty, 93 Mass. App. Ct. 129, 133, 99 N.E.3d 821 (2018), quoting Commonwealth v. Oberle, 476 Mass. 539, 547, 69 N.E.3d 993 (2017). "The inferences that support a conviction ‘need only be reasonable and possible; [they] need not be necessary or inescapable.’ " Commonwealth v. Waller, 90 Mass. App. Ct. 295, 303, 58 N.E.3d 1070 (2016), quoting Commonwealth v. Woods, 466 Mass. 707, 713, 1 N.E.3d 762, cert. denied, 573 U.S. 937, 134 S.Ct. 2855, 189 L.Ed.2d 818 (2014).
3. Assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon on a person age sixty or older. "There are two theories of liability for assault and battery ... : ‘intentional battery and reckless battery.’ " Commonwealth v. Hamilton, 87 Mass. App. Ct. 274, 276, 28 N.E.3d 500 (2015), quoting Commonwealth v. Porro, 458 Mass. 526, 529, 939 N.E.2d 1157 (2010). Under the recklessness theory, "the Commonwealth must prove (1) that the defendant's ‘conduct involve[d] a high degree of likelihood that substantial harm will result to another,’ or that it ‘constitute[d] ... a disregard of probable harmful consequences to another,’ and (2) that, as a result of that conduct, the victim suffered some physical injury" (citations omitted). Hamilton, supra, quoting Commonwealth v. Welch, 16 Mass. App. Ct. 271, 275, 450 N.E.2d 1100 (1983). It is not necessary that the defendant intended to touch the victim, but "the act, itself, must be intentional, and its character wanton and reckless." Commonwealth v. Mistretta, 84 Mass. App. Ct. 906, 907, 995 N.E.2d 814 (2013). The injury "need not have been permanent, but it must have been more than transient and trifling." Hamilton, supra, quoting Commonwealth v. Burno, 396 Mass. 622, 627, 487 N.E.2d 1366 (1986). See Burno, supra ().
Here, sufficient evidence existed for the trial judge to find that both elements of a reckless battery on the victim's mother were proved. While the defendant was stabbing the victim, the victim's mother came up behind him and grabbed his shoulder. Despite knowing there was a person touching his shoulder, the defendant swung his arms, while still gripping the knife, creating a high degree of likelihood that substantial harm would be inflicted on anyone in close proximity. See Hamilton, 87 Mass. App. Ct. at 277, 28 N.E.3d 500, quoting Commonwealth v. Perry, 34 Mass. App. Ct. 127, 130, 607 N.E.2d 434 (1993) (). Cf. Commonwealth v. Pease, 49 Mass. App. Ct. 539, 542, 731 N.E.2d 92 (2000) (). The defendant's conduct involved a high degree of likelihood of substantial harm to the victim's mother.
The Commonwealth also presented sufficient evidence that the victim's mother's injury was more than transient and trifling. The victim's mother suffered a deep cut on the palm of her hand
. As a result of her wound, the victim's mother was taken to the hospital and required stitches. The trial judge could reasonably conclude that being stabbed in the hand with enough force to draw blood and require stitches "interfered with the health or comfort" of the victim's mother. Hamilton, 87 Mass. App. Ct. at 276, 28 N.E.3d 500, quoting Burno, 396 Mass. at 627, 487 N.E.2d 1366. The victim's mother's injury, therefore, was neither transient nor trifling. Contrast Burno, supra at 623, 627, 487 N.E.2d 1366 ().
We reject the defendant's theory that the evidence was insufficient to show that the defendant's knife was the cause of the mother's injuries. Although the victim's mother did not actually see the knife while she was being cut, she did see the defendant stabbing her daughter with the knife. She then was cut when the defendant, who was still attacking her daughter, swung his hand while she was in contact with him. The trial judge could reasonably infer that the knife remained in the defendant's hand and caused the victim's mother's injury. See Waller, 90 Mass. App. Ct. at 303, 58 N.E.3d 1070.
The case of Commonwealth v. Correia, 50 Mass. App. Ct. 455, 737 N.E.2d 1264 (2000), is instructive. There, the defendant, a prisoner, "was ‘completely out of control’ " and "was kicking his feet and flailing his arms." Id. at 458, 737 N.E.2d 1264. He kicked one of the correctional officers in the chest and stomach, sending the officer into a metal railing, and requiring hospital treatment for a sore back and a concussion. Id. We found that this was reckless conduct, despite the absence of "[p]roof of an intent to strike the officer." Id. Similarly here, the defendant's swinging his arm with a knife when he knew another person was in close proximity was enough to establish a reckless battery.1
4. Armed assault in a dwelling. To sustain a conviction under G. L. c. 265, § 18A, the Commonwealth was required to prove that (1) the defendant "entered a dwelling that was not his own while armed with a dangerous weapon"; (2) he "assaulted another inside the dwelling"; and (3) "the assault was committed with the intent to commit a felony." Commonwealth v. Negron, 462 Mass. 102, 109, 967 N.E.2d 99 (2012). The defendant contests only the first element -- whether the defendant ...
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