Commonwealth v. Durand ( 2016 )

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SJC-11221
COMMONWEALTH vs. ERIC J. DURAND.
Bristol. May 6, 2016. - October 7, 2016.
Present: Gants, C.J., Cordy, Duffly, Lenk, & Hines, JJ.1
Homicide. Assault and Battery. Constitutional Law,
Confrontation of witnesses, Admissions and confessions,
Voluntariness of statement, Assistance of counsel, Double
jeopardy. Evidence, Cross-examination, Admissions and
confessions, Voluntariness of statement, Hearsay, Expert
opinion. Witness, Cross-examination, Expert. Practice,
Criminal, Capital case, Confrontation of witnesses, Motion
to suppress, Admissions and confessions, Voluntariness of
statement, Assistance of counsel, Mistrial, Hearsay,
Argument by prosecutor, Conduct of prosecutor, Dismissal,
Double jeopardy, Instructions to jury.
Indictments found and returned in the Superior Court
Department on December 11, 2003.
After review by this court, 457 Mass. 574 (2010), the cases
were tried before Robert J. Kane, J.
Gary G. Pelletier (Timothy J. Bridl with him) for the
defendant.
Tara L. Blackman, Assistant District Attorney, for the
Commonwealth.
1
Justices Cordy and Duffly participated in the deliberation
on this case prior to their retirements.
2
HINES, J. The defendant was convicted by a jury in
2006 of murder in the first degree and assault and battery
with a dangerous weapon, in connection with the October,
2003, death of a four year old child. Because of errors in
the defendant's first trial, this court reversed those
convictions and remanded the case to the Superior Court for
a new trial. Commonwealth v. Durand, 457 Mass. 574, 601
(2010). On August 29, 2011, a jury again convicted the
defendant of murder in the first degree by extreme atrocity
or cruelty, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous
weapon. The judge sentenced the defendant to life in
prison without the possibility of parole on the murder
conviction to be served concurrently with a term of from
two to four years in State prison on the assault and
battery conviction.
On appeal, the defendant asserts error in (1) the
limitation of his right to cross-examine the medical examiner;
(2) the denial of his motion to suppress statements; (3) the
denial of the motion for a mistrial after the jury were exposed
to inadmissible evidence; (4) the admission of hearsay testimony
by one of the Commonwealth's expert witnesses; (5) the denial of
the motion for a mistrial related to improper statements made
during closing arguments; (6) the denial of the motion to
3
dismiss on double jeopardy grounds for prosecutorial misconduct;
and (7) the denial of a requested jury instruction. Although we
conclude that the Commonwealth's closing argument improperly
referenced inadmissible evidence, this error alone does not
require a new trial or other relief. We also have conducted a
review pursuant to G. L. c. 278, § 33E, and we discern no basis
to grant relief.
Background. We summarize the facts the jury could have
found, reserving certain details for later discussion. At
around the time of the victim's death, the defendant was the boy
friend of the victim's mother. The mother lived with her
children, the victim and his twin brother, in the basement of a
friend's home. The defendant was a frequent overnight guest.
Although the defendant had a good relationship with the victim's
twin brother (twin), his relationship with the victim was
strained. The defendant often called the victim "pissy pants"
or "piss pants" because the child "sometimes" urinated in his
pants and was not as large as his older twin. The defendant did
not like that the victim was "clingy" with his mother and
antagonized the child and called him "Mama's boy." This conduct
intimidated the victim and occasionally caused him to cry.
On October 20, 2003, the date of the victim's death, the
mother departed early in the morning for work and left the
victim and his twin with the defendant. A roommate who lived in
4
one of the basement rooms, and who often took care of the twins,
was also home. Later that morning, the victim urinated on
himself and the defendant told him to stand in the corner as
punishment. When the victim asked to use the bathroom, the
defendant refused. The defendant called the victim "piss
pants." When the victim turned around in response, the
defendant threw a toy shark at the child's face. The roommate,
who was present, later testified that the defendant threw the
toy "kind of hard," and that he "looked a little angry or mad"
as he did so.
When the defendant began to take care of the victim's wet
clothes, the victim urinated on the defendant's pants. The
defendant showed the roommate the wet spot on his pants, and
although she thought that the defendant seemed upset, he stated
that it was "no big deal" because he could just go home and get
another pair of pants. The defendant took the victim into the
upstairs bathroom to wash him while the roommate went upstairs
to the kitchen. The roommate saw the defendant walk by the
kitchen with the victim and assumed they were returning to the
basement. She came across the twin while she was upstairs and
took him back downstairs to the twins' room. She noticed that
the victim was lying on the bed, not moving, but also that he
did not look to be in any distress. She returned upstairs.
5
Thereafter, the defendant came upstairs to tell the
roommate that the victim had fallen down the stairs. The
roommate remained at the computer she was using; the defendant
returned to the basement. Soon thereafter, the defendant
returned upstairs and told her that the victim was "acting
weird." Again, she remained at the computer and the defendant
went back to the basement. Moments later, the defendant
returned a third time and said that something was "seriously
wrong." The roommate ran downstairs to the twins' bedroom and
found the victim lying in bed, not moving, with his eyes rolled
back. She telephoned the mother, who spoke to the defendant and
told him to telephone 911. He did so. During both telephone
calls, the defendant explained that the victim had fallen down
the stairs. Emergency medical technicians arrived and found the
victim "cool, cold" to the touch. They were not able to
resuscitate the victim, who was later pronounced dead at a
hospital.
That same day, detectives from the New Bedford police
department asked the defendant if he would accompany them to the
police station for an interview. The defendant agreed. His six-
hour interview was recorded with the defendant's consent.
During that interview, the defendant alternately told police
that he had carried the victim down the stairs and that the
victim had been injured by falling down the stairs. He also
6
denied throwing anything at the victim. However, he admitted to
police that while he was in the bathroom with the victim, he
noticed that the victim appeared "scared" and was shaking while
using the toilet. The detectives informed the defendant that
the victim had died and that the victim's injuries were not
consistent with a fall down the stairs. Despite aggressive
questioning, the defendant repeatedly denied any involvement in
the victim's death. After the defendant left the police
station, he telephoned the roommate and told her not to say
anything to the police about his throwing the toy shark at the
victim because "they didn't need to know."
The following day, the mother went to the defendant's home.
During the conversation, the defendant claimed that the victim
fell down the stairs. The police arrived, requested another
interview, and the defendant agreed. He went to the police
station, and this interview also was recorded. Detectives
informed him that an autopsy report showed that the cause of
death was a blow to the victim's stomach. The defendant again
denied involvement in the victim's death. The police arrested
the defendant for murder. While being transported for his
arraignment, the defendant tearfully confessed to a security
officer that he had tripped on the stairs and fallen on the
victim.
7
The medical testimony was that the victim died as a result
of blunt force trauma to the abdomen, resulting in a rupture of
the duodenum and a transection of the pancreas. The fatal
injuries were not consistent with a fall down a flight of stairs
or with a blow delivered by a child of the same age as the
victim's brother. The defendant's theory, that the victim's
injuries were caused by his twin brother during horseplay, was
supported by an expert witness who opined that the injuries
could have resulted from the twin jumping on the victim's
stomach.
Discussion. 1. Confrontation and due process. The
defendant argues that the judge's limitation of his right to
cross-examine the Commonwealth's expert, Dr. Abraham Philip,
regarding an electronic mail (e-mail) message violated his right
to confrontation as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the
United States Constitution and art. 12 of the Massachusetts
Declaration of Rights. More specifically, the defendant
contends that the e-mail message was the basis of the witness's
termination from his position with the office of the chief
medical examiner and, therefore, it was probative of the
expert's competence and bias. He claims that his right to
cross-examination on the issue was expressly protected under
Bullcoming v. New Mexico, 564 U.S. 647, 652, 662 (2011)
(confrontation clause implicated where "surrogate testimony" of
8
scientist who did not certify, perform, or observe laboratory
test precluded opportunity for defendant to cross-examine
testing scientist removed from employment for undisclosed
reasons). The judge denied the request to impeach Dr. Philip
with the e-mail message and ruled that any probative value it
might have had on the issue of the witness's bias or competence
was outweighed by its potential for misleading the jury.2 There
was no error.
We agree that under the Sixth Amendment and its cognate
provision, art. 12, a central purpose of the right of
confrontation is "to weed out not only the fraudulent analyst,
but the incompetent one as well." Melendez-Diaz v.
Massachusetts, 557 U.S. 305, 319 (2009). The "lack of proper
training or deficiency in judgment may be disclosed in cross-
examination." Id. at 320. However, "trial judges retain wide
2
The electronic mail message stated in relevant part:
"I finalized the report on [the victim], a few corrections
have to be made, which my secretary will do early this morning.
My problem is I cannot find the original charts on this case, to
check if everything else is okay. The last I heard the file was
with [an attorney], and she locked it in her office and has been
away on Thursday and Friday.
"There are some very bizarre events going on in the office
with weird accusations being leveled against me. So when you
arrange with [the attorney] to hand over the file to me, please
insist that a witness be present in the room to prevent weird
charges of having urinated on the chart or farted while working
on the chart being leveled against me by the head honcho who
runs this agency."
9
latitude . . . to impose reasonable limits on such cross-
examination based on concerns about, among other things,
harassment, prejudice, confusion of the issues . . . or
interrogation that is repetitive or only marginally relevant."
Commonwealth v. Woodbine, 461 Mass. 720, 751 (2012), quoting
Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 679 (1986). We review a
judge's imposition of such limits for abuse of discretion. See
Commonwealth v. King, 445 Mass. 217, 245 (2005), cert. denied,
546 U.S. 1216 (2006).
As a threshold matter, the defendant's reliance on
Bullcoming, which shares only a superficial resemblance to the
facts in this case, is misplaced. In Bullcoming, the United
States Supreme Court held, in a case where the analyst who had
performed the testing had been terminated from his position
prior to trial, that testimony by a "surrogate" analyst violated
the defendant's right to confrontation by preventing the inquiry
whether incompetence or dishonesty resulted in removal from his
position. Id. at 661-662. The pivotal consideration in
Bullcoming was that the analyst did not testify at the trial.
Bullcoming does not stand for the proposition, as the defendant
suggests here, that the right to confrontation extends to the
particular reason for the witness's termination from his
position as a medical examiner. Thus, Bullcoming is
distinguishable because the Court's analysis applies only where
10
the expert was not produced at trial. Here, Dr. Philip
testified at the trial and was subject to cross-examination,
except for the limitation imposed by the judge.
The judge's ruling prohibiting cross-examination concerning
the e-mail message was not an abuse of discretion. L.L. v.
Commonwealth, 470 Mass. 169, 185 n.27 (2014). First, the judge
knew about Dr. Philip's civil case against the medical
examiner's office and knew that the termination was not based on
Philip's ability to conduct or report on the medical aspects of
his job. Philip v. Cronin, 537 F.3d 26, 31-32 (1st Cir. 2008).
Second, the defendant's proffer failed to suggest any causal
relationship between Dr. Philip's termination and his
professional competency. Defense counsel outlined the disputed
e-mail message and a response to it from the former prosecutor
allegedly showing encroachment of law enforcement, the published
Philip v. Cronin opinion, and personal testimony from Dr. Philip
regarding his inability to access the physical file containing
his notes. At most, the message from the former prosecutor
showed concern regarding Dr. Philip's professionalism; there was
no concern expressed regarding Dr. Philip's capabilities.
Third, the judge ruled that defense counsel could ask Dr. Philip
whether he was hindered in his efforts to complete the autopsy
report, whether he felt pressured to finish the report within a
time frame that was contrary to his normal standards, and
11
whether any diminishment of memory may have affected the final
report. Defense counsel did not question Dr. Philip regarding
any pressures he experienced from the prosecutor or from his
superiors at the medical examiner's office.
2. Motion to suppress. The defendant argues that the
motion judge, who was also the trial judge, erred in denying his
motion to suppress statements made to the police during two
police interrogations on October 20 and 21, 2003, on the grounds
that he invoked his right to remain silent and his right to
counsel. Although the defendant could have challenged the
judge's ruling on these grounds in his first appeal, he did not
do so. See Commonwealth v. Durand, 457 Mass. 574, 590-598
(2010). He argued only that the motion judge erred in ruling
that the statements made to the police on October 20 were
voluntary. Id. at 593. We affirmed, concluding that despite
the use of "improper interrogation tactics" by the police, the
statements made on October 20, 2003, were voluntary. Id. at
598. Passing the question whether our G. L. c. 278, § 33E,
review of the "whole case, both the law and the evidence,"
Commonwealth v. Gunter, 459 Mass. 480, 485-486, cert. denied,
132 S. Ct. 218 (2011), quoting Dickerson v. Attorney Gen., 396
Mass. 740, 744 (1986), necessarily encompassed the judge's
denial of the motion on these grounds as well, we address the
merits of the defendant's claims. There was no error.
12
"In reviewing a ruling on a motion to suppress, we accept
the judge's subsidiary findings of fact absent clear error 'but
conduct an independent review of his ultimate findings and
conclusions of law.'" Commonwealth v. Craan, 469 Mass. 24, 26
(2014), quoting Commonwealth v. Scott, 440 Mass. 642, 646
(2004). "[O]ur duty is to make an independent determination of
the correctness of the judge's application of constitutional
principles to the facts as found." Commonwealth v. Bostock, 450
Mass. 616, 619 (2008), quoting Commonwealth v. Mercado, 422
Mass. 367, 369 (1996). However, where "the judge's findings are
based almost exclusively on the two videotapes of the
defendant's interviews, . . . 'we are in the same position as
the [motion] judge in reviewing the videotape,' and need not
accord such deference." Durand, 457 Mass. at 596, quoting
Commonwealth v. Novo, 442 Mass. 262, 266 (2004). See
Commonwealth v. Bean, 435 Mass. 708, 714 n.15 (2002).
a. Background. We recite the motion judge's findings of
fact supplemented with evidence in the record that is
uncontroverted or implicitly credited by the judge. See
Commonwealth v. Melo, 472 Mass. 278, 286 (2015). On October 20,
after the police read the defendant the Miranda rights, he
inquired about his eligibility for public counsel but then
remarked, "I do work, so, I don't believe I'm going to need a
lawyer anyway, but I'm just saying, like you said, the court
13
will appoint one . . . . Well, I don't need one." Later in the
same interview, the defendant told the officers, "I want to go
home and I want to go to bed." Later, he asked, "Can I go
please? Can I go please?" The defendant readily answered the
police officers' subsequent questions. Near the end of the six-
hour interview, the defendant stated, "Let's stop. Let's just,
you guys are going to drive me crazy." One of the police
officers responded, "Okay. If you want to stop, you got to let
us know." The defendant continued to talk and the police
continued to press for a confession. The defendant was asked
again, "Okay, do you want to stop?" He responded, "Please," and
the interview concluded a few moments later.
At the second interview on October 21, after being informed
of his right to remain silent, the defendant replied, "Of course
I want to talk to you. I want to get this resolved." Toward
the middle of the interview, the defendant stated, "I am going
to have to get a lawyer. Everything is going to come down on me
because you think that I was in the room with [the victim] at
that certain time when he died." The defendant continued to
speak with the police at length.
b. Right to remain silent. "The Fifth Amendment provides
that '[n]o person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case
to be a witness against himself."' Commonwealth v. Simon, 456
Mass. 280, 285, cert. denied, 562 U.S. 874 (2010). "In Miranda
14
[v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444 (1966)], the United States
Supreme Court established a 'prophylactic' mechanism . . . to
safeguard the protections afforded by the Fifth Amendment during
police interrogation" (citation omitted). Simon, supra. Thus,
Miranda warnings are required only when a suspect is subject to
a custodial interrogation. Id. In all cases, "responsibility
for invoking the protections guaranteed by Miranda . . . and
art. 12 rests squarely in the hands of criminal defendants"
(citation omitted). Commonwealth v. Collins, 440 Mass. 475, 479
n.3 (2003). Invocations of the right to remain silent must be
scrupulously honored. Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S. 96, 104
(1975). When faced with an ambiguous request to stop
questioning, the police may seek to clarify the defendant's
intent. Commonwealth v. Santos, 463 Mass. 273, 286 (2012).
However, clarifications of a defendant's request to stop
questioning cannot "be used to cast retrospective doubt on . . .
the initial request itself" (quotation and citation omitted).
Id. at 287. Accordingly, a defendant may invoke the right to
remain silent after initially waiving that right. Commonwealth
v. Clarke, 461 Mass. 336, 343 (2012), quoting Commonwealth v.
Bradshaw, 385 Mass. 244, 265 (1982). The subsequent invocation
"must be clear and unambiguous[], . . . such that a reasonable
police officer in the circumstances would understand the
statement to be an invocation of the Miranda right" (quotations
15
and citations omitted). Commonwealth v. Howard, 469 Mass. 721,
731 (2014). Statements made during a custodial interrogation
may still be admissible at trial if "the Commonwealth [can]
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant voluntarily,
knowingly, and intelligently waived these rights before making
the statement." Santos, 463 Mass. at 283.
Here, the defendant was not in custody and therefore had no
right of silence to invoke. See Simon, 456 Mass. at 287.
However, assuming, arguendo, that the interviews were custodial,
the defendant did not clearly invoke his right to silence after
waiving his Miranda rights at each interview.3 The defendant's
statements, such as "I can't take any more of this" and "I want
to go home and I want to go to bed," did not indicate his
unwillingness to continue the interrogation. Indeed, after
these ambiguous statements, the defendant continued to talk
without further prompting. A reasonable police officer in the
circumstances would not have understood these statements to be
an invocation of the right to silence. Howard, 469 Mass. at
3
Citing Commonwealth v. Clarke, 461 Mass. 336, 337 (2012),
the defendant erroneously claims that his invocation did not
need to be unambiguous: "[W]e hold that, in the prewaiver
context, art. 12 does not require a suspect to invoke his right
to remain silent with the utmost clarity, as required under
Federal law. See Berghuis v. Thompkins, [560 U.S. 370, 386]
(2010)." Because the defendant waived his right to silence at
the start of each interview, the prewaiver inquiry of Clarke is
inapplicable.
16
731. Contrast Commonwealth v. Santana, 465 Mass. 270, 282
(2013) ("[I] couldn't say any more" invoked right to silence
after Miranda waiver); Santos, 463 Mass. at 285 ("I'm not going
on with this conversation" invoked right to silence postwaiver).
There was no error in the judge's determination that the
defendant did not invoke his right to silence.
c. Right to counsel. "Once the defendant invokes his
right to an attorney, the police must stop questioning until an
attorney is present." Commonwealth v. Jones, 439 Mass. 249, 258
(2003). Nonetheless, "if a suspect makes a reference to an
attorney that is ambiguous or equivocal in that a reasonable
officer in light of the circumstances would have understood only
that the suspect might be invoking a right to counsel, our
precedents do not require the cessation of questioning."
Commonwealth v. Judge, 420 Mass. 433, 450 (1995), quoting Davis
v. United States, 512 U.S. 452, 459 (1994).
Here, the defendant equivocally stated, "I am going to have
to get a lawyer. Everything is going to come down on me
. . . ." We agree with the motion judge that the defendant did
not request an attorney, rather, he expressed a future need for
a lawyer if he faced charges for the victim's death. Compare
Jones, 439 Mass. at 258-259 ("[I'm] going to need a lawyer
sometime" not invocation of right to counsel). The defendant's
anticipatory statement is in marked contrast to the invocations
17
that we deemed effective in Santos, 463 Mass. at 282 ("I'm not
going on with this conversation. I want a lawyer"), and
Commonwealth v. Contos, 435 Mass. 19, 28 (2001) ("I think we're
going to stop, and I think I'm going to get a lawyer. If this
is the way this is going, you're either accusing me or charging
me") There was no error in the judge's determination that the
defendant did not invoke his right to counsel. Assuming for the
sake of argument that the defendant was in custody, the motion
to suppress was properly denied where the defendant failed to
invoke his right to silence and his right to counsel.
3. Motion for mistrial. The defendant argues that the
trial judge erred in denying his motion for a mistrial after the
jury were repeatedly exposed to inadmissible evidence resulting
in prejudice that was not cured by the judge's instructions.
The defendant's claim stems from what appear to be unintentional
mistakes4 in the presentation of the audio-visual recording of
the defendant's interviews at the police station to the jury.
We address separately the claimed errors.
a. First error. In response to a pretrial motion in
limine filed by the defendant, the judge ordered the redaction
of a portion of the defendant's statement during which he
4
The judge indicated at sidebar that the prosecutor's
publication of unredacted video was unanticipated and the result
of human error.
18
admitted that on one occasion, he had pushed the victim's twin
brother after the twin dropped the defendant's infant daughter.
More specifically, the following statements were to be redacted
before the video of the interview was played for the jury:
"I never touch her kids. And, like, the other
day, [the twin] dropped . . . my little daughter,
[eleven] months. She was actually [ten, eleven]
months at that time. And he dropped her. He picked
her up like this [indicating], to get her out of the
way and threw her down on the ground. And I got mad,
and I pushed [the twin] on the ground. Yes, I did.
That was the only time that I've ever laid hands on
[the twin] or [the victim], ever. And that was the
only reason why, it was uncontrollable that he threw
my [ten] month year-old baby, literally lifted her up
like this [indicating] and throwed [sic] her on the
ground just so he could get through the doorway, which
I thought that was wrong, and I was hurt by that,
because the baby was screaming. And I got up off the
bed, and I pushed him. That was a while back, but he
didn't get any hurt, he didn't get hurt or anything.
He gave his mother a fuss, and he didn't like me.
Obviously, he wouldn't like me because I pushed him.
But he didn't see the wrong in throwing the baby like
that. That was wrong for me to push him, you're
absolutely right, but he didn't get hurt or anything
like that. It wasn't out to hurt him. It was just
out to let him know not to throw babies, [ten] month
year-old babies."
The redaction did not occur and the excluded statements were
played for the jury. The defendant objected and moved for a
mistrial. The judge denied the defendant's motion but gave a
curative instruction to disregard the statement regarding
interactions between the defendant and the twin.5
5
The judge's full instruction was:
19
b. Second error. The next portion of the recorded
statement that the defendant claims was erroneously shown to the
jury ended with the police informing the defendant that the
victim had died. The recording then immediately looped back to
the beginning of the recorded interview showing the defendant
laughing with the police. The defendant objected and reiterated
prior concerns regarding prejudicial editing. The prosecution
conceded that there was an agreement between the parties to
prevent this loop back. The judge gave another curative
instruction, explaining that the automatic restart of the
recording created a false sequence that should be disregarded.
The defendant's renewed request for a mistrial was denied.
c. Third error. Soon thereafter, the jury viewed another
segment of the interview that the judge had determined should be
redacted, wherein one of the detectives stated: "We talked to
[the twin]. Did you kick him?" The defendant again renewed his
request for a mistrial. The judge, however, denied the request
and refused to issue another curative instruction, determining
"Jurors, the segment that you just saw relating to any
contact between the defendant and [the twin] is to be
stricken from your minds. Just banish that from your
minds. Disregard it just like I tell you when a witness
says something and I exclude it. Just remove it. You do
it consciously, and I know you'll follow my instructions,
and that's my clear instruction."
20
that the prejudice created from this single statement was de
minimis.
We review the denial of motion for a mistrial for an abuse
of discretion. Commonwealth v. Gallagher, 408 Mass. 510, 517
(1990). When a jury have been exposed to inadmissible evidence,
the judge may rely on a curative instruction to "correct any
error and to remedy any prejudice" (citation omitted).
Commonwealth v. Kilburn, 426 Mass. 31, 38 (1997), S.C., 438
Mass. 356 (2003). "As long as the judge's instructions are
prompt and the jury do not again hear the inadmissible evidence
. . . a mistrial is unnecessary." Commonwealth v. Garrey, 436
Mass. 422, 435 (2002).
Here, the defendant argues that his multiple requests for a
mistrial should have been granted because inadmissible evidence
was repeatedly presented to the jury and the resulting prejudice
was not curable with an instruction to disregard it. We
disagree. Although the defendant properly relies on the
expectation that the proponent of evidence bears the
responsibility to comply with a court order6 and that in this
case the Commonwealth should reap the consequences of its
failure to do so, we are not persuaded that the judge's curative
6
See, e.g., Firo v. State, 878 S.W.2d 254, 256 (Tx. Ct.
App. 1994) ("the party offering the evidence has the burden to
redact or sanitize a document . . . before [it] is properly
admissible").
21
instructions were inadequate. In this case, the jury heard each
excluded statement only once. See Gallagher, 408 Mass. at 517-
518 (witness's solitary reference to defendant's incarceration
during ten-day trial "could not have tainted the jury's
verdict"). The judge then gave two separate instructions,
addressing the defendant's statement that he had pushed the twin
and then the improper "loop back." See Garrey, 436 Mass. at 435
(prompt instruction sufficiently remedied any prejudice). In
addition, jurors are presumed to have followed the judge's
instructions to disregard the evidence. See Commonwealth v.
Qualls, 440 Mass. 576, 584 (2003). There was no prejudice.
We also agree with the trial judge that the officer's
question whether the defendant kicked the twin was fleeting and
did not likely influence the jury as there was abundant
admissible evidence showing that the defendant regularly
ridiculed and kicked the victim. See Commonwealth v. Cunneen,
389 Mass. 216, 223-224 (1983) ("vague and fleeting comment [was]
not likely to influence, or even seize the attention of the
jury"). Regardless, "[t]he statement was not so inflammatory
that a denial of the defendant's motion for a mistrial was
inherently an abuse of discretion." Commonwealth v. Bryant, 447
Mass. 494, 503 (2006).
The defendant likens the impact of this bad character
evidence to an error in his first trial, when the jury were
22
permitted to hear testimony that the defendant slapped the
victim's mother. Durand, 457 Mass. at 599-600. We recognize
that the cumulative effect of improper statements may warrant a
finding of prejudice. However, the challenged statements here
were sufficiently dissimilar that we do not perceive any
prejudice to the defendant.7
4. Hearsay testimony. The defendant argues that the trial
judge erred when he permitted Dr. Amy Goldberg to testify "based
upon studies that she did not perform and literature that she
did not author," because it constituted inadmissible hearsay.8
Specifically, he asserts that the literature forming the basis
of Dr. Goldberg's opinion was not independently admissible and
therefore her testimony should have been excluded. The
defendant's claim is unavailing. An expert is permitted to rely
on hearsay studies to form his or her opinion, but the expert
may not testify to the content of those studies during direct
7
The defendant misinterprets our analysis of this issue in
Commonwealth v. Durand, 457 Mass. 574, 599-600 (2010). He
claims that admission of the bad act evidence in his first trial
was reversible error, but we did not consider the prejudicial
effect of the error because we reversed on other grounds.
8
The trial judge conducted a voir dire of Dr. Amy Goldberg,
a pediatrician specializing in child abuse, and determined that
Dr. Goldberg was a qualified expert who could testify based on
her experience and review of relevant scientific literature
regarding childhood traumatic injury. He ordered Dr. Goldberg
to refrain from referencing her expertise in child abuse --
including use of her professional title -- out of concern that
the information would be too prejudicial.
23
examination. Commonwealth v. McNickles, 434 Mass. 839, 857
(2001). "Only the defendant can open the door on cross-
examination to testimony regarding the basis for the expert's
opinion, which may invite the expert witness to testify to facts
or data that may be admissible . . . and that may be testimonial
in nature." Commonwealth v. Barbosa, 457 Mass. 773, 785 (2010),
cert. denied, 563 U.S. 990 (2011). This evidentiary rule "is
consistent with the right of confrontation." Id. On direct
examination, Dr. Goldberg testified that her opinion was based
on relevant scientific literature but she did not name specific
studies or discuss their factual findings. The defendant's
subsequent failure to cross-examine Dr. Goldberg regarding the
sources of her opinion did not transform her testimony into
inadmissible hearsay. Id. Dr. Goldberg's reliance on treatises
and literature not in evidence was proper opinion testimony and
did not violate the defendant's confrontation rights.
5. The prosecutor's closing argument. The defendant
claims that the prosecutor's closing remarks were highly
prejudicial and the judge erred when he declined to issue a
curative instruction or grant a mistrial. "Remarks made during
closing arguments are considered in context of the whole
argument, the evidence admitted at trial, and the judge's
instructions to the jury." Commonwealth v. Andrade, 468 Mass.
543, 552 (2014), quoting Commonwealth v. Whitman, 453 Mass. 331,
24
343 (2009). Because the defendant objected to the argument at
trial, we review for prejudicial error. Commonwealth v.
Johnson, 463 Mass. 95, 112 (2012).
a. Victim fear. The prosecution began its closing, "For
most four year olds, the boogeyman is a figment of their
imagination. In this case, there is a boogeyman. There was a
boogeyman in the life of [the victim]. He is the defendant in
this case." Thereafter, the prosecutor repeatedly referred to
the victim's fear of the defendant and characterized the
victim's interactions with the defendant as "torture." The
defendant renewed his prior objection regarding the irrelevance
of victim fear in determining a defendant's culpability. He
complains that the prosecution's dramatization of the victim's
fear was unfairly prejudicial.
The prosecutor's comment was improper but not prejudicial
where, as here, the defendant stated during the police
interrogation that he never "touched [the mother's] kids" or hit
the victim. He further claimed that in the weeks leading up to
the incident, he had been getting along well with the boys and
that the victim was no longer afraid of him. When asked how
others would describe his relationship with the victim, he
replied, "good." Moreover, the defendant vigorously impeached
the mother, the roommate, and a daycare provider regarding the
allegedly strained relationship between the victim and the
25
defendant. Thus, the prosecutor was entitled to argue that the
evidence contradicted the defendant's statements. Indeed, the
defendant admitted to police that the victim appeared afraid
that morning; that the victim did not normally urinate on the
defendant's leg; that the victim was shaking from nervousness in
the bathroom; and that the defendant regularly ridiculed the
victim. No curative instruction was warranted where the
defendant was aware of the victim's fear and likely to respond
to it.
b. Comment on the defendant's statement excluded as
involuntary. Later in the Commonwealth's closing, the
prosecutor argued that the defendant denied throwing a toy
rubber shark at the victim:
"And then you're going to be asked to evaluate
the credibility of the defendant on the one day that
he's now stuck with the kids, on the one day that
everything seems to be going wrong; and you're going
to be asked if he was truthful. And you'll recall in
the course of his statements . . . . He told the
police he never -- they asked him, 'Did you ever throw
anything at the boy when he was in the corner -- sorry
-- that day? Did you ever throw anything?' 'No.' We
know that's not true. He threw the shark, hit [the
victim] in the mouth. (Emphasis added.)
The defendant did not object to the statement or request a
curative instruction. Contrary to the prosecutor's suggestion,
the defendant had admitted to throwing the shark during the
second police interview on October 21, but the judge had
suppressed this statement on the ground that it was not
26
voluntary in light of police promises of leniency. The
Commonwealth defends the prosecutor's comment, pointing out that
the judge's suppression order did not apply to the defendant's
statements during the first police interview on October 20, when
he denied throwing anything at the victim. That denial was
admitted in evidence as part of the audio-visual recording of
the October 20 interview. Although the prosecutor's comment did
not violate the letter of the judge's order, it undoubtedly
undermined the spirit of the ruling where it unfairly suggested
that the defendant withheld the information, and that this act
reflected consciousness of guilt. Although we are constrained
to conclude that this error was not prejudicial, we note our
concern with such unfair tactics that undercut the intended
effect of the judge's ruling.
6. Motion to dismiss. Citing United States v. Dinitz, 424
U.S. 600, 601 (1976), the defendant claims error in the denial
of his motion to dismiss the indictments on the ground that the
double jeopardy clause bars retrial where a prosecutor's bad
faith results in a reversal of the first conviction and the
defendant is subjected to a second trial. Specifically, the
defendant argues that the prosecutor's tactical decision in the
first trial to introduce testimony from a substitute medical
examiner that was later determined to be a violation of the
defendant's rights under the confrontation clause, Durand, 457
27
Mass. at 587-588, 601, meets the bad faith test. We reject the
argument because the defendant has failed to demonstrate
prosecutorial misconduct warranting a dismissal on double
jeopardy grounds.9
We have recognized limited circumstances where
prosecutorial misconduct bars retrial: "if the Commonwealth
intended to goad the defendant into moving for a mistrial[;]
. . . if the 'governmental conduct resulted in such irremediable
harm that a fair trial of the complaint or indictment is no
longer possible'[;] . . . and where the prosecutor's conduct is
otherwise so egregious that dismissal is warranted to deter
similar future misconduct" (citations omitted). Commonwealth v.
Merry, 453 Mass. 653, 666 (2009). No such conduct occurred
here.
At the time of the first trial, Dr. Abraham Philip, the
medical examiner who performed the victim's autopsy, was the
plaintiff in a pending civil suit alleging wrongful termination
against the office of the chief medical examiner. Whether
9
The defendant's reliance on United States v. Dinitz, 424
U.S. 600, 611 (1976) (retrial barred when prosecutorial
misconduct is "undertaken to harass or prejudice" defendant), is
misplaced because Dinitz was long ago narrowed by the United
States Supreme Court. Oregon v. Kennedy, 456 U.S. 667, 679
(1982) (retrial resulting from prosecutorial misconduct
prohibited under Federal double jeopardy clause only where
prosecution committed said misconduct with intent to provoke
mistrial).
28
because of the lawsuit or not, the Commonwealth chose not to
call Dr. Philip as its expert on the cause of the victim's
death. Instead, the Commonwealth introduced testimony from a
substitute medical expert, Dr. Mark Flomenbaum. Durand, 457
Mass. at 581-590. At that time we had not yet decided
Commonwealth v. Nardi, 452 Mass. 379, 391 (2008), in which we
held that the confrontation clause precludes on direct
examination the testimony of a substitute medical examiner as to
the factual findings in an autopsy report. Additionally, the
substitute medical examiner's testimony did not create
"irremediable harm" that would make it impossible for a
subsequent trial to be fair. Merry, 453 Mass. at 666, quoting
Commonwealth v. Murchison, 392 Mass. 273, 276 (1984). During
both trials, the medical examiners opined that the victim died
of blunt force trauma. Presenting Dr. Flomenbaum's opinion that
the trauma was from a "forceful squeeze" at the first trial,
instead of Dr. Philip's opinion that the trauma was from a punch
or a kick, was not so different as to create irremediable harm.
Moreover, the Commonwealth's use of Dr. Philip's testimony
during a trial that resulted from the defendant's own appeal
does not "amount to an overzealous attempt to obtain 'tactical
advantage' over the defendant." Marshall, 463 Mass. 529, 540
(2012), quoting Glawson v. Commonwealth (No. 1), 445 Mass. 1019,
1021 (2005), cert. denied, 547 U.S. 1118 (2006). We further
29
note that the defendant had no right to compel the Commonwealth
to call Dr. Philip during the first trial. Durand, 457 Mass. at
585 ("to the extent that the defendant sought to require the
Commonwealth to call Dr. Philip as a trial witness because he
was the only witness who could offer an opinion as to the
victim's cause and manner of death, the defendant's motion and
objection were properly denied").
7. Jury instructions. The defendant argues that the judge
erred in declining to instruct the jury regarding the adequacy
of the police investigation, the so-called Bowden instruction,
because, the defendant claims, it was necessary to "balance the
equities" where the judge elected to instruct the jury on
consciousness of guilt.10 Commonwealth v. Bowden, 379 Mass. 472,
486 (1980). The judge declined the request but advised defense
counsel that he could "absolutely argue it" during closing.
We have consistently held that "a judge is not required to
instruct on the claimed inadequacy of a police investigation.
10
The defendant's claim is centered on testimony from a
forensic chemist asserting that, on the day of the victim's
murder, the defendant's hands tested positive for the presence
of blood. During cross-examination, defense counsel elicited
testimony that there had been no confirmatory testing to
determine whether the blood belonged to the victim or even
whether it was human. In the defendant's first appeal, we
concluded that the allowance of similar testimony was not error
because "the defendant was free to explore these issues during
cross-examination." Durand, 457 Mass. at 598, citing
Commonwealth v. Gonzalez, 443 Mass. 799, 810 (2005).
30
'Bowden simply holds that a judge may not remove the issue from
the jury's consideration.'" Commonwealth v. Lao, 460 Mass. 12,
23 (2011), quoting Commonwealth v. Boateng, 438 Mass. 498, 507
(2003). There was no error where the defendant was free to
argue, and did argue, during closing that the police
investigation was inadequate. See Commonwealth v. Kaeppeler,
473 Mass. 396, 406 (2015).
8. Relief pursuant to G. L. c. 278, § 33E. Although we
conclude that the Commonwealth's closing argument contained an
improper reference to an inadmissible statement, that error
alone does not require a reduction in the defendant's verdict or
a new trial. We have examined the record pursuant to our duty
under G. L. c. 278, § 33E, and we discern no basis on which to
grant the defendant extraordinary relief.
Judgment affirmed.