Commonwealth v. Christopher Gallagher. ( 2024 )

NOTICE: Summary decisions issued by the Appeals Court pursuant to M.A.C. Rule
23.0, as appearing in 97 Mass. App. Ct. 1017 (2020) (formerly known as rule 1:28,
as amended by 73 Mass. App. Ct. 1001 [2009]), are primarily directed to the parties
and, therefore, may not fully address the facts of the case or the panel's
decisional rationale. Moreover, such decisions are not circulated to the entire
court and, therefore, represent only the views of the panel that decided the case.
A summary decision pursuant to rule 23.0 or rule 1:28 issued after February 25,
2008, may be cited for its persuasive value but, because of the limitations noted
above, not as binding precedent. See Chace v. Curran, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 258, 260
n.4 (2008).
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
APPEALS COURT
23-P-726
COMMONWEALTH
vs.
CHRISTOPHER GALLAGHER.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 23.0
The defendant, Christopher Gallagher, appeals from his
convictions, after a jury trial in the District Court, of two
counts of indecent assault and battery on a child, G. L. c. 265,
§ 13B. Concluding that a comment in the prosecutor's closing
argument, though error, did not prejudice the defendant in light
of its tangential matter and the trial judge's curative
instructions, we affirm.
1. Standard of review. We review statements made during a
prosecutor's closing argument "in the context of the entire
argument, and in light of the judge's instruction to the jury,
and the evidence at trial." Commonwealth v. Sanders, 101 Mass.
App. Ct. 503, 511 (2022), quoting Commonwealth v. Braley, 449
Mass. 316, 328 (2007). "Because the defendant objected to the
argument at trial, we review for prejudicial error."
Commonwealth v. Andrade, 468 Mass. 543, 551 (2014).1 "This means
that we inquire[ ] whether there is a reasonable possibility
that the error might have contributed to the jury's verdict."
Commonwealth v. Souza, 492 Mass. 615, 627 (2023), quoting
Commonwealth v. Wolfe, 478 Mass. 142, 150 (2017). Relevant
factors include "whether the judge's instructions mitigated the
error . . . whether the errors in the arguments went to the
heart of the issues at trial or concerned collateral matters
. . . whether the jury would be able to sort out the excessive
claims made by the prosecutor . . . and whether the
Commonwealth's case was so overwhelming that the errors did not
prejudice the defendant." Commonwealth v. Teixeira, 486 Mass.
617, 635 (2021), quoting Commonwealth v. Niemic, 472 Mass. 665,
673-674 (2015). "An error is not prejudicial if it 'did not
influence the jury, or had but slight effect.'" Commonwealth v.
Santana, 101 Mass. App. Ct. 690, 694 (2022), quoting
Commonwealth v. Misquina, 82 Mass. App. Ct. 204, 207 (2012).
2. Closing argument. "A prosecutor must limit comment in
closing statement to the evidence and fair inferences that can
1 As we did in Commonwealth v. Grinkley, 75 Mass. App. Ct.
798, 807 & n.17, 811 (2009), we reject the argument that error
in a prosecutor's closing argument constitutes structural error.
2
be drawn from the evidence." Commonwealth v. Lugo, 89 Mass.
App. Ct. 229, 234 (2016), quoting Commonwealth v. Cole, 473
Mass. 317, 333 (2015). "Because the line separating speculation
and inference is often a fine one, 'we must and do recognize
that closing argument is identified as argument.'" Commonwealth
v. Mattei, 90 Mass. App. Ct. 577, 582 (2016), quoting
Commonwealth v. Bresilla, 470 Mass. 422, 437-438 (2015).
"Prosecutors may not, however, appeal to the jury's sympathy."
Commonwealth v. Martinez, 476 Mass. 186, 199 (2017). "In
particular, the 'jury should not be asked to put themselves "in
the shoes" of the victim, or otherwise be asked to identify with
the victim.'" Commonwealth v. Witkowski, 487 Mass. 675, 684
(2021), quoting Commonwealth v. Rutherford, 476 Mass. 639, 646
(2017).
During his closing argument, the defendant argued that the
female victim and her friend, both of whom had testified as
Commonwealth witnesses, were unreliable because their initial
out-of-court accounts of the female victim's first complaint2 had
omitted a certain detail found in their trial testimony,
specifically that the female victim and her friend had gone to
2 In the context of sexual assault, the first complaint is
the victim's first report of the assault to another. See Mass.
G. Evid. § 413 (2024).
3
Wendy's, a fast food restaurant, before the first complaint had
occurred. In response, the prosecutor argued,
"Well, the first time that [the female victim] ever told
anybody -- anyone in authority about this case do you think
her primary focus was on the fact that they went to Wendy's
first.
"It's an inconsequential fact that we're trying to make
mountains out of.
"I'd ask for you to use your common sense. If that
happened to you when somebody asked you for the very first
time talk [sic] about arguably what may have been the worst
day of your life."
The defendant immediately objected, and the prosecutor agreed to
rephrase the offending statement.
Although "[t]he prosecutor was entitled to offer a response
to defense counsel's closing argument," Mattei, 90 Mass. App.
Ct. at 583, quoting Bresilla, 470 Mass. at 438, the response
here was poorly worded in that it asked the jurors to "put
themselves 'in the shoes' of the victim," Witkowski, 487 Mass.
at 684, quoting Rutherford, 476 Mass. at 646. Prosecutors
generally may not ask jurors to place themselves in the victim's
shoes because "a 'focus on the victim distracts attention from
the actual issues, and invites the jury to decide guilt or
innocence on the basis of sympathy.'" Witkowski, supra at 685,
quoting Commonwealth v. Bizanowicz, 459 Mass. 400, 420 (2011).
See Rutherford, supra (improper to ask jurors to imagine murder
victim's last thoughts as he "crawl[ed] away to die");
4
Commonwealth v. Grinkley, 75 Mass. App. Ct. 798, 808-809 (2009)
(improper to ask jurors to "[t]hink about what it must have been
like" for sexual assault victims). "[T]his type of rhetoric
must be used with caution." Witkowski, supra. Accordingly, to
the extent jurors could have construed the argument as an
invitation to ponder the victim's suffering from a sexual
assault, it was error for the prosecutor to ask the jurors to
consider "[i]f that happened to [them]."
Nevertheless, the prosecutor's request was not prejudicial.
Although the female victim's credibility about the assault was
central to the case, see Teixeira, 486 Mass. at 635, whether the
witnesses' earlier statements included where the female victim
and her friend visited during the female victim's first
complaint was a relatively minor point of corroboration. As
such, unlike other "in the shoes" arguments, the prosecutor's
request did not significantly "distract[ ] attention from the
actual issues" or "invite[ ] the jury to decide guilt or
innocence on the basis of sympathy." Witkowski, 487 Mass. at
685, quoting Bizanowicz, 459 Mass. at 420.
Moreover, the problematic portion of the argument was of
minor importance to the prosecutor's argument as a whole and
occupied only three of its 432 lines. The meat of the argument
on this point was to ask the jury to "use [their] common sense"
in deciding whether these earlier omissions affected the
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witnesses' credibility. See Lugo, 89 Mass. App. Ct. at 234.
Cf. Commonwealth v. Harris, 11 Mass. App. Ct. 165, 176 & n.9,
177 (1981) (prosecutor's request that jury "[t]hink of what
[rape victim] went through by giving this story" and not "let
her down" by failing to convict error but did not create
substantial risk of miscarriage of justice). "[T]he jury would
be able to sort out" any impermissible appeal to sympathy from
the prosecutor's underlying argument. Teixeira, 486 Mass. at
635, quoting Niemic, 472 Mass. at 673.
Furthermore, before the jurors resumed deliberations the
day after the parties' closing arguments, the trial judge
provided the jury with instructions requested by the defendant
to mitigate the potential prejudicial effect of the prosecutor's
request, including that "the closing arguments of the lawyers
are not a substitute for the evidence" and "[y]ou may not permit
sympathy to affect your verdicts." "The jury are presumed to
follow the judge's instructions." Andrade, 468 Mass. at 549.
Given the improper argument's low potential for prejudice, the
supplemental instructions sufficed to correct the error and
ensure that it would have "but slight effect" on the jury.
6
Santana, 101 Mass. App. Ct. at 694, quoting Misquina, 82 Mass.
App. Ct. at 207.3
Judgments affirmed.
By the Court (Ditkoff,
Singh & Hodgens, JJ.4),
Clerk
Entered: August 27, 2024.
3 It follows from the lack of prejudice that the trial judge
acted within her discretion in denying the defendant's motion
for a mistrial. See Martinez, 476 Mass. at 197.
4 The panelists are listed in order of seniority.
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