Commonwealth v. Clayton

827 N.E.2d 1273, 63 Mass. App. Ct. 608, 2005 Mass. App. LEXIS 488
CourtMassachusetts Appeals Court
DecidedMay 23, 2005
DocketNo. 04-P-445
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 827 N.E.2d 1273 (Commonwealth v. Clayton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Appeals Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Clayton, 827 N.E.2d 1273, 63 Mass. App. Ct. 608, 2005 Mass. App. LEXIS 488 (Mass. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

Grasso, J.

In Commonwealth v. Clayton, 52 Mass. App. Ct. 198 (2001) (Clayton I), we reversed the defendant’s conviction on a single indictment of statutory rape that charged him with having “sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse” with a child at divers times from 1979 to 1987. Id. at 199. We reversed because we concluded that limitation of the defendant’s [609]*609cross-examination of the complainant amounted to prejudicial error. Id. at 202-203. We also decided that the defendant was not denied due process of law in violation of art. 12 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights where the petit jury may have based their conviction on acts of natural sexual intercourse and the grand jury only heard evidence as to acts of unnatural sexual intercourse. Id. at 204-207.1 See Commonwealth v. Barbosa, 421 Mass. 547, 549 (1995) (under art. 12 no one may be convicted of crime punishable by term in State prison without being indicted for that crime).

On retrial, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict and the judge declared a mistrial. At the defendant’s third trial, a jury again found him guilty.

On appeal, the defendant again argues that his right to due process of law was violated because the petit jury were permitted to return a verdict on evidence of acts of natural sexual intercourse when the indicting grand jury heard evidence only of acts of unnatural sexual intercourse.2 He also asserts that the trial judge erred in permitting the introduction of prior bad acts. We affirm.

1. The indictment, amended bill of particulars, and proof at trial. The defendant rightly does not contend that he lacked notice of the acts on which the Commonwealth would rely to prove the crime charged; the indictment and amended bill of particulars provided the defendant ample notice of the nature and character of the proof to be offered at trial. See Commonwealth v. Crawford, 429 Mass. 60, 69 (1999) (purpose of bill of particulars is to give defendant reasonable knowledge of nature and character of crime charged, and effect, when filed, is to restrict scope of indictment and proof). Nor does he challenge the sufficiency of the evidence of natural sexual intercourse or the jury’s general verdict. Although the Com[610]*610monwealth presented evidence of both natural and unnatural sexual intercourse, the trial judge gave the jury a specific unanimity instruction. See Commonwealth v. Conefrey, 420 Mass. 508, 514 (1995).

The defendant maintains, as he did in Clayton I, that a petit jury may not convict a defendant of statutory rape on evidence of natural sexual intercourse, unless the indicting grand jury also heard evidence of acts of natural sexual intercourse. He candidly acknowledges that this argument revisits an issue we considered and rejected in Clayton I. However, he maintains that principles of issue preclusion3 do not prohibit renewing the same argument here because he prevailed on a different ground and had no reason to seek further appellate review of our adverse decision on his due process claim.4 See Bynum v. Commonwealth, 429 Mass. 705, 707 (1999) (rejecting Commonwealth’s argument that “a party who has prevailed on a point in the Appeals Court and does not seek further review is bound by a statement of law in the Appeals Court opinion that is not essential to that court’s conclusion in his favor”). The Commonwealth argues that Bynum is distinguishable and that the defendant should be precluded from raising again in the same case an issue already raised and decided adversely to him.

Our decision in Clayton I does not work a direct estoppel because of the absence of a final judgment of conviction. See Commonwealth v. Williams, 431 Mass. 71, 74 n.4 (2000); Commonwealth v. Rodriguez, 443 Mass. 707, 710 (2005) (precluding defendant from relitigating issue previously decided on [611]*611direct appeal based on assertion that issue was decided wrongly). Nevertheless, that decision is the law of the case. The “law of the case” doctrine reflects a “reluctance ‘to reconsider questions decided upon an earlier appeal in the same case.’ ” King v. Driscoll, 424 Mass. 1, 7-8 (1996), quoting from Peterson v. Hopson, 306 Mass. 597, 599 (1940). “An issue[,] once decided, should not be reopened unless the evidence on a subsequent trial was substantially different, controlling authority has since made a contrary decision of the law applicable to such issues, or the decision was clearly erroneous and would work a manifest injustice.” King v. Driscoll, 424 Mass. at 8 (quotations and citations omitted). See Chase Precast Corp. v. John J. Paonessa Co., 409 Mass. 371, 379 (1991). None of those circumstances is present here.

Preliminarily, we observe that our determination in Clayton I, 52 Mass. App. Ct. at 204-207, that the defendant’s conviction on proof of acts of natural sexual intercourse would not violate due process of law, was neither dictum nor “volunteered comment.” Contrast Bynum v. Commonwealth, 429 Mass. at 707-708. Indeed, in the logical hierarchy of issue consideration, we only reached the defendant’s second appellate issue, the restriction on cross-examination, because we first concluded that his due process argument failed.5 Our determination to that end is the law of the case.

In this appeal, the defendant makes no new factual or legal argument. He offers only that Clayton I was wrongly decided and that the judge on retrial erred in denying his motion to strike the amended bill of particulars. Our decision, however, is not contrary to Commonwealth v. Barbosa, 421 Mass. at 551, or Stirone v. United States, 361 U.S. 212 (1960).6 “Article 12 [612]*612requires that no one may be convicted of a crime punishable by a term in the State prison without first being indicted for that crime by a grand jury.” Commonwealth v. Barbosa, 421 Mass. at 549 (footnote omitted). Here, the defendant was indicted for statutory rape, defined as “sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse” with a child. G. L. c. 265, § 23, inserted by St. 1974, c. 474, § 3. In obtaining the indictment, the Commonwealth presented evidence to the grand jury sufficient to establish that the defendant committed the crime of statutory rape, and the defendant does not contend otherwise. See Commonwealth v. McCarthy, 385 Mass. 160, 163 (1982) (to obtain indictment, Commonwealth must present evidence sufficient to establish crime was committed and defendant committed it). At trial, on sufficient evidence of both natural and unnatural sexual intercourse, the jury found the defendant guilty of statutory rape.

The flaw in the defendant’s logic is his confusion of the role of the grand jury in indicting and that of the petit jury in deciding whether the Commonwealth has proved that the defendant committed the crime in the indictment. To comply with art. 12 due process requirements, the Commonwealth need not present to the grand jury evidence of each theory under which the defendant may be found guilty at trial of the crime for which he is indicted.

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Bluebook (online)
827 N.E.2d 1273, 63 Mass. App. Ct. 608, 2005 Mass. App. LEXIS 488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-clayton-massappct-2005.