Commonwealth v. Coffman

992 N.E.2d 391, 84 Mass. App. Ct. 33, 2013 WL 3722327, 2013 Mass. App. LEXIS 120
Massachusetts Appeals Court·Decided July 18, 2013·No. No. 11-P-2023·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinions

Vuono, J.

In 1991, the defendant was convicted by a jury of aggravated rape and related offenses in Superior Court. Upon his release from prison he was classified as a level three sex offender and became subject to the registration requirements of G. L. c. 6, § 178FV2. On April 21, 2011, following a jury-waived trial, the defendant was found guilty of failing to register as required, in violation of G. L. c. 6, § 178H(a).2 In a separate proceeding before the same judge, the defendant was convicted of being a second offender, in violation of G. L. c. 6, § 178H(fl)(2).3 Thereafter, in a proceeding before the same judge the defendant admitted to a violation of probation in connection with another conviction, the hearing on which had been pending.4

The Commonwealth’s theory of guilt was that the defendant knowingly provided a false address when he registered at the Springfield police department on March 31, 2010, and that, even if the defendant had been residing at the address he provided on that date, he subsequently changed his address and knowingly failed to provide notice to the police of that change.5

[35] At trial, the defendant admitted that he had notice of his status and his obligations under the statute, including the requirement of reporting a change in his address. He claimed, however, that he was in compliance with the statute because the Hampden County district attorney’s office had placed him in protective custody out of State during the time period specified in the indictment. The defendant filed motions for a required finding of not guilty at the close of the Commonwealth’s case and at the close of all the evidence, which were denied. In the motion filed at the close of all the evidence, the defendant argued, in essence, that because the Commonwealth did not rebut his testimony about being placed in protective custody, the evidence was insufficient to prove that he knowingly violated the statute.

On appeal, the defendant claims that his motions for a required finding of not guilty should have been allowed.6 He also contends that the judge erred by (1) admitting in evidence documents maintained by the Sex Offender Registration Board (SORB) and the Superior Court probation department, and (2) failing to inquire into the reasons why the defendant wished to be represented by different counsel at the second offender trial. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the conviction.

Background. The evidence permitted the judge to find the following facts. While the defendant was in prison he signed an acknowledgment of his duty to register on three separate occasions.7 Each time the defendant signed an acknowledgment form, Judit Morales, the SORB liaison at the Hampden County sheriff’s department, explained the statute’s requirements to him. Additionally, prior to March of 2010, during periods when the defendant was not incarcerated, he registered as a sex offender with the Holyoke and West Springfield police depart[36] ments, and on one occasion he notified the SORB of his change of address.

By January 1, 2010, the defendant was living in Springfield. On February 12, 2010, he was placed on probation. He was supervised by probation officer Andrea Cadieux. At that time, the defendant reported that he was living at 700 State Street in apartment 315, in Springfield. The defendant later informed the probation department that he resided in apartment 215, and on a third occasion, in apartment 312. After the defendant missed a scheduled appointment with Cadieux on March 9, 2010, Cadieux attempted to contact the defendant using the addresses he had provided, but she was unsuccessful. Cadieux continued her efforts to contact the defendant during the month of April to no avail.

Meanwhile, on March 31, 2010, the defendant met with Detective Tracy Duda at the Springfield police department, where he completed a sex offender registration form.8 Detective Duda reviewed the statute’s requirements as they appear on the form and read them aloud to the defendant.9 The completed registration form stated that the defendant was living at 619 State Street in apartment 3L in Springfield, but, as the defendant conceded at trial, he never lived at 619 State Street.10 According to the defendant, the number “619” was written in error and he actually was living at “691” State Street in the home of Shatina Boyd. The discrepancy in the numbers is immaterial because the evidence showed that the defendant did not live at either address on March 31, 2010. Boyd testified that the defendant [37] and his girlfriend, who was a close friend of Boyd’s, moved into her apartment at 691 State Street near Christmas in 2009, and stayed two or three months before leaving “around March.”11 Boyd further testified that near the end of the defendant’s stay, he was not living with her all the time. Rather, he was going “back and forth.” During the month of April, the defendant did not reside with Boyd, who was evicted on April 8. The defendant did not provide notice of a change of address.

The defendant testified in his own defense. He stated that he had been shot on New Year’s Day and again in early April, 2010, after which he became a material witness for the Hampden County district attorney’s office. That office, the defendant asserted, moved him to a motel in Connecticut at “the end of March” where he remained for “a month or a month and a half.” The defendant also stated that he testified before a Hampden County grand jury, but he did not specify when that occurred. According to the defendant, he was returned to Springfield at some point in April and remained homeless until he was arrested on April 30, 2010. The defendant identified his signature on the various registration and acknowledgment forms that had been introduced in evidence and admitted that he was aware of his obligations under the statute even though he could not read the forms himself.

1. Sufficiency of the evidence. As noted, the defendant claims there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction. Our review of the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, see Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 676-678 (1979), reveals a sufficient basis from which a rational finder of fact could have reasonably inferred that the defendant knowingly violated the statute.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Commonwealth v. Coffman, 992 N.E.2d 391, 84 Mass. App. Ct. 33, 2013 WL 3722327, 2013 Mass. App. LEXIS 120 (Mass. Ct. App. 2013).

992 N.E.2d 391 (Commonwealth v. Coffman) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Commonwealth v. Brandon Ferreira.
Massachusetts Appeals Court, 2023