Commonwealth v. Collins

31 Mass. L. Rptr. 437
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedOctober 8, 2013
DocketNo. SUCR200710165
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 31 Mass. L. Rptr. 437 (Commonwealth v. Collins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Collins, 31 Mass. L. Rptr. 437 (Mass. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Brassajrd, Raymond J., J.

On June 15, 2009, a jury found the defendant Michael Collins (“Collins”) guilty of second degree murder in violation of G.L.c. 265, §2, armed assault with intent to murder in violation of G.L.c. 265, § 18(b), and possession of a firearm without a license in violation of G.L.c. 269, § 10(h). The matter is currently before the court on Collins’s motion for a new trial pursuant to Mass.R.Crim.P. 30(b). After a review of the motion, this court concludes that a number of claims asserted by Collins can be decided on the papers because no substantial issue was raised warranting an evidentiary hearing. See Mass.R.Crim.P. 30(c)(3) (explaining that an eviden-tiary hearing is not required where “no substantial issue [was] raised by the motion or affidavits”). However, Collins’s claim of prosecutorial misconduct raises a substantial issue. Therefore, Collins’s motion for a new trial is DENIED, in part, on all claims except the allegation of prosecutorial misconduct.

BACKGROUND

The following is a brief summary of the evidence presented at trial, focusing on those facts relevant to the motion before this court. On December 5, 2006, Collins shot and killed Myles Lawton (“Lawton”) at Lawton’s girlfriend’s apartment at 91 Florida Street in Dorchester. Lawton’s friend Pierre LaGuerre (“LaG-uerre”) was present in the apartment, and was also shot, although he survived his injuries. The Commonwealth’s theory of the case was that the shooting was the result of a drug deal gone bad. Sometime before the shooting, LaGuerre entered into an agreement to purchase two kilos of cocaine for $40,000.00 from Collins. Collins was arrested in Washington D.C. on December 21, 2006.

Collins’s trial began on May 18, 2009 in the Suffolk Superior Court before this judge. After lunch break on the first day of trial, during jury empanelment, the court was alerted to the fact that one of the jurors spoke with an individual associated with Collins in the hallway outside of the courtroom. Tr. 1:101. In discussing the best way to handle the potential issue, the court was further alerted that three of Collins’s alleged family members were currently present in the courtroom. Id. at 103. The court was concerned with the fact that these family members were seated close to sidebar. Id. (“I mean, the record should reflect that they’re, of all the people in the courtroom, the closest to sidebar”). Jury empanelment consisted of individual voir dire with counsel, Collins, and the prospective juror at sidebar. When asked by defense counsel if the court wished to exclude the three family members from the courtroom, the court stated: “No, not at all. As I mentioned earlier, my concerns are always the opposite.”1 Id. at 103-04.

The prosecutor then asked defense counsel to identify the three family members. Id. at 105. Defense counsel was unaware of who the family members were, but did not believe that they were potential witnesses. Id. She indicated that she asked family members who were potential witnesses to stay away from the courtroom during jury empanelment. Id. at 106 (“I told the [defendant’s] mother not to come today. She was on the witness list”).

After some time had passed, it was revealed that the three individuals were in fact Collins’s friends and family members, and were potential witnesses. Id. at 117-19. The Commonwealth became concerned because the individuals were speaking to each other while the court was inquiring of potential jurors. Id. at 117. The Commonwealth requested that all potential witnesses be barred from the courtroom. Id. at 119. Defense counsel did not object to their removal, and was in agreement with the Commonwealth that potential witnesses should not be in the courtroom during jury empanelment. Id. at 119-20, 123. The court then proceeded to voir dire the friends and family members to confirm that they were associated with Collins and were potential witnesses.2 Id. at 121-24. The court requested that the potential witnesses leave the courtroom, with the approval of counsel. Id.

On the sixth day of trial, the Commonwealth called Dan Jensen (“Jensen”), a records custodian with Sprint-Nextel (“Sprint”). Tr. 6:176. Jensen testified as to subscriber information and call detail records (“CDR”) for a cell phone number, 781-420-9856, registered to Collins’s girlfriend Tiffany Lanides (“Lanides”). Id. at 188. There was evidence that Collins regularly used Lanides’s cell phone. The CDR was admitted into evidence without objection as Exhibit 103. Id. at 188-89. Jensen then proceeded to explain the information contained in the CDR.

Included in his testimony was an explanation of the numbers in the “repoll number” column of the CDR. Id. at 193. Jensen explained that the repoll number “will tell me which phone switch the [cell phone] call was routed through.” Id. He testified that a repoll number identifies a “mobile switching center” (“Switch”), which is “the physical connection between our [Sprint] cell sites and the other phone switches on the network . . .” Id. at 198-99. He explained that, [439]*439essentially, the Switches help to complete cell phone calls across the network. Id. at 207-10. Jensen stated that there were four Switches in the Boston area. Id. at 199. He further testified that each Switch covers a large area, possibly over 100 miles. Id. at 199-200.

On direct examination, Jensen was asked “if a repole [sic] number comes up from the Washington, D.C. area, what would that indicate to you about that phone call?” Id. at 200-01. He answered, “the headset for that call was more likely in the Virginia or the Maryland or Washington, D.C. area” and not in the Boston area. Id. at 201. The Commonwealth introduced into evidence a document containing a list of Sprint’s repoll numbers, and the location of the Switches that corresponded to the repoll numbers. Id. at 202. The CDR showed that after December 7, 2006, the Switches used by Lanides’s cell phone were located in the Washington D.C. area.

Also on the sixth day of trial, the Commonwealth called Teresa Jones (“Jones”) as a witness. Jones was Lawton’s girlfriend, and the shooting occurred in her apartment. Id. at 261-63. Jones was home the night of the shooting, watching a movie in her bedroom, with the door closed. Id. at 275. She testified that while she was watching the movie, someone poked his head into her bedroom and looked at her. Id. She stated that she did not get a good look at the person because she was lying down and “only saw him from the side.” Id. Shortly after the person left, the shooting started. Id. at 277.

On direct examination, Jones was asked about a photo array she was shown by Boston Police on January 5, 2007. Tr. 7:23. Jones testified that when she was originally shown the photo array, she narrowed in on two photographs, photographs Number 4 and Number 8, that resembled the person that she had seen in her bedroom on the night of the shooting. Id. at 26. She thought Number 4, which was a photograph of Collins, looked more like that person. Id. at 30, 35.

Jones was extensively questioned on cross examination about the photo array, and her failure to make a positive identification. Id. at 37-49, 111-12.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Collins
31 Mass. L. Rptr. 570 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 Mass. L. Rptr. 437, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-collins-masssuperct-2013.