Commonwealth v. Pond

510 N.E.2d 783, 24 Mass. App. Ct. 546, 1987 Mass. App. LEXIS 2068
CourtMassachusetts Appeals Court
DecidedJuly 28, 1987
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 510 N.E.2d 783 (Commonwealth v. Pond) 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. Pond, 510 N.E.2d 783, 24 Mass. App. Ct. 546, 1987 Mass. App. LEXIS 2068 (Mass. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

Quirico, J.

On January 23, 1985, the defendant, Jeffrey Pond, was indicted for the crime of “indecent assault and battery on a female child under the age of fourteen,” allegedly committed on November 30, 1984, in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 13B. Having waived his right to trial by jury, the defendant was tried before a judge of the Superior Court, found guilty of the offense charged, sentenced, and now appeals therefrom. 1

*547 The only question presented for decision is whether the trial judge committed error in denying a motion, filed by the defendant on the second day of his trial, asking that the indictment be dismissed by reason of alleged improper conduct by the Commonwealth in the presentation of the case to the grand jury. 2 We hold there was no error, and affirm the conviction.

The facts are briefly stated. On the afternoon of November 30, 1984, a three year old child, “Elizabeth,” and her mother were returning home from a doctor’s appointment. While walking they were approached by the defendant, and he conversed with the mother for a time. It is not clear from the record whether the mother and the defendant knew each other before that time. The mother and Elizabeth then walked home, where her three other children, ages six, fourteen and sixteen were living. Later that afternoon, the defendant appeared at the door and the mother allowed him in. In the early evening the mother left to pick up another woman who was living with her; the defendant left the house at the same time. The mother and the defendant then separated.

Before the mother returned to the house the defendant reappeared and the children let him in. He engaged in horseplay and wrestling with the children, and with Elizabeth in particular. After a while, saying he was going to put her to bed, the defendant took Elizabeth to a bathroom and from there into a bedroom. They remained there for a period which the older children estimated to be “a minute or two, maybe three” to “about five minutes.” After they came out of the bedroom, the defendant asked Elizabeth to sit on his lap and she refused. He then picked her up and sat her on his lap. Shortly thereafter the mother returned with the other woman who also lived in the house. Elizabeth then jumped off the defendant’s lap and ran to her mother.

*548 Disturbed that the defendant had returned in the mother’s absence as well as by information given to them by two of the older children, Elizabeth’s mother and the other woman feigned telephone calls to their “boyfriends” in order to persuade the defendant to leave the house. The defendant told the mother that he had hoped he would be allowed to spend the night there and to go to sleep with Elizabeth. He also said that he would return the next morning to take Elizabeth and her six year old brother to a park. At that point the mother ordered him to leave and not to return.

After the defendant left, Elizabeth told her mother that the defendant had taken her into the bedroom, that he “laid on her belly,” that while lying on the bed he bit her elbow, grabbed her legs, and that he had put his finger in her vagina or vaginal area. The mother examined Elizabeth’s vaginal area and saw that “it was red up to her rectum.” During that conversation Elizabeth showed her mother the defendant’s watch which he had left hanging on her bedpost.

Elizabeth’s mother then called the local police and several officers responded. One officer, John Laughton, took charge of the investigation. Another part-time officer, who was also a registered nurse and certified emergency medical technician, drove Elizabeth and her mother to a hospital emergency room for examination. Elizabeth was examined at about 10:00 p.m. by the doctor in charge of the emergency room. The examination was “essentially negative except for two areas.” The first area was that of a small abrasion on the left elbow. The other area was the “vaginal area,. . . the anterior part [of which] was grossly abnormal [in that certain parts of the vaginal area] were both reddened, swollen and tense, indicating that there had been prior exposure in that area.” 3

*549 On December 4, 1984, Officer Laughton made a videotape recording of an interview with Elizabeth about the events of November 30, 1984. Both the trial judge and the Appeals Court panel have viewed and heard the tape. Officer Laughton had no special training in the interviewing of children for cases of this type. At the outset only he and Elizabeth were present, and he found it difficult to get her to reply audibly, as opposed to shaking or nodding her head. Often she would not reply at all. Upon Elizabeth’s request, her mother joined them. Although she spoke more freely with her mother present, there were still times when Elizabeth would not answer. At some point Elizabeth asked for a lollipop and Officer Laughton said she could have one when they finished talking. Later Elizabeth’s mother promised to take her to McDonald’s if she answered the questions. No one suggested to Elizabeth what her answers should be. There were several occasions when Elizabeth gave an answer which was different from or inconsistent with a previous matter. During the interview Elizabeth was permitted to use anatomically correct dolls. With the dolls Elizabeth identified portions of the body involved in a question or answer and demonstrated what she said had happened to her.

The videotaped interview permits the inference that on November 30, 1984, the defendant wrestled around with Elizabeth on the floor of the living room in the presence of her three siblings, that he then took Elizabeth to a bathroom and then to a bedroom, that he removed her clothes and dressed her in pajamas, and that while they were on or in a bed he fondled various parts of her body, including her vaginal area, with his hands or fingers.

On January 21, 1985, this case was presented to the grand jury by an assistant district attorney, with Officer Laughton as the sole witness. The officer’s testimony was based on information he obtained by questioning Elizabeth, her mother, her siblings, the adult woman who lived in the same house, and other police and hospital personnel involved in the case. He told the grand jurors of his videotaped interview of Elizabeth and some of the difficulties he had in getting answers from her, but he did not play the tape for them, nor did he inform them of the several differences or inconsistencies in some of Elizabeth’s answers.

*550 The defendant contends that he is entitled to a dismissal of the indictment in question on the ground that the prosecution, in presenting the case to the grand jury, presented only evidence tending to establish probable cause to support the charge against him, but that it did not present evidence which would tend to exculpate him, viz., the differences and inconsistencies in some of Elizabeth’s answers as recorded on the videotape which was then in the possession of the police or the prosecutor. The defendant contends that either Officer Laughton or the prosecutor should have played the tape for the grand jury. In retrospect, we agree that that might have been the wiser course.

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

Related

Commonwealth v. Epi S. Baez
Massachusetts Appeals Court, 2025
Commonwealth v. Gregory Lamontagne.
Massachusetts Appeals Court, 2025
Commonwealth v. Jones
28 Mass. L. Rptr. 238 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2011)
Commonwealth v. Clemmey
17 Mass. L. Rptr. 717 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2004)
Commonwealth v. Murphy
797 N.E.2d 394 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 2003)
Commonwealth v. Barnes
13 Mass. L. Rptr. 468 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2000)
Commonwealth v. Ellis
10 Mass. L. Rptr. 304 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 1999)
Commonwealth v. Dessin
8 Mass. L. Rptr. 302 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 1998)
Commonwealth v. Ali
684 N.E.2d 1200 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1997)
Commonwealth v. Dunphy
2 Mass. L. Rptr. 450 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 1994)
Commonwealth v. Olsen
624 N.E.2d 579 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1993)
Commonwealth v. Bradley
622 N.E.2d 1386 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1993)
Commonwealth v. LaSota
557 N.E.2d 34 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1990)
Commonwealth v. Tavares
541 N.E.2d 578 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1989)
Commonwealth v. Kelcourse
535 N.E.2d 1272 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1989)
Commonwealth v. Petras
529 N.E.2d 404 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
510 N.E.2d 783, 24 Mass. App. Ct. 546, 1987 Mass. App. LEXIS 2068, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-pond-massappct-1987.