Commonwealth v. Zane Z.

743 N.E.2d 867, 51 Mass. App. Ct. 135, 2001 Mass. App. LEXIS 194
CourtMassachusetts Appeals Court
DecidedMarch 9, 2001
DocketNo. 99-P-517
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 743 N.E.2d 867 (Commonwealth v. Zane Z.) 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. Zane Z., 743 N.E.2d 867, 51 Mass. App. Ct. 135, 2001 Mass. App. LEXIS 194 (Mass. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Beck, J.

A Barnstable Juvenile Court jury found the juvenile delinquent on complaints charging indecent assault and battery of a child under the age of fourteen, G. L. c. 265, § 13B, and rape of a child under the age of sixteen, G. L. c. 265, § 23. On appeal, the juvenile argues that (1) the trial judge erred in denying the juvenile’s written request for a specific unanimity instruction; (2) the motion judge erred in denying the juvenile’s request for production of certain Department of Social Services and counseling records pursuant to Commonwealth v. Bishop, 416 Mass. 169 (1993); and (3) the prosecutor’s closing argument created a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice. As to the first issue, we conclude that this case is governed by Commonwealth v. Conefrey, 420 Mass. 508 (1995), and we therefore reverse.

1. Facts. In the spring of 1997, the juvenile was fifteen years old, and the victim was eight years old. They had been neighbors for five years. The victim often played with the juvenile and his younger brother, who was about her age. She was also very close to the juvenile’s mother.

In early July, 1997, the victim asked the juvenile’s mother whether sex is when a man puts his penis in a woman. Later that day, the victim disclosed the following incidents which were alleged to have occurred some time between March 31, 1997, and June 3, 1997.

One day when the victim was wearing shorts, the defendant, his younger brother, the victim, and her younger brother were playing in the woods near the victim’s house. The defendant sent the two younger boys on a “mission.” He then ordered the victim to lie face down on the ground. When she looked back, she saw that the juvenile had “[taken] out his penis.” The juvenile then lay on top of her rubbing his penis against the part of her underwear that was covering her vagina. He told her to move her body up and down “[l]ike . . . how you do a push up.” When they heard leaves rustling, signaling the return of the boys, the juvenile and the victim got up. It was not entirely clear from the victim’s testimony whether this conduct occurred more than once.

[137]*137On another occasion, the juvenile locked the younger boys out of the juvenile’s bedroom, sat in a chair, and told the victim to suck his penis. The juvenile’s penis was in her mouth “but there was . . . boxer fabric over it.” The juvenile got up when he heard the younger boys opening the door with a coat hanger.

In the course of the investigation of the events just recounted, the victim was taken to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. During that visit, the victim revealed that her grandfather had also been sexually abusing her. He “would take out his penis and . . . have [the victim] rub it,” while she sat in his lap when he babysat. This abuse apparently occurred during the same time period as the incidents involving the juvenile.

One year before the juvenile’s trial, the grandfather pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault and battery of a child. G. L. c. 265, § 13B. He was sentenced to two and one-half years in a house of correction, one year to serve and the balance suspended, with ten years’ probation. By agreement of the parties, the jury were made aware of this information.

2. Specific unanimity instructions. Some time before the end of the trial, defense counsel filed a document entitled “Defendant’s Request for Jury Instructions.” This document consisted of eleven numbered paragraphs. Paragraph eleven, citing Commonwealth v. Conefrey, 420 Mass. 508, requested the following instruction on unanimity:

“I instruct you that your decision in this case must be unanimous. In other words, you cannot find the defendant guilty of any charge unless each one of you, individually, is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the truth of that charge against him.
“[I] further instruct you that where evidence has been presented of more than one incident for a particular charge, your verdict must be unanimous as to a specific act that is the basis of any finding beyond a reasonable doubt on that charge. It is not enough, for example, that each of you concludes that some incident has been proved; there must be unanimous agreement on a particular incident, and if there is not, you must find the defendant not guilty on that charge.”

[138]*138The judge did not give the requested instruction. Instead he instructed the jury as follows:

“Your verdicts have to be unanimous which means that all six of you have to agree. You can’t decide the cases five to one or four to two. When you go to your jury room, you have to reach a unanimous verdict. All six jurors agreeing. . . .
“You don’t have to decide each case the same way. . . . You could conceivably find [the juvenile] delinquent of one complaint and not delinquent of the other. But in each case your verdict has to be unanimous.”

At the conclusion of the judge’s instructions, defense counsel asked the judge to give instruction number seven, concerning prior consistent statements. The judge agreed. Counsel then requested the specific unanimity instruction set out in paragraph eleven. When the prosecutor interjected that the judge had given that instruction, defense counsel explained, “if some of them think the incident in the woods happened, some of them think that maybe the incident in the bedroom happened, then —.” The judge appears to have broken in and said, “No, I’m not going to do that.” Defense counsel responded, “Well, my objection then for the record on that.” Counsel reiterated his objectian after the jury retired, “in case the microphone didn’t pick [it] up.” The judge responded “okay.”

(a) Applicable legal standards. While not guaranteed by either the Federal Constitution, or the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, the right to a unanimous verdict is “recognized at common law as a means to ensure that the government has met its. burden of proving all facts necessary to show the defendant’s guilt.” Commonwealth v. Conefrey, 420 Mass. at 512 n.7. “A general unanimity instruction informs the jury that the verdict must be unanimous, whereas a specific unanimity instruction indicates to the jury that they must be unanimous as to which specific act constitutes the offense charged.” Commonwealth v. Keevan, 400 Mass. 557, 566-567 (1987). “[A] [specific] unanimity instruction is required only if the jurors could otherwise disagree which act a defendant committed and yet convict him of the crime charged .... The possibility of [139]*139disagreement exists where the defendant is accused of a number of unrelated incidents, such as alleged rapes at different times or places, leaving the jurors free to believe different parts of the testimony and yet convict the defendant.” Commonwealth v. Ramos, 31 Mass. App. Ct. 362, 366-367 (1991), quoting from People v. Burns, 196 Cal. App. 3d 1440, 1458 (1987).

The first Massachusetts case “address[ing] a trial judge’s refusal to give a specific unanimity instruction after a proper request and a timely objection, where alternate incidents could support a conviction,” was Commonwealth v. Conefrey, 420 Mass. at 512.

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Bluebook (online)
743 N.E.2d 867, 51 Mass. App. Ct. 135, 2001 Mass. App. LEXIS 194, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-zane-z-massappct-2001.