Flemmi v. Gunter

410 F. Supp. 1361, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16322
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedMarch 4, 1976
DocketCiv. A. 74-5178-T
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 410 F. Supp. 1361 (Flemmi v. Gunter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Flemmi v. Gunter, 410 F. Supp. 1361, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16322 (D. Mass. 1976).

Opinion

OPINION

TAURO, District Judge.

Vincent J. Flemmi is currently confined at M.C.I. Walpole following his conviction in March 1970 on a charge of assault with intent to murder and related offenses. He brings this action for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that various evidentiary rulings made during the course of his trial in Suffolk Superior Court deprived him of his rights under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments.

The issues raised in the instant petition formed the basis of petitioner’s second motion for a new trial brought in Suffolk Superior Court some months after his right of direct appeal had expired. 1 Mass.Gen.Laws ch. 278, § 29. The motion was denied on the merits, after a hearing, and the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed in a lengthy opinion. Commonwealth v. Flemmi, [1974] Mass.App.Adv.Sh. 867, 316 N.E.2d 740. The Supreme Judicial Court denied petitioner’s Request for Further Appellate Review. 2

I

At petitioner’s trial, the Commonwealth sought to prove the following facts.

In late 1969, the petitioner was rumored to have accused one Abboud of “talking to the cops.” When Abboud learned of these allegations, he sought out the petitioner to discuss the matter and, on December 26, 1969, found him at a restaurant. The petitioner pressured Abboud to give him a ride and the two men left the restaurant in an automobile driven by a friend of Abboud, who apparently knew both men. Abboud sat on the passenger’s side of the front seat, but was turned toward the petitioner, who was seated in the rear. Abboud, already fearful of an attempt on his life, saw the petitioner draw a pistol and point it in his direction. Thereupon, Abboud threw himself in the rear of the automobile in order to take the gun away from the petitioner. As he did, the driver of the moving vehicle fled. A struggle between the petitioner and Abboud ensued, in the course of which the gun fired and the petitioner was wounded. The driverless car crashed into a parked car. Abboud fled.

Shortly after the incident, the petitioner received a telephone call at his home from one Richard O’Neil. O’Neil told the petitioner to call Abboud at a Somerville telephone number. The petitioner did so and Abboud answered the phone. Unbeknownst to the petitioner, the conversation was instituted at the request of the police while they had Abboud in custody, and was tape recorded by them. The parties apparently do not dispute, and the Appeals Court found, that Abboud consented to this procedure. [1974] Mass.App.Adv.Sh. at 872, 316 N.E.2d at 743. No warrant or other judicial sanction was obtained prior to the recording of the conversation.

The petitioner was eventually incarcerated on charges stemming from this incident in the Suffolk County Jail. At *1366 that time, he purportedly had a conversation with one Carita, the contents of which will be more fully described below.

II

The evidence of the shooting, and of Abboud’s subsequent conversation with the petitioner was elicited during Abboud’s direct testimony at the petitioner’s trial. Partway during his examination, the assistant district attorney asked Abboud to relate the contents of the taped conversation. Defense counsel promptly requested a voir dire, and an unrecorded bench conference ensued.

According to the petitioner, the assistant district attorney informed the judge at the bench that he had a typewritten memorandum of the conversation. The prosecutor allegedly also indicated that he intended to ask Abboud if the petitioner had said to him “Why did you shoot me?” and that he expected the answer to be, “Why did I try to shoot you? You tried to shoot me.” Upon learning that the prosecutor expected to elicit this testimony from Abboud, defense counsel agreed to drop his request for a voir dire, believing that the testimony would be favorable to the petitioner’s case.

When the examination resumed, Abboud testified about the conversation, omitting that portion which the prosecutor had supposedly indicated Abboud would relate. During this testimony, the District Attorney refreshed the witness’ recollection with a document. The record does not clearly reveal either the nature or contents of that document.

At the conclusion of Abboud’s direct testimony, defense counsel requested a second, recorded, bench conference. At this time he moved to “be furnished with all statements in the possession of the District Attorney’s Office, given by this witness, having to do with the circumstances that took place that night.” In the course of that bench conference the following colloquy took place:

Defendant’s Counsel: ... I point out, Your Honor, at the bench here, with regard to my previous motion for a voir dire, . the Assistant District Attorney indicated [at the first bench conference] that this witness was going to testify with regard to the telephone conversation that the [petitioner] said, “Why did you try to shoot me?” And he has not so testified during the course of that conversation.
The Prosecutor: Get it on cross-examination. It’s as simple as that.

The discussion then shifted to other matters and the judge called a recess without ruling on the defendant’s motion. When court reconvened, the colloquy continued.

Defendant’s Counsel: May I have my motion for statements . that he furnished law enforcement officers?
The Judge: Well, what do you say about that?
The Prosecutor: Well, Your Honor, I know of no law in this Commonwealth where statements by witnesses must be furnished to defense counsel.
The Judge: “I’ll deny that motion and save your rights.” 3

[1974] Mass.App.Adv.Sh. at 871, 316 N.E.2d at 743.

Abboud was then cross-examined for some time before defense counsel reached the subject of the telephone conversation. At that point he learned for the first time that the police had recorded the conversation and Abboud had consented to their doing so. When asked whether during that conversation the defendant had said, “Why did you shoot me?”, Abboud said no. That answer was immediately followed by another colloquy.

Defendant’s Counsel: I’ll renew my motion, if Your Honor please, to produce.
*1367 The Judge: What?
Defendant’s Counsel: Any statement.
The Judge: No. I’ll exclude it and save your rights. We have been over that already and I have already excluded it.

[1974] Mass.App.Adv.Sh. at 872, 316 N.E.2d at 743.

The petitioner’s counsel then moved “that the defense be furnished the tape recording of this conversation.” Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
410 F. Supp. 1361, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16322, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flemmi-v-gunter-mad-1976.