Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

The Right to Confront and Cross-Examine Witness Testimony in Massachusetts: Motor Vehicle Offenses after Commonwealth v. Parenteau

Published on: June 13, 2011 | by Patrick J. Murphy, Esq.

If you have been charged with a motor vehicle offense or crime in Massachusetts such as driving a motor vehicle after your driver’s license right to drive in Massachusetts had been suspended or revoked, the Commonwealth must prove certain facts beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict you. You must have operated a motor vehicle at a time of when your driver’s license had been revoked or suspended. Finally, you must have received notice from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles that your license or right to drive in Massachusetts had been or was about to be suspended or revoked. However, how does a defendant challenge whether or not notice was sent as required? Under the existing law, notice is established primarily by documentary evidence not subject to a defendant’s right to confront and cross examine. How do you to question a document? The recently decided case of Commonwealth v. Parenteau has further clarified the issue of whether or not the government needs to subpoena live witness testimony to prove that someone received notice that their license was about to be suspended or revoked and this change may now benefit the defendant.

Upon the suspension or revocation of your license or right to operate, the Registrar is required to send you written notice to your address as appearing on Registry records, or to your last and usual residence. G.L. c. 90, § 22(d). This notice requirement is usually proven through a certified document from the Registry of Motor Vehicles that they sent a required letter to you explaining that your right to operate would be suspended or revoked by, for example, operating under the influence or by having an outstanding warrant in any Massachusetts court. The Commonwealth is not required to prove that you had actual, personal knowledge of the contents of this notice, however, the judge or jury may consider a properly attested copy of the official record of the Registry of Motor Vehicles as sufficient evidence that your license was suspended, and that they properly notified you.

In a motor vehicle offense case, the Commonwealth must prove receipt either of notice of actual suspension or notice of intent to suspend per the decision of Commonwealth v. Crosscup, 369 Mass. 228, 231 & n.2,339 N.E.2d 731, 734 & n.2 (1975), and the defendant must be permitted to offer evidence of non-receipt (See Commonwealth v. Crosscup, 369 Mass. at 240, 339 N.E.2d at 739. Prior to the Parenteau decision, the Registrar’s proper mailing of a letter was prima facie evidence of receipt by the addressee. Id., 369 Mass. at 239-240, 339 N.E.2d at 738-739. This documentation from the Registry, if properly certified, is usually admitted in evidence against a defendant without the need for live witness testimony from the Registry. Defendants have objected in the past but until the Parenteau case judges in the Commonwealth did not see a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to confront and cross-examine a witness from the Registry to challenge such documentation. The law has now changed as a result of the ruling in the Parenteau.

In Commonwealth v. Parenteau, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts considered whether a District Court judge erred by admitting in evidence, pursuant to G. L. c. 90, § 22 (d),(1) a certificate from the registry of motor vehicles (registry) attesting to the fact that a notice of license suspension or revocation was mailed to the defendant. The SJC concluded that the admission of the certificate violated the defendant’s rights of confrontation and cross-examination under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

In this case, the defendant was arrested for violating G. L. c. 90, § 23,(6) by operating a motor vehicle after his license had been revoked pursuant to G. L. c. 90, § 24 (1) (a) (1), for operating under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The case proceeded to a jury trial and the defendant filed a motion in limine to exclude documentary evidence from the Registry in the event that such evidence was not supported by witness testimony at trial on the ground that admission of the documentary evidence violated the defendant’s right to confrontation under the Sixth Amendment. The trial judge denied the motion. Later, the Commonwealth introduced a certificate from the Registry on which appeared a stamp certifying that notice was sent to the defendant that his license was revoked on a certain date. Ultimately, the jury found the defendant guilty of operating a motor vehicle after his license had been revoked for operating while under the influence of intoxicating liquor.
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Petition to Seal or Expunge Criminal Records In Massachusetts: CORI reform under G.L. c. 276 s. 100A, s. 100B, and s. 100C.

Published on: June 3, 2011 | by Patrick J. Murphy, Esq.

On July 31, 2010, the Massachusetts legislature adopted CORI reform. CORI means Criminal Offender Record Information. It is a person’s criminal history. In this article we will explore CORI reform in Massachusetts and cover the types of entries on a criminal record that are eligible to be sealed. Sealing a criminal record in Massachusetts can be difficult and should not be undertaken without having an experienced Massachusetts criminal defense attorney with you to guide you deftly though an often convoluted process. The successful sealing your record in Massachusetts means that you maintain and ensure that past court involvement stays confidential by prohibiting access to that information by potential employers, school officials, public housing authorities, and others.

If you have ever been charged with a crime in a state or federal court in Massachusetts, whether your case ended with or without a conviction, a verdict of not guilty, or the charges were thrown out or dismissed, you will still have a CORI in Massachusetts and that information is accessible to others. Under the old CORI law employers could ask about past criminal involvement right away on a job application and thereby limit the applicant pool for a particular job. Under the new CORI law, employers can’t ask up front on the first job application but may ask about it later in the application process and request that a potential employee make that information available. Successfully sealing your CORI can prevent such an intrusion into your privacy. Fortunately, the waiting periods for sealing felony and misdemeanor cases will been shortened soon to allow petitioners to request to seal a felony conviction after 10 years (previously 15 years) and a misdemeanor conviction after five years (previously 10 years). The reduction in these sealing periods and the other important sections of the CORI law become effective in May 2012. However, now is the time to get started by obtaining a copy of your CORI and contacting an experienced Boston criminal defense lawyer to help seal or expunge your Massachusetts criminal record.

The procedures for sealing criminal records are contained in Massachusetts G.L. c. 276, §§§ 100A, 100B and 100C. In certain cases, a Petition to Seal may be made directly to the Commissioner of Probation for those entries that are “aged out.” This means that all of your court appearances and court disposition records, including the termination of your probation or any sentence for any misdemeanor must have occurred not less than ten years prior to the filing of the Petition to Seal. It also requires that all of your court appearances and court disposition records, including the termination of your probation or any sentence for any felony must have occurred not less than fifteen years prior to the filing of the Petition to Seal. For Juvenile Delinquency court cases or dispositions, there is a three year waiting period before being allowed to file a Petition to Seal.
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Harassment Prevention Orders and Restraining Orders in Massachusetts: The Differences between G.L. c. 258E and G.L. c. 209A

Published on: May 31, 2011 | by Patrick J. Murphy, Esq.

It has been a year since Massachusetts introduced the new Harassment Order law (G.L. c. 258E) last May which allows a plaintiff to seek a “Harassment Prevention Order” in court against a defendant for “Harassment”. Since the enactment of the Harassment Law in Massachusetts there has been an explosion of new cases and a corresponding increase in the need for an experienced Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer.

In order to obtain a Harassment Order against another person, the moving party must demonstrate that 3 or more acts were committed against them in a “willful and malicious” manner with “intent to cause fear, intimidation, abuse or property damage.” The Plaintiff can seek a Harassment order in the District Court, Boston Municipal Court, Juvenile Court, or Superior Court.

The principle difference between Abuse Prevention Orders (G.L. c. 209A) and Harassment Orders (G.L. c. 258E) concerns the class of people eligible for relief under each law. With Harassment Orders anyone can seek relief by filing an application in court and proving a case of harassment as defined above by a preponderance of the evidence. The Abuse Prevention Order only allows “Family or Household Members” to seek relief. In short, there must have been a relationship between the parties by marriage, or persons residing together in the same household, or relation at some point by blood or marriage between them. One could also seek an Abuse Prevention Order if they were or had been in a dating relationship with the offending party.

The Harassment Order law re-defines and greatly increases the pool of eligible plaintiffs who have access to the courts to obtain a “Harassment Order”. Consequently, we are now seeing a flood of new filings by neighbor against neighbor which has overwhelmed already swollen court dockets. Due to the increase in cases an experienced Boston Criminal attorney is crucial to have at your side when seeking or defending against Harassment and Abuse Prevention Orders in Massachusetts.
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