Opinion ID: 495428
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: subatch's testimony.

Text: 20 At trial, petitioner sought to impeach the testimony of Wayne Subatch, a key prosecution witness, by reference to Subatch's criminal record. A state statute, M.G.L. ch. 233, Sec. 21, provided that to impeach a witness in this fashion, the conviction must be proved by a court record or a certified copy. See Commonwealth v. Atkins, 386 Mass. 593, 600, 436 N.E.2d 1203 (1982). In the absence of such proof, the Commonwealth declined to agree to the introduction of prior convictions through an (unofficial) probation department form known as a blue sheet. The trial judge ordered that Subatch be examined out of the presence of the jury to determine whether he had been convicted of the crimes limned in the blue sheet, and if so, whether he had been represented by counsel during the predicate legal proceedings. Subatch acknowledged during this voir dire that he was the person who had been convicted of a number of the offenses, and testified further that he had been represented by counsel in connection with some (though not all) of those convictions. 21 In toto, four convictions were involved: one for assault with a dangerous weapon (1976), one for assault and battery of a police officer (1977), one for disorderly conduct (1977), and one for larceny (1979). Although the record is less than explicit on this point, it appears that after the voir dire the trial judge was willing to allow cross-examination regarding the first three of these convictions, notwithstanding the defense's failure to comply with M.G.L. ch. 233, Sec. 21. Puleio's counsel did, in fact, cross-question Subatch about his two 1977 convictions. For reasons not readily apparent on the face of the record, he made no effort to impeach Subatch with the 1976 conviction. Although the petitioner argues that the state court precluded him from cross-examining the witness about that episode, the record simply fails to bear out this assertion. 3 Hence, the only bit of impeachment evidence which can be said to have been excluded by the court was the 1979 larceny conviction. 22 Appellant trumpets that this restriction on cross-examination denied him his constitutional rights to confrontation and due process. See U.S. Const.Amend. VI, XIV. 4 Though loudly proclaimed, the call signifies nothing of any substance. Defense counsel took full advantage of the opportunity to conduct a lengthy, penetrating cross-examination of Subatch, during which the jury heard evidence that the witness had been found guilty of disorderly conduct and an assault upon a peace officer. He could have--but did not--grill Subatch about his conviction for assault with a dangerous weapon. There is no rational basis, under the circumstances, for regarding the limitation against use of a lone larceny conviction (of questionable relevance, we might add) as a violation of Puleio's constitutional rights. 23 We need not probe the point too deeply, however, for it is perfectly plain that any restriction on the right of cross-examination was of petitioner's own making. Puleio had ample notice that Subatch would testify for the prosecution, and the Massachusetts rule mandating that impeachment evidence of prior criminal convictions be by court records or certified copies thereof is of long standing. E.g., Commonwealth v. Walsh, 196 Mass. 369, 369-70, 82 N.E. 19 (1907). Having frittered away a period of no less than several months within which he could have procured the requisite documentation but did not, petitioner cannot meaningfully be heard to insist that this was the cornerstone of his defense. 24 The law ministers to the vigilant not to those who sleep upon perceptible rights. Like any litigant, a criminal defendant cannot routinely be rewarded for somnolence and lassitude. Once these verities are acknowledged, it becomes readily apparent that the trial court denied the defendant no right which he had not already sacrificed on his own. No error of constitutional magnitude attended the enforcement of M.G.L. ch. 233, Sec. 21 in the circumstances of this case. 5 25