Court Opinion

ID: 9705852
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:23:43.191314+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:26:04.206481
License: Public Domain

Liacos, J.
(dissenting). I agree generally with the court’s discussion of the legal principles raised by this appeal. However, I cannot join in the court’s conclusion that to give an opportunity to the defendant for a new bench trial suffices as a remedy to offset the misconduct of the law enforcement authorities. In may view, the misconduct of the police was sufficiently egregious to bring it within the prophylactic rule enunciated in Commonwealth v. Manning, 373 Mass. 438, 444 (1977). It is important, I think, briefly to separate out two parallel legal principles that have been set forth in our opinions in cases of this type. In this way I can make clear my precise point of disagreement with the opinion of the court.
First, where the prosecutor fails to disclose exculpatory and material evidence and the defendant is prejudiced, a new trial *116may be required, but a motion to dismiss should not be allowed absent a showing of irremediable harm to the defendant’s opportunity to obtain a fair trial. Commonwealth v. Lam Hue To, 391 Mass. 301, 314 (1984). Double jeopardy principles do not bar a retrial, if a mistrial has been declared, absent a prosecutorial effort to “goad” a defendant into moving for a mistrial. Oregon v. Kennedy, 456 U.S. 667, 676 (1982). Commonwealth v. Lam Hue To, supra at 311. Cf. Commonwealth v. Jackson, 391 Mass. 749, 753 (1984). As we stated in Commonwealth v. Cinelli, 389 Mass. 197, 210, cert. denied, 464 U.S. 860 (1983), “[ajbsent egregious misconduct or at least a serious threat of prejudice, the remedy of dismissal infringes too severely on the public interest in bringing guilty persons to justice” (emphasis supplied). Thus, in the absence of egregious misconduct, dismissal of the charges is not warranted unless the defendant persuades the court that the prejudice he has suffered precludes a fair trial, or that double jeopardy principles bar a new trial.
An alternative and separate principle requiring dismissal of the charges is found in Commonwealth v. Manning, 373 Mass. 438 (1977). Thus, where prosecutorial misconduct is egregious, deliberate, and intentional, “[pjrophylactic considerations assume paramount importance . . . Id. at 444. See Commonwealth v. Carlson, 17 Mass. App. Ct. 52, 57 (1983), where the Appeals Court recognized the distinct nature of this principle. Additionally, we have stated in Commonwealth v. Jackson, 391 Mass. 749, 754 (1984), as to the sanction of dismissal: “The purpose of the sanction [in Manning] was not to rectify harm done to the defendant, because there had been none; the point was to discourage government agents from such deliberate and insidious attempts to subvert the defendant’s right to a fair trial . . . .”
While I agree with the court that the evidence withheld by the Marshfield police was material and exculpatory, and that failure to disclose it was prejudicial at the bench trial, I rely instead on the prophylactic aspects of Manning for my view that this defendant is entitled to a dismissal of the charges. In so doing, I rely on these facts of record: (1) the Department of *117Public Safety chemist’s report shows that the paint found on the police cruiser was “not similar” to the paint on the defendant’s vehicle; (2) the police knew this three months prior to trial; (3) the police arbitrarily refused the defendant’s repeated, specific requests for the chemist’s report; (4) the identification evidence as to the defendant’s culpability was not strong; and (5) the motion judge allowed as a separate basis of dismissal that “[t]he Commonwealth violated defendant’s rights by withholding exculpatory evidence, which if produced would have required a finding of not guilty.”
In my view, the conduct here was egregious. It appears designed to obtain a conviction which otherwise was most unlikely. In short, this defendant, acting pro se, suffered a finding of guilty, another hearing before the motion judge, and this appeal. The time and money she has been forced to expend unnecessarily to defend a relatively minor misdemeanor complaint, resulting in a fine of $125, is unconscionable. I do not believe sending her back to begin all over again is just or equitable. Nor do I think this court ought to condone such conduct by law enforcement officers. Justice for this defendant, and for others in the future, would be better served by a ruling that this court will not tolerate such behavior by law enforcement officers. The complaint should be dismissed.