Court Opinion

ID: 9961640
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-19 14:08:06.669929+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:21:16.233284
License: Public Domain

NOTICE: Summary decisions issued by the Appeals Court pursuant to M.A.C. Rule
23.0, as appearing in 97 Mass. App. Ct. 1017 (2020) (formerly known as rule 1:28,
as amended by 73 Mass. App. Ct. 1001 [2009]), are primarily directed to the parties
and, therefore, may not fully address the facts of the case or the panel's
decisional rationale. Moreover, such decisions are not circulated to the entire
court and, therefore, represent only the views of the panel that decided the case.
A summary decision pursuant to rule 23.0 or rule 1:28 issued after February 25,
2008, may be cited for its persuasive value but, because of the limitations noted
above, not as binding precedent. See Chace v. Curran, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 258, 260
n.4 (2008).

                       COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

                                 APPEALS COURT

                                                  23-P-1239

                                  COMMONWEALTH

                                       vs.

                                LUIS M. ORTIZ.

               MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 23.0

       The defendant, Luis M. Ortiz, stands charged with indecent

 assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen and

 rape of a child aggravated by age difference.             His brother and

 codefendant, Luis E. Ortiz, who is the appellant here,1 stands

 charged with rape of a child aggravated by age difference.                At

 issue is a Superior Court judge's order allowing the

 Commonwealth's motion to compel Luis E. to submit to a buccal

 swab for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis, which the

 Commonwealth seeks to potentially use in its case against the

 defendant.     After Luis E. moved to reconsider the order, the

 judge held an evidentiary hearing and issued a written decision

       1Because defendant Luis M. Ortiz and appellant Luis E.
 Ortiz have similar names, for clarity we refer to Luis M. Ortiz
 as the defendant and Luis E. Ortiz as Luis E.
denying his motion.   When Luis E. still refused to submit to the

buccal swab, the judge found him in contempt.     Luis E. now

appeals from the finding of contempt, challenging the judge's

underlying order that he provide a DNA sample.2    We affirm.

     Background.   The charges against the brothers3 stem from the

following alleged events, as summarized by the judge in her

written decision on reconsideration.    We stress that at this

point these are only allegations.    On July 21, 2019, the

brothers and a third man picked up three female juveniles who

were on foot after leaving a Department of Children and Families

(DCF) residential program in Springfield.    The men drove the

girls to an apartment where the defendant forced one of them,

J.T., who was twelve years old, to have sex with him.    Luis E.

forced a different girl to perform oral sex on him while at the

     2 Luis E. initially sought to challenge the underlying order
through a petition to a single justice of the Supreme Judicial
Court. The single justice denied the petition on the ground
that it did not present extraordinary circumstances for relief
under G. L. c. 211, § 3. On Luis E.'s appeal, the Supreme
Judicial Court affirmed, holding that he had "an adequate
alternative remedy, namely, an appeal to the Appeals Court from
the order of contempt." Ortiz v. Commonwealth, 492 Mass. 1023,
1023 (2023). See Lenardis v. Commonwealth, 452 Mass. 1001, 1001
(2008) ("A nonparty directed to provide evidence [such as a
buccal swab] pursuant to [Mass. R. Crim. P. 17 (a) (2), 378
Mass. 885 (1979)] can challenge the propriety of the order by
refusing to comply with it and appealing from any order of
contempt that results").

     3 For purposes of this appeal, we will assume, as the
Commonwealth appears to, that the defendant and Luis E. are full
biological brothers.

                                 2
same apartment.   When the girls returned to the residential

program three days later, they reported what happened to DCF

staff.

     J.T.'s underwear, which was positive for sperm cells, was

analyzed for Y-STR DNA.   As established at the evidentiary

hearing, Y-STR testing is "male-specific testing" that "ignores

female DNA and just tests DNA on the Y chromosome."   The Y-STR

DNA profile obtained from J.T.'s underwear was a mixture of at

least two male contributors.    According to the DNA report, "the

major DNA profile is at least 742 times more likely if the

profile originated from [the defendant] (or a patrilineal

relative) than if it originated from a randomly selected

individual.   99.8% of the male population can be excluded from

the major DNA profile."   But barring a mutation, "all male

relatives within the same paternal lineage will have the same

Y-STR profile."

     After receiving the DNA results, the defendant and Luis E.

each filed motions to sever.4   The defendant's motion was

accompanied by an affidavit from his trial counsel, which stated

that the defendant's "best defense in regards to the DNA

evidence is that it belongs to his brother Luis E." and that

"[j]oinder of these trials would prejudice [the defendant] as it

     4 The trial court dockets reflect that the motions to sever
remain pending.

                                 3
would hinder his defense to cast blame on his brother."    This

prompted the Commonwealth to then move to compel Luis E. to

provide a DNA sample.   Finding that the Commonwealth met its

burden of showing that the sample would produce relevant

evidence, the judge ordered Luis E. to submit to a buccal swab.

    At the evidentiary hearing on Luis E.'s motion for

reconsideration, both parties presented DNA experts.    The

experts agreed that the expectation would be that Luis E. and

the defendant would have the same Y-STR profile.    Luis E.'s

expert testified that the probability of finding a mutation is

ten percent, while the Commonwealth's expert testified that the

probability is approximately four percent.

    Discussion.   "A government-compelled buccal swab implicates

the protections afforded by the Fourth Amendment to the United

States Constitution against unreasonable searches and seizures."

Commonwealth v. Draheim, 447 Mass. 113, 117 (2006).    To compel a

third party to submit to a buccal swab, the Commonwealth must

establish "probable cause to believe a crime was committed, and

that the sample will probably provide evidence relevant to the

question of the defendant's guilt."   Id. at 119.   Here, Luis E.

concedes that there is probable cause to believe that a crime

was committed against J.T., but argues that the Commonwealth

failed to show that his DNA sample will probably lead to

evidence relevant to the defendant's guilt.   Because this issue

                                4
is one of constitutional dimension, we consider it de novo.5         Cf.

Commonwealth v. Roderick, 490 Mass. 669, 673 (2022) ("we accept

findings of fact by a judge who saw and heard the witnesses,

unless those findings are clearly erroneous, but consider the

constitutionality of the search [global positioning system

monitoring] de novo").

       We agree with the judge that the Commonwealth met its

burden of showing that testing of Luis E.'s DNA will probably

produce evidence relevant to the question of the defendant's

guilt.      If the testing reveals a mutation, that would plainly be

relevant evidence because it would exclude Luis E. as a

potential contributor to the DNA found in J.T.'s underwear.

While Luis E. concedes this point, he contends that the far more

likely result, i.e., a finding of no mutation, would not be

relevant evidence because it would leave the likelihood of the

defendant's guilt "exactly the same."       We are not persuaded.

Without the testing, there is a four to ten percent probability

that Luis E. could be excluded as a potential contributor of the

DNA.       If the testing is conducted and reveals no mutation, it

would confirm that Luis E. cannot be excluded as a potential

contributor and make it equally likely that either brother could

have been the contributor.      Because a finding of no mutation

       The Commonwealth acknowledged at oral argument that our
       5

review is de novo.

                                    5
would thus strengthen the defendant's planned third-party

culprit defense, testing of Luis E.'s DNA, whatever the result,

will produce evidence that is relevant to the defendant's guilt.

See Commonwealth v. Fayerweather, 406 Mass. 78, 83 (1989),

quoting Commonwealth v. Copeland, 375 Mass. 438, 443 (1978)

(evidence is relevant if it "render[s] the desired inference

more probable than it would have been without it").    Cf.

Commonwealth v. Kostka, 471 Mass. 656, 662-663 (2015)

(Commonwealth failed to show that testing of third party's DNA

would lead to relevant evidence where there was no indication

that defendant planned to present third-party culprit defense,

but "calculus would be different" if defendant later sought to

present such a defense).

    This does not end the inquiry because we must also consider

"the third party's constitutional right to be free from bodily

intrusion."   Kostka, 471 Mass. at 659.   The third party's right

must be weighed against "the seriousness of the crime, the

importance of the evidence, and the unavailability of less

intrusive means of obtaining it."    Draheim, 447 Mass. at 119.

See Kostka, supra.   Here, the defendant is charged with rape of

a child, "one of the most serious crimes punishable by law."

Commonwealth v. Sherman, 481 Mass. 464, 473 (2019).    The

evidence sought is also highly important, given that the

brothers were present together at the scene of the crime and the

                                 6
defendant intends to pursue a defense that his brother, and not

he, was the one who raped J.T.    Finally, a buccal swab, which

does not involve penetrating the skin, is a "minimally

intrusive" means of obtaining the sample.    Kostka, supra at 663.

Balancing these factors against Luis E.'s right to be free from

bodily intrusion, we conclude that the judge correctly ordered

Luis E. to submit to a buccal swab for DNA analysis.6

     That said, we note that the judge's order does not specify

whether or how the Commonwealth can use Luis E.'s DNA sample

other than for comparison to the DNA evidence in the defendant's

case.    The briefs do not address this issue, and at oral

argument neither party could clarify what would happen to the

DNA sample as a practical matter after it is tested.     We

therefore do not address the issue further, but nothing we have

said precludes Luis E. from moving for a limiting order in the

     6 Luis E. argues that the low probability of finding a
mutation must be considered in the analysis because otherwise "a
judge could compel a DNA sampling . . . even if the odds of a
mutation were one in a billion." While we agree that the
probabilities matter, this is accounted for in the balancing
test, which requires a judge to consider "the importance of the
evidence." Draheim, 447 Mass. at 119. A four to ten percent
probability of finding a mutation is not insignificant and does
not tip the balance in Luis E.'s favor.

                                  7
Superior Court with respect to the use and retention of the DNA

sample and the evidence of what the testing revealed.

                                     Order of contempt affirmed.

                                     By the Court (Rubin, Blake &
                                       Shin, JJ.7),

                                     Assistant Clerk

Entered: April 19, 2024.

    7   The panelists are listed in order of seniority.

                                 8