Court Opinion

ID: 9707986
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 02:26:43.317126+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:40.995335
License: Public Domain

*523Nolan, J.
(dissenting). The unconstitutional instructions in this case were clearly harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the defendant never contested the issue of malice. Identification was the only viable issue and despite the court’s language to the contrary, the defendant all but conceded the fact that a murder was committed. Therefore, the erroneous language did not contribute to the defendant’s conviction of murder in the second degree.
In Commonwealth v. Lee, 383 Mass. 507, 510-513 (1981), we recognized that the prejudicial effect of a Sandstrom violation is determined .by the defense asserted at trial. Harmless error analysis was held to be particularly appropriate where the defendant does not dispute the Commonwealth’s version of how the murder occurred, but only claims that he is not the murderer. Id. at 512. “In such circumstances, the failure to object to the charge as to malice cannot be attributed to inadvertence or lack of knowledge of evolving constitutional doctrine. Rather, the failure to object reflects a conscious choice of trial strategy by defense counsel.” Id.
At trial, the defendant’s attorney did not object to these instructions despite the fact that the prosecutor alerted the judge to the erroneous language. Nor did defense counsel seek review of these instructions on appeal the first time around. The most plausible explanation for these decisions is that counsel realized that the “evidence here raised no issue of justification, mitigation, or lack of intent on the part of the perpetrator. ”Id. at513.
Therefore, I dissent.