Court Opinion

ID: 9520745
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:48:43.834393+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:46:47.684736
License: Public Domain

Liacos, J.
(dissenting). I am unable to agree with the majority that the charge given on reasonable doubt does not constitute reversible error. The majority, apparently recognizing the serious infirmities in the charge, state, “[T]he cumulative effect of the defects in the charge is such that if the charge had been given after the Ferreira decision and a proper exception had been taken we would have held that there was error.” Supra at 601. I take the position that reversal is required, notwithstanding the defendant’s failure to take a proper exception at his trial which occurred prior to the Ferreira decision.
This court applied the Ferreira decision retroactively in Commonwealth v. Garcia, 379 Mass. 422 (1980). The court stated, “We believe that In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970), made retroactive by Ivan V. v. New York, 407 U.S. 203 (1972), mandates retroactive application of Ferreira. We emphasize, however, that we will scrutinize more carefully jury instructions given after the date of Ferreira. Cf. Commonwealth v. Rodriguez, 370 Mass. 684, 692 (1976); Commonwealth v. Collins, 374 Mass. 596, 599 (1978); Commonwealth v. Stokes, 374 Mass. 583, 590-591 (1978). Commonwealth v. Garcia, supra at 441.
In the past when this court has given retroactive effect to a decision, we have reviewed on appeal errors at trials occurring prior to such decision, even in the absence of a proper exception at trial. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Stokes, supra, giving retroactive effect to Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684 (1975), and Commonwealth v. Rodriguez, supra. See also Commonwealth v. Collins, supra; Commonwealth v. Harris, 376 Mass. 201 (1978). In Stokes, supra at 590, *605we concluded that “with respect to trials occurring before Mullaney, a specific objection to the judge’s instructions on burden of proof need not be shown in order to secure appellate review.” In reaching this conclusion the court explicitly rejected the suggestion in Hankerson v. North Carolina, 432 U.S. 233, 244 n.8 (1977), which it now seems to embrace, namely, that with respect to pre-Mullaney cases, “[t]he States, if they wish, may be able to insulate past convictions by enforcing the normal and valid rule that failure to object to a jury instruction is a waiver of any claim of error.” See Stokes, supra at 588. The reasons given for rejecting the Hankerson approach were two-fold.
First, we noted our ‘“power to set aside a verdict . . . when a decisive matter has not been raised at trial.’ Commonwealth v. Myers, [356 Mass. 343, 347 (1969),] quoting from Commonwealth v. Conroy, 333 Mass. 751, 757 (1956),” Stokes, supra at 589. We then concluded that appellate review is warranted because “the constitutional issue of burden of proof goes to the very heart of the truth-finding function of the criminal trial and, as such, raises ‘serious questions about the accuracy of guilty verdicts.’” Id. (citations omitted). A closer examination of Commonwealth v. Myers, quoted above in Stokes, clarifies the conceptual underpinnings of this first rationale. In Myers, supra at 347, we stated, “We are mindful that, apart from § 33E, this court ‘in appropriate instances . . . has and will exercise the power to set aside a verdict or finding in order to prevent a miscarriage of justice when a decisive matter has not been raised at the trial.’ Commonwealth v. Conroy, 333 Mass. 751, 757 [1956]. This power has been sparingly used. ‘The test is whether there is a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice.’ Commonwealth v. Freeman, 352 Mass. 556, 564 [1967].” It becomes apparent from Myers, that our conclusion in Stokes rests on our view that erroneous instructions on the burden of proof raise such “serious questions about the accuracy of guilty verdicts” as to raise “a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice.” Hence, a defendant who received an erroneous instruction on the bur*606den of proof in a pr e-Mullaney trial and failed to take a proper exception, need not demonstrate, as a preliminary matter, that the instruction created a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice because the court has already recognized this risk in its decision to apply Mullaney retroactively.1
Our second reason for rejecting the Hankerson suggestion rested on the inconsistency of holding “on the one hand that a substantive rule of constitutional dimension is completely retroactive and [insisting], on the other hand, that defense counsel must have anticipated the rule in the form of an objection or exception before it may be applied retroactively.” Commonwealth v. Stokes, supra at 589-590. This court has never required “clairvoyance on the part of defense counsel.” Id. at 588.
While holding in Stokes that Mullaney would be applied retroactively in the absence of an exception at trial, we also recognized the need for a less stringent standard of review in pr e-Mullaney cases. We stated, “[T]his court will bring greater expectations, and consequently more careful scrutiny of the judge’s charge as to these issues, in any case where the trial occurred after the date of Mullaney, and particularly after the date of Rodriguez.” Id. at 591. See Collins, supra at 599. Thus our decision to apply Mullaney retroac*607tively in the absence of a proper exception at trial was balanced by a realistic concern that reversal not follow automatically where the instructions given were fair, but not in technical compliance with the requirements of Mullaney. We do not demand clairvoyance on the part of a trial judge. We do require that a charge, in its entirety, place the burden on the Commonwealth to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
I find no justification for treating the retroactive application of Ferreira any differently from our retroactive application of Mullaney and Rodriguez. An erroneous instruction on reasonable doubt also raises “serious questions about the accuracy of guilty verdicts.” The charge in the case at bar trivializes the Commonwealth’s burden of proof and offends the constitutional requirements of Mullaney and In re Winship, supra.2 In light of our reasoning in Stokes, I cannot agree with the majority’s reliance on Hankerson v. North Carolina, supra at 244, n.8, for the proposition that “we are not required by decisions of the Supreme Court to overlook the failure to take exceptions.” The Hankerson approach was squarely rejected in Stokes, supra at 588. It is my position that when this court takes the dramatic step of giving a decision retroactive effect, we make a policy judgment that a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice is involved. In my view it is inconsistent to hold that Ferreira will be given retroactive effect, and to then conclude that the instant charge, which fails to meet the requirements of Ferreira, does not require reversal because “no such risk” exists, supra at 602. This conceptual inconsistency is exacerbated by the more obvious illogic of requiring “clairvoyance on the part of defense counsel” in order for a defendant to benefit from the retroactive application of Ferreira.
*608The majority also seem to rely on the harmless error doctrine in reaching its decision that reversal is not required here, supra at 601. For the reasons stated in my dissent in Garcia, supra at 445, I do not believe that an erroneous charge on reasonable doubt can constitute harmless error. See also Connolly v. Commonwealth, 377 Mass. 527, 538 n. 16 (1979). Even assuming, arguendo, the propriety of applying the harmless error doctrine in this context, the case at bar cannot support a finding of harmless error. As the court stated in Garcia, supra at 441, “The reasonable doubt standard is most crucial in cases where central facts (such as identity, or the occurrence of an event) are at issue, and credibility plays a key role.” The court, in Garcia, supported its finding of harmless error on the ground that the evidence of guilt was “overwhelming.” Id. at 442. The present case involves no such overwhelming evidence of guilt; credibility played a key role.3
Reviewing the charge under the less stringent standard appropriate in a pre-Ferreira case, I conclude that the Commonwealth’s burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt was seriously diminished by the charge given. Accordingly, I would reverse the conviction and order a new trial.

 Commonwealth v. Stokes, 374 Mass. 583 (1978), was before this court on direct appeal. We have also reviewed such errors on collateral attack, such as a petition for writ of error, in the absence of a proper exception at trial where both the trial and appeal were pr e-Mullaney. See Lannon v. Commonwealth, 379 Mass. 786 (1980); Commonwealth v. Harrington, 379 Mass. 446 (1980); Connolly v. Commonwealth, 377 Mass. 527 (1979); Gagne v. Commonwealth, 375 Mass. 417 (1978). In Connolly, we noted that such review was required, even on collateral attack, “to ensure that there has been no substantial miscarriage of justice.” Id. at 532 n.9. By comparison, in Gibson v. Commonwealth, 377 Mass. 539 (1979), where the trial was pre-Mullaney, but the defendant had an opportunity to raise the issue in a post-Mullaney appeal, we held that such review was not required. In such circumstances we apply traditional waiver concepts and give a defendant a second chance to raise the issue only if the particular case raises “a substantial risk that there has been a miscarriage of justice.” Gibson, supra at 541. To the extent that Commonwealth v. Garcia, 379 Mass. 422 (1980), applied the Gibson type review on direct appeal, I disagree. See Garcia, supra at 439. Cf. id. at 445 (Liacos, J., dissenting).

 “[T]he Due Process Clause protects the accused against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged.” In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364 (1970). See Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684 (1975). In Commonwealth v. Garcia, 379 Mass. 422, 441 (1980), the court cited In re Winship in support of its decision to apply Ferreira retroactively. See also Garcia, supra at 445 (Liacos, J., dissenting).

 The defendant’s credibility was at issue in so far as his explanation of the activity in the apartment was exculpatory.