Court Opinion

ID: 9715073
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:53:36.159186+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:31.255246
License: Public Domain

Liacos, C.J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). I agree with the court’s analysis pertaining to the issues raised by the defendant as to the matters of alleged privilege. I cannot agree, however, with the court’s treatment of the admissibility of prior inconsistent statements previously made before a grand jury. The court concludes that the grand jury testimony, under the guise of the so-called Daye rule (Commonwealth v. Daye, 393 Mass. 55 [1984]), properly was admissible as probative evidence of guilt. See Proposed Mass. R. Evid. 801 (d) (1) (A). I need not detail my views on the deficiencies of such a departure from well founded common law evidentiary rules, as I have stated them at length in my separate opinion in Daye. It suffices to say that expediency prevails over experience once again, and that the court again overrides “a time honored rule, honed in experience, developed to enhance the process of discovering the truth in favor of a rule of expedience that enhances the likelihood of convictions.” Id. at 79 (Liacos, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). The result in this case shows the danger of such an approach, especially because the court declines to address the argument that “without the grand jury testimony, there was insufficient evidence to corroborate” the other evidence of guilt. Ante at 45.