Court Opinion

ID: 9726984
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 13:15:49.787358+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:32.433478
License: Public Domain

Addendum By Goodman, J.
(dissenting in part). It is hard to conceive of anything more prejudicial to a fair trial on these charges than the disclosure that the defendant had likewise escaped from a Florida jail.1 See Commonwealth v. Kosior, 280 Mass. 418, 423 (1932); Commonwealth v. Stone, 321 Mass. 471, 473-474 (1947); Commonwealth v. Ellis, 321 Mass. 669, 670 (1947); Commonwealth v. Welcome, 348 Mass. 68, 70-71 (1964); Commonwealth v. Nassar, 351 Mass. 37, 45 (1966); Commonwealth v. DiMarzo, 364 Mass. 669, 680-681 (1974) (concurring opinion); Commonwealth v. Barrett, 1 Mass. App. Ct. 332, 337 (1973); Commonwealth v. Fillippini, 2 Mass. App. Ct. 179, 187 (1974). Contrast Commonwealth v. Eagan, 357 Mass. 585, 588-589 (1970) (in which the publication concerned a dissimilar crime). This disclosure and the further information that the defendant had been held for four bank holdups, lent obvious credence to the charges of aiding and assisting the others in the escape, in which, the Commonwealth contended, he was the leader. Of course, the judgment of the trial judge in appraising the effect of the article is entitled to weight, and much must be left to his discretion in deciding the type of instruction which might, in the circumstances, blot out the effect of the article. However, the scope of the trial judge’s discretion is not unlimited. Commonwealth v. Theberge, 330 Mass. 520, 528-530 (1953). Commonwealth v. Crehan, 345 *72Mass. 609, 613, 615 (1963). Commonwealth v. Stanley, 363 Mass. 102, 111 (1973) (dissenting opinion), and material cited. See Commonwealth v. Welcome, 348 Mass. at 70; Commonwealth v. Fillippini, 2 Mass. App. Ct. at 187. This court must ultimately make “[its] own independent evaluation” of the risk that there has not been a fair and impartial trial. Commonwealth v. Bartoloni, 2 Mass. App. Ct. 152, 158 (1974). See Commonwealth v. Stanley, supra; Strong, The Persistent Doctrine of “Constitutional Fact,” 46 N. C. L. Rev. 223, 244-267 (1968). And each case must turn on its special facts. United States v. Marshall, 360 U. S. 310, 312 (1959), quoted in Commonwealth v. Crehan, 345 Mass, at 614, and Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Inc. v. Commonwealth, 354 Mass. 578, 580-581 (1968).
In the circumstances, I do not believe it can be said with assurance that the article did not infect the trial. See Commonwealth v. Stone, 321 Mass, at 474; Commonwealth v. Welcome, 348 Mass, at 70; Commonwealth v. Nassar, 351 Mass, at 45. The potential for prejudice was overwhelming. Assuming even that instructions could have exorcised it, it cannot be said that the rather general observations to the jury advising them not to read the article were adequate to the task.2 Commonwealth v. Banuchi, 335 Mass. 649, 654 (1957). Commonwealth v. Crehan, 345 Mass, at 614. See Commonwealth v. Stanley, supra; Commonwealth v. DiMarzo, 364 Mass. at 681-682. See also Commonwealth v. Welcome, 348 Mass, at 70 (tried to a judge without jury).
Apart from the unrecorded bench conference with one of the jurors who was thereafter declared impartial, the perfunctory question to the second juror left her the judge of her own bias (Commonwealth v. Stanley, supra, at 111), and there was no attempt to elicit just what she or the third juror, who was aware of the article, knew about it. *73Indeed, the third juror was not questioned at all. Also to be weighed among the relevant circumstances is the fact that a mistrial at the beginning of the second day, as requested, might well have entailed only the empanelment of a new jury (or at most the postponement of the trial) and the repetition of the prosecuting attorney’s rather short and uncomplicated opening — a small price to pay in the “face of great odds created by the publication” against the possibility of a fair trial. Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Inc. v. Commonwealth, 354 Mass. at 580. Moreover, the meager evidence introduced subsequently (see Commonwealth v. Blackburn, 354 Mass. 200, 204 [1968]) to support the charges of aiding and assisting reinforces the likelihood of prejudice.
Accordingly, I would order a new trial on those indictments. However, the evidence that the defendant himself escaped is overwhelming; indeed, the defendant as much as admitted it on the stand. Therefore, no new trial is required on that indictment. Harrington v. California, 395 U. S. 250, 254 (1969).

 I would reach the merits. It seems to me that a fair reading of the transcript indicates that the motion for a mistrial, which the defendant had filed, triggered the entire proceedings with reference to the three jurors. The trial judge obviously questioned the second juror and considered the response of the third juror in connection with that motion. A further oral motion was not necessary. Indeed, from the briefs it appears that this was the understanding of the parties and the case was argued on this footing.

 There is apparently nothing in the charge to the jury which either side thought might bear on this issue since it was not made a part of the transcript, although the Superior Court Regulations for Stenographers require that it be recorded. See Commonwealth v. Desatnick, 262 Mass. 408, 415 (1928).