Commonwealth v. Almonte, 465 Mass. 224

Background

Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder (deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty) and larceny of a motor vehicle after a February 2008 homicide in Methuen.
Police obtained a warrant and searched the defendant’s North Andover apartment; blood-related and clothing items were seized, including a bloody sock.
DNA evidence linked the victim’s DNA to the interior of the defendant’s hood and to the sock; the defendant, Pagan, DeLeon, Hernandez, and Gil were tested as potential contributors with mixed results.
Defendant’s statements to troopers were recorded in three interviews; investigators also recovered items including a jacket, jeans, belt, boots, and other clothing with possible blood.
The Lawrence police tied the homicide and a separate armed robbery to the defendant, based on reports from witnesses at the DeLeon apartment and prior bloodied clothing found in Lawrence.
The trial court partially denied suppression of evidence, allowed some items, and severed the portion related to the homicide from the portion related to the robbery.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Suppression of evidence from the North Andover search	Warrant affidavit tied items to homicide; suppression proper for lack of nexus	Affidavit did not establish probable cause to link defendant/apartment to homicide; severance required	No error; severance permitted and blood sock admissible
Prosecutor's opening statement	Statement summarized indictment and Commonwealth’s theory	Statement reflected personal opinion and risked miscarriage of justice	No error; adequate curative instruction provided by judge
DNA testing testimony about inconclusive results	DNA evidence supported guilt; inconclusive element properly admitted	Nonresponsive extension misled jury; improper closing remark	Admissible with caveat; single improper comment did not cause miscarriage of justice
Cross-examination of DeLeon about prior misconduct	608(b)-like cross-examination should be allowed to test veracity	Massachusetts rule should align with Fed. R. Evid. 608(b) for specific instances	Rule not adopted; limited impeachment permitted; no reversible error
Admission of unredacted death certificate	Death certificate factually supported homicide; redaction not essential	Redacted manner of death should be used to avoid prejudice	Not reversible error; admission was permissible

Key Cases Cited

Commonwealth v. Wilson, 427 Mass. 336 (Mass. 1998) (probable-cause nexus for search warrants)
Commonwealth v. Cinelli, 389 Mass. 197 (Mass. 1983) (scope and nexus of warrant to search premises)
Commonwealth v. Cavitt, 460 Mass. 617 (Mass. 2011) (probable cause for trace evidence in search of residence)
Commonwealth v. Mathews, 450 Mass. 858 (Mass. 2008) (inconclusive DNA results and probative value)
Commonwealth v. Mattei, 455 Mass. 840 (Mass. 2010) (meaning of inconclusive DNA results; prosecutorial argument)
Commonwealth v. Tarver, 369 Mass. 302 (Mass. 1975) (redaction of death certificates potential error)
Commonwealth v. Lannon, 364 Mass. 480 (Mass. 1974) (death certificate evidence in homicide/accident cases)
Commonwealth v. Durand, 457 Mass. 574 (Mass. 2010) (confrontation clause considerations with expert testimony)
Commonwealth v. Yesilciman, 406 Mass. 736 (Mass. 1990) (DNA and evidentiary standards in trial)
Commonwealth v. Voisine, 414 Mass. 772 (Mass. 1993) (DNA evidence context in trial)
Commonwealth v. Beldotti, 409 Mass. 553 (Mass. 1991) (impeachment and evidence rules for witnesses)
Commonwealth v. Olsen, 452 Mass. 284 (Mass. 2008) (impeachment and prior misconduct limitations)
Commonwealth v. Bohannon, 376 Mass. 90 (Mass. 1978) (limited exceptions to cross-examining prior untruthful acts)
Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671 (Mass. 1979) (standard for evaluating circumstantial evidence)
Commonwealth v. Jansen, 459 Mass. 21 (Mass. 2011) (Latimore standard applied to circumstantial evidence)
Commonwealth v. Perez, 460 Mass. 683 (Mass. 2011) (sufficiency review in homicide)