Commonwealth v. Thompson, 19 N.E.3d 419

On July 31, 2008, Cambridge detectives observed furtive behavior in a convenience‑store parking lot and watched a brief hand‑to‑hand exchange between Walter Thompson (on a bicycle) and Lori Quigley about 500 feet from school property.
After the exchange, Quigley and an associate, Michael Benoit, were found with a small plastic bag of crack cocaine; Benoit discarded the bag when officers identified themselves.
Thompson was stopped shortly thereafter, found with two folds of cash ($45 and $40), a phone, and smoking paraphernalia was found on Quigley.
A jury convicted Thompson of distributing cocaine and of doing so in a school zone under G. L. c. 94C, § 32J.
While Thompson’s appeal was pending, the Legislature amended the school‑zone statute (St. 2012, c. 192, § 30) reducing the zone radius from 1,000 feet to 300 feet.
The Appeals Court affirmed; the Supreme Judicial Court granted further review and affirmed the convictions on different grounds.

Issue	Commonwealth's Argument	Thompson's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence to convict of distribution	Evidence of observed hand‑to‑hand exchange, Thompson’s cash, timing, and Quigley/Benoit’s conduct support distribution conviction	Evidence could equally support that Benoit possessed the drugs throughout, not Thompson	Conviction affirmed; evidence viewed in light most favorable to Commonwealth was sufficient for jury to infer Thompson sold cocaine
Retroactive application of 2012 amendment to school‑zone statute	The amendment should not require new trials for convictions entered before amendment’s effective date	Thompson: Bradley rule (retroactivity) should extend to convictions on direct appeal when amendment took effect	Held that St. 2012, c. 192, § 30 does not entitle defendants to new trials where conviction was entered before Aug 2, 2012; Bradley limited to cases without accepted plea or conviction as of effective date
Admission of photographs (unpreserved)	Photographs properly admitted; no substantial risk of miscarriage of justice	Trial error in admitting certain photos	No substantial risk of miscarriage of justice; claim fails
Trial judge’s answer to jury question (unpreserved)	Response was proper; no reversible error	Response improperly influenced jury	No substantial risk of miscarriage of justice; claim fails

Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671 (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
Commonwealth v. Bradley, 466 Mass. 551 (2013) (held 2012 amendment to school‑zone statute applies retroactively to cases without a plea accepted or conviction entered as of amendment effective date)