On twelve indictments, a jury found that the defendant, Duddie Ford, Inc. (Duddie Ford), an automobile dealership, “with intent to defraud and by a false pretense induce [d] the Coolidge Bank and Trust Company to part with property in an amount and of a value in all of more than one hundred dollars,” in violation of G. L. c. 266, § 34 (1988 ed.). The jury also found on twelve other indictments that Duddie Ford “with intent to defraud, by a false statement in writing respecting the financial condition, or means or ability to pay, of [a specified individual] obtain [ed] credit in an amount and of a value of more than one hundred dollars from the Coolidge Bank and Trust Company,” in violation of G. L. c. 266, § 33 (2) (1988 ed.). Each of the latter twelve indictments specified a different individual. The twelve indictments under c. 266, § 34, involved the same twelve transactions that gave rise to the indictments under § 33 (2). After the verdicts were rendered, the Commonwealth nol prossed one of the § 34 indictments. Its reason for doing so is unimportant to this appeal. The judge then imposed sentences on each of the remaining twenty-three indictments.
Duddie Ford appealed from its convictions, raising numerous issues. The Appeals Court reversed one of the convictions (indictment no. 86-112191) under c. 266, § 33 (2), on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to warrant the conviction and affirmed the remaining § 33 (2) convictions.
Commonwealth
v.
Duddie Ford, Inc.,
Both the Commonwealth and Duddie Ford applied to this court for further appellate review. The Commonwealth sought further review with respect to the question whether the convictions were duplicative. The defendant’s application
We deal with the jury selection issue first. Before empanelment began, Duddie Ford moved that the judge conduct an individual voir dire of all the prospective jurors, and that certain specific questions bearing on possible bias be asked. Among the requested questions were these: “Please tell us what if anything, you have read, seen or heard about this case or the alleged facts of this case, or about [the defendant]? Do you have any personal knowledge, information or beliefs about this case, or the defendant, Duddie Ford, Inc., that you have not told the court about yet? Do you have any personal belief, opinion or knowledge about automobile dealerships or salesmen that you have not yet told the court about?” The judge declined to proceed precisely as requested. Instead, after informing the venire of the nature of the case, allowing the attorneys to introduce themselves, and identifying anticipated witnesses, the judge put several questions to the venire collectively. He instructed the jurors to indicate affirmative answers by the raising of hands, and he told the jurors that affirmative answers would be followed up later on. The judge asked the prospective jurors whether any of them had any interest in the case, or had expressed or formed an opinion about it, or was aware of any relevant bias or prejudice, or knew any reason why he or she could not decide the case on the basis of the evidence and the judge’s instructions as to the applicable law.
Then, following a brief side bar conference with counsel, the judge asked the venire first for a show of hands of those who were “aware of or familiar with” Duddie Ford, and then for a show of hands of those who were not. Although the record is not entirely clear, it appears to be undisputed that a large majority of the venire indicated that they were aware of or familiar with Duddie Ford. The judge excused for lunch “those jurors who didn’t raise [their] hand[s] or who [didn’t] feel [they had] something [they] want[ed] to bring to [the judge’s] attention,” and he proceeded with individual voir dire of the prospective jurors who remained. It is clear that many jurors, who had responded affirmatively to the question about their awareness of or familiarity with Duddie Ford, took the luncheon opportunity and were not individually examined. The judge questioned twenty-five jurors individually and excused fourteen of them. He denied Duddie Ford’s request for a change of venue and its renewed request for further individual voir dire.
General Laws c. 234, § 28 (1988 ed.), provides in relevant part that, “[f]or the purpose of determining whether a juror stands indifferent in [a] case, if it appears that, as a result of the impact of considerations which may cause a decision or decisions to be made in whole or in part upon issues extraneous to the case, including, but not limited to, community attitudes, possible exposure to potentially prejudicial material or possible preconceived opinions toward the credibility of certain classes of persons, the juror may not stand indifferent, the court shall . . . examine the juror specifically with respect to such considerations, attitudes, exposure, opinions or any other matters which may, as aforesaid, cause a decision or decisions to be made in whole or in part upon issues extraneous to the issues in the case. Such examination . . . shall be conducted individually and outside the presence of other persons about to be called as jurors or already called.” Rule 20 (b) (2) of the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure,
Under the statute and the rule, the question for the judge in deciding whether individual voir dire is necessary is “whether ‘there exists a substantial risk of extraneous influences on the jury.’ ”
Commonwealth
v.
Kendrick,
Duddie Ford states that, in response to the judge’s questions to the first venire, “[a]t least 61 members” raised their hands, and all the members of the second venire did so, “indicating a possibility of bias.” In addition, Duddie Ford points out, more than one half of the members of the first venire who were individually questioned stated that they harbored a bias against Duddie Ford that would interfere with their ability to be impartial. “In spite of this extraordinary showing of jury bias,” it is argued, the judge declined to conduct individual voir dire of thirty-six members of the first venire and all but three members of the second venire who had raised their hands but did not come forward for further inquiry.
The judge did not abuse his broad discretion in determining that there was no substantial risk of extraneous influences on the jury requiring a procedure other than the one he followed. For all that the record discloses, those prospective jurors who raised their hands but did not come forward for individual questioning raised their hands only in response to the judge’s questions about their awareness of, or familiarity with, Duddie Ford. Those questions and answers revealed nothing about bias. They did not suggest the necessity of follow-up individual questioning. In so far as the record shows, every prospective juror who affirmatively answered questions
On the second day of trial, a juror informed the judge that she had seen a television program about the case, and that, as a result, she would be unable to decide the case on the basis of the evidence. The judge excused the juror. The juror also told the judge that she had asked the other jurors about the television program and that none of them had seen anything on television but “they [had] read things in the paper, you know, previously.” The judge declined to ask the jury about their exposure to newspaper publicity, and he denied defense motions for a mistrial and a change of venue. There was no error or abuse of discretion. The juror’s report to the judge did not raise a serious question about whether, either before or after empanelment, the jury were subjected to prejudicial materials. Any reported exposure of the jury to publicity, the nature of which is not shown in the record, was to pretrial publicity (“you know, previously”). We recognize that the judge did not specifically ask the jurors about their possible exposure to pretrial publicity. Nonetheless, as we have indicated, we are satisfied that the empanelment procedure was adequate to produce a jury free of bias based either on pretrial publicity or other factors. We conclude that the jury were properly selected and that there was no need for further collective or individual voir dire after empanelment.
We turn now to the issue raised by the Commonwealth’s application for further appellate review, that is, whether the
We begin our discussion by setting out the relevant statutory provisions. General Laws c. 266, § 33 (2), provides in pertinent part that “whoever, with intent to defraud, by a false statement in writing respecting the financial condition, or means or ability to pay, of himself or of any other person, obtains credit from any bank or trust company or any banking institution . . . shall be guilty of larceny.” General Laws c. 266 § 34, provides in pertinent part that “[wjhoever, with intent to defraud and by a false pretense, induces another to part with property of any kind or with any of the benefits described in the preceding section shall be guilty of larceny.” In connection with each bank loan, Duddie Ford was convicted of the two crimes proscribed by the above-quoted statutes. Duddie Ford’s main contention on appeal, which was accepted by the Appeals Court, is that the convictions under the two statutes do not satisfy the test set out in
Morey
v.
Commonwealth,
Duddie Ford, however, ignores the fact that the Commonwealth did not charge it under § 34 with inducing the bank to part with “any of the benefits described in” § 33. Instead, the § 34 indictments charge Duddie Ford only with inducing the bank to part with “property.” Proof of larceny of other “benefits,” not having been charged, would have been insufficient for conviction under the § 34 indictments.
Commonwealth
v.
Ancillo,
Our statutes do not explicitly define “property” as that term is used in G. L. c. 266, § 34, or “credit” for purposes of § 33 (2). However, G. L. c. 266, § 30, provides a long list of items which come within the definition of the term “property” as used in that section. Credit is not one of those items. In the absence of a specific contrary provision, it is unlikely that the Legislature intended the term “property” in § 34 to have different meanings in §§ 30 and 34. Furthermore, in common understanding, there is a difference between obtaining credit and inducing another to part with property. “Credit” is usually understood to mean “[t]he ability of a business or person to borrow money or obtain goods on time, in consequence of the favorable opinion held by the particular lender as to [the] solvency and past reliability [of the borrower].” Black’s Law Dictionary 367 (6th ed. 1990). The Federal Truth in Lending Act defines “credit” as “the right
Finally, quoting
Commonwealth
v.
Thomas,
We affirm the judgments on all of the indictments except on indictment no. 86-112191. As to that indictment, the judgment is reversed and the verdict is set aside.
So ordered.
Notes
We note that the parties have not argued, appropriately we think, the issue whether the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution would bar the Commonwealth from charging Duddie Ford with one of the statutory offenses in a subsequent prosecution after obtaining convictions on the other offenses in an earlier prosecution. See
Grady
v.
Corbin,
