This case requires us to decide whether the petitioner, Robert Wade, who filed a motion in the Superior Court seeking postconviction testing of biological material pursuant to G. L. c. 278A (“An Act providing access to forensic and scientific analysis”) (act), see St. 2012, c. 38, has satisfied the requirements of the act and therefore is entitled to the testing he seeks.
The Legislature enacted G. L. c. 278A to create a process “separate from the trial and any subsequent proceedings challenging an underlying conviction, that permits forensic and scientific analysis of evidence or biological material, the results of which could support a motion for a new trial.”
Commonwealth
v.
Clark,
We conclude that because Wade has demonstrated that “the requested analysis had not yet been developed at the time of conviction,” G. L. c. 278A, § 3 (b) (5) (i), he has met the requirement of the act to establish one of the five enumerated reasons explaining why the requested testing was not previously conducted. See G. L. c. 278A, § 3 (b) (5) (i)-(v). It was therefore an abuse of discretion for the Superior Court judge to deny Wade’s motion for scientific testing on the grоund that Wade also was required to establish that the enumerated reason was the “primary reason” that his trial attorney did not seek the requested analysis, and that a reasonably effective attorney would have
1.
Statutory framework.
The act establishes a two-step procedure for obtaining postconviction forensic or scientific analysis. See
Wade II, supra
at 501. The first step involves a threshold determination whether a motion filed pursuant to G. L. c. 278A, § 3 (§ 3 motion), satisfies the criteria set forth in that section. See
id.
at 503-504. This step is essentially “nonadversarial,” and the determination is to be made based primarily on the moving party’s filings.
Id.
At this threshold stage, “a moving party is required only to point to the existence of specific information that satisfies the statutory requirements.”
Commonwealth
v.
Donald,
If the requirements of the first step are satisfied, the moving party advances to the second step of the procedure, an evidentiary hearing pursuant to G. L. c. 278A, § 7.
Wade II, supra
at 501. See G. L. c. 278A, §§ 6, 7. At that hearing, the moving party must establish by a preponderance of the evidence each of the six factors set forth in § 7
(h)
(l)-(6).
2
See
Wade II, supra
at 503. The third factor, § 7 (b) (3), requires a moving party to demonstrate that ‘“the evidence or biological material has not been subjected to the requested analysis for any of the reasons” enumerated in
“(i) the requested analysis had not yet been developed at the time of the conviction;
“(h) the results of the requested analysis were not admissible in the courts of the commonwealth at the time of the conviction;
“(hi) the moving party and the moving party(s attornеy were not aware of and did not have reason to be aware of the existence of the evidence or biological material at the time of the underlying case and conviction;
“(iv) the moving party’s attorney in the underlying case was aware at the time of the conviction of the existence of the evidence or biological material, the results of the requested analysis were admissible as evidence in courts of the commonwealth, a reasonably effective attorney would have sought the analysis and either the moving party’s attorney failed to seek the analysis or the judge denied the request; or
“(v) the evidence or biological material was otherwise unavailable at the time of the conviction” (emphasis added).
G. L. c. 278A, § 3 (ft) (5).
Where a moving party has established ‘“any of the reasons” enumerated in § 3 (ft) (5), thereby satisfying § 7 (ft) (3), and has also satisfied the other five requirements of § 7 (ft), ‘“[t]he court shall allow the requested forensic or scientific analysis.” Id.
2.
Factual and procedural background.
In 1997, a Superior Court jury convicted Wade of murder in the first degree on a theory of felony-murdеr, predicated on his conviction of aggravated rape. See
Commonwealth
v.
Wade,
Wade initially filed his § 3 motion seeking DNA testing under § 3 (b) (5) (iv), what we will refer to as the “reasonably effective attorney” prong. Prior to the hearing, Wade moved to supplement his motion by assеrting an additional or alternative basis for relief under § 3 (b) (5) (i), the “undeveloped analysis” prong, which provides that the evidence was not subjected to the requested analysis because “the requested analysis had not yet been developed at the time of the conviction.” G. L. c. 278A, § 3 (b) (5) (i). The motion judge, a different judge from the one who had denied Wade’s § 3 motion, and who also was not the trial judge, allowed the motion to supplement. 3
Also prior to the hearing, but after Wade’s motion to supplement had been allowed, the Commоnwealth filed a motion seeking leave to summons and examine Wade’s trial counsel on the question whether a “reasonably effective attorney” would have sought the requested testing before trial. Wade filed a motion seeking to preclude such testimony. The judge allowed the Commonwealth’ s motion, and Wade filed a petition for relief pursuant to G. L. c. 211, §3, in the county court. The single justice determined that examination of Wade’s trial counsel could proceed where, “without revealing attorney-client communicаtions,” the testimony could offer evidence on the question whether a “reasonably effective attorney” would have sought the requested DNA analysis before trial.
During the evidentiary hearing, postconviction counsel asserted that Wade was required to establish only one of the five reasons under § 3 (b) (5). When the Commonwealth sought to elicit responses from Wade’s trial counsel, postconviction counsel objected on the ground that the answers were privileged. His objections were overruled. Postconviction cоunsel then orally waived the claim under the reasonably effective attorney prong, in order to proceed solely on the undeveloped analysis prong.
4
Following the evidentiary hearing, the judge found that the requested analysis had not been developed at the time of Wade’s conviction, thereby finding that Wade had satisfied the undeveloped analysis prong, which in turn satisfies § 7
(b)
(3).
5
But the judge rejected Wade’s assertion that he need only satisfy one of the reasons set forth in § 3
(b)
(5) in order to satisfy § 7
(b)
(3). According to the judge, ‘“the proper inquiry under [§] 7
(b)
(3) is what [is] the primary ‘reason,’ i.e.[,] the primary cause, why the material was not previously subjected to the requested analysis.” In connection with this inquiry, the judge relied on the privileged
3.
Discussion,
a.
Standard of review.
We review a question of statutory interpretation de novo.
Commonwealth
v.
Ventura,
b.
Statutory reason testing previously not performed.
We address first whether the act permits a judge to consider any оf the other reasons enumerated in § 3
(b)
(5) (i)-(v), once a moving party has established one of those reasons, to explain why the evidence has not been subjected to the requested analysis. See G. L. c. 278A, § 7 (b) (3). General Laws c. 278A, § 7 (b) (3), mandates that the court “shall allow” the requested testing if the moving party establishes, in addition to the other required factors under G. L. c. 278A, § 7
(b),
that the testing was not conducted previously “for any of the reasons” enumerated in § 3 (b) (5) (i)-(v). The plain meaning of the phrase “for any of the reasons” is that the requirement is satisfied when any one of the several enumerated alternatives is met. See, e.g., G. L. c. 90, § 32G (“registrar may suspend or revoke a license ... for any of the following causes”); G. L. c. 140, § 131
(e)
(State police shall notify State firearms licensing authority “whether there is reason to believe that the applicant is disqualified for any of the foregoing reasons”). Thus, the phrase “for any of the reasons” means that a moving party satisfies the requirement of § 7 (b) (3) once
Moreover, the use of the word “or” to separate each of the enumerated reasons clearly evinces the Legislature’s intent that a moving party may satisfy this prong by establishing any one of the enumerated reasons. “The word ‘or’ is given a disjunctive meaning unless the context and the main purpose of all the words demand otherwise.”
Nuclear Metals, Inc.
v.
Low Level Radioactive Waste Mgt. Bd.,
Indeed, it would be nonsensical to attribute a conjunctive meaning to the word “or” as used in this section, given that at least some of the enumerated reasons are mutually exclusive. The reasonably effective attorney prong, fоr instance, presumes that the requested analysis was developed at the time of conviction, that the results of such analysis were admissible at trial, and that the moving party or the moving party’s trial counsel were aware that the evidence existed. See G. L. c. 278A, § 3 (b) (5) (iv). By contrast, the first three prongs require a moving party to establish, respectively, that the requested analysis had not been developed, that the results of the requested analysis were not admissible at trial, or that neither the moving party nor the moving party’s attorney was aware that the evidence existed. See G. L. c. 278A, § 3 (b) (5) (i)-(iii). 6
Properly understood, each of these five enumerated reasons provides a moving party with alternate pathways to establish that he or she is entitled to the requested analysis. See
Commonwealth
v.
Williamson,
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the Legislature could not have intended that a moving party must also satisfy the reasonably effective attorney prong if the party has already satisfied the undeveloped analysis prong. Accordingly, because Wade satisfied the requirement of § 3 (b) (5) (i), the undeveloped analysis prong, he was not required to satisfy any of the other prongs of § 3 (b) (5).
c. “Primary ” or “actual” reason testing was not conducted. We turn to discussion of the judge’s determination that Wade was required also to establish the “primary reason” why the evidence was not tested previously. The Commonwealth argues that the judge’s reasoning was correct, and that the statute indeed requires a moving party to prove the “actual reason” that the testing was not conducted. The Commonwealth maintains further that the Legislature intended to preclude a moving party’s access to post-conviction scientific testing if the “actual reason” the testing was not conducted was a strategic decision made by “a reasonably effective attorney.”
The words “primary reason” or “actual reason” do not appear in the referenced statutory provisions, or anywherе else in the language of the act. Nor is there anything in the act from which it can be gleaned that the Legislature intended to require such a finding, or to impose additional burdens on petitioners seeking scientific testing beyond the requirements mandated by the statutory language. The act lists five alternative reasons on which a party may rely to show why testing was not performed. It contains no requirement that a moving party prove “the primary reason” among them. Rather, as discussed, a moving party satisfies § 7
(b)
upon establishing that “any of the reasons” set forth in § 3
(b)
(5)
Moreover, our decision in
Wade II, supra,
forecloses the argument that a moving party may not obtain requested testing if a reasonably effective trial counsel did indeed make a strategic decision not to have the material tested at the time of trial. In that case, we expressly rejected the argument that the meaning of “a reasonably effective attorney” under § 3
(h)
(5) (iv) imports the standard of ineffective assistance of counsel. See
Wade II, supra
at 511-512. We concluded that the act’s inquiry, whether “a reasonably effective attorney” would have sought the requested testing, is an objective one.
7
Id.
at 512. In part, we reasoned that, because the act uses the language of “a” hypothetical reasonably effective attorney, a moving party is not requirеd to explain the tactical or strategic reasoning of the party’s trial counsel in not seeking the requested analysis.
8
See
Wade II, supra
at 511. See
Commonwealth
v.
Coutu,
This understanding is consistent with § 3
(d),
which permits testing even where a moving party has pleaded guilty or made incriminating statements. See
Wade II, supra
at 514 (plain language of G. L. c. 278A, § 3 [d], and purpose for which act wаs enacted evinces Legislature’s clear intent “to ensure that a mov
We conclude that Wade was not required to establish the ‘“primary reason” that the evidence was not tested.
d. Whether requested testing was available at time of trial. The judge found that the DNA analysis requested by Wade was not yet developed at the time of Wade’s trial in 1997. We do not agree with the Commonwealth’s contention that this finding is clearly erroneous. Wade’s DNA expert testified that, as of September, 1997, it was not possible to test all thirteen loci of the CODIS STR panel. 9 The expert acknowledged that an early form of DNA analysis was available in 1997, but stated that the ‘“average power of discrimination” for the earlier tests was ‘“on the range of one in a few thousand.” By contrast, the DNA testing now available has the “discriminating power” of “[mjany, many, many orders of magnitude” higher than the earlier tests, which is in the “trillions, quadrillions, and so forth.” 10 The Commonwealth did not challenge these assertions on cross-examination, and did not introduce other evidence to the contrary.
The judge’s finding that the DNA analysis Wade requested was not developed at the time of his trial is thus sufficiently supported by evidence in the record. The record demonstrates that the requested analysis has the discriminating power of, at a nfini-
e. Attorney-client privilege and motion to strike. As stated, Wade’s postconviction counsel objected to questions posed by the Commonwealth at the evidentiary hearing that sought to pierce the attorney-client privilege, and his trial counsel declined to answer the questions. The judge concluded thаt the privilege had been waived, and ordered trial counsel to reveal privileged communications; he also denied Wade’s motion to strike those answers. This was error.
The Commonwealth contends that the act of filing a motion under the act necessarily waives a moving party’s attorney-client privilege, and that a moving party cannot assert the privilege to prevent the Commonwealth from proving the “real reason” testing was not conducted in a particular case. Although a litigant implicitly may waive the attorney-client privilege as to matters the litigant has placed at issue, see
Darius
v.
Boston,
Wade maintains that he is entitled to the requested analysis because it was not available at the time of his conviction, see § 3
(b)
(5) (i); this inquiry is objective and does not require any information protected by the attorney-client privilege. See
Clair
v.
Clair,
We conclude that Wade did not effect an “at issue” waiver by filing his motion for DNA testing, and his motion to strike all privileged communications disclosed by trial counsel should have
4. Conclusion. The orders denying the motion for scientific testing and denying the motion to strike are reversed. The matter is remanded to the Superior Court, where an order shall enter that the requested scientific analysis be conducted forthwith, and for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
So ordered.
Notes
General Laws c. 278A, § 7 (b). provides in full:
“The court shall allow the requested forensic or scientific analysis if each of the following has been demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence:
“(1) that the evidence or biological material exists;
“(2) that the evidence or biological material has been subject to a chain of custody that is sufficient to establish that it has not deteriorated, been substituted, tampered with, replaced, handled or altered such that the results of the requested analysis would lack any probative value;
“(3) that the evidence or biological material has not been subjected to the requested analysis for any of the reasons in [G. L. c. 278A, § 7 (b) (5) (i)-(v)];
“(4) that the requested analysis has the potential to result in evidence that is material to the moving party’s identification as the perpetrator of the crime in the underlying case;
“(5) that the purpose of the motion is not the obstruction of justice or delay; and
“(6) that the results of the particular' type of analysis being requested have been found to be admissible in courts of the commonwealth.”
As discussed infra. Wade waived his reliance on the reasonably effective attorney prong during the evidentiary hearing.
We reject the Commonwealth’s argument that G. L. c. 278A, § 15, prohibits a moving party from waiving or withdrawing a claim that has been asserted under G. L. c. 278A, § 3
(b)
(5). General Laws c. 278A, § 15, states explicitly
The judge also found that Wade had satisfied four of the other five requirements of § 7
(b).
The judge did not reach one of the requirements, § 7
(b)
(5), which requires that a moving party establish that “the purpose of the motion is not the obstruction of justice or delay.” The sole evidence before the judge on this issue was an affidavit by postconviction counsel attesting to her efforts, spanning thirteen years, to obtain deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing on Wade’s behalf through the Massachusetts and Federal courts. The Commonwealth did not dispute that Wade had satisfied this requirement. Where there was no live testimony and a factual finding must be made on the basis of a documentary record alone, we are “in the same position as the motion judge” to resolve the issue. See
Commonwealth
v.
Clark,
The fifth prong provides a final path by which a moving party may obtain the requested analysis, by establishing that the “evidence or biological material was otherwise unavailable at the time of conviction.” G. L. c. 278A, § 3 (b) (5) (v).
We noted also that the statutory language in § 3 (b) (5) (iv) “contrasts with provisions in statutes in other jurisdictions providing for postconviction DNA testing, which explicitly incorporate the ineffective assistance of counsel standard, or explicitly require that trial counsel not have made a strategic or tactical decision in forgoing a request for DNA testing.” See Wade II, supra at 512 & n.21.
In contrast, we observe that the act refers specifically to “the moving party’s attorney” in several places. See, e.g., G. L. c. 278A, § 3
(b)
(iii), (iv). Because the Legislature knew how to reference the moving party’s trial counsel when it wanted to, its use of the phrase “a reasonably effective attorney” was clearly included to distinguish a hypothetical “reasonably effective attorney” from the moving party’s trial counsel. See
Nguyen
v.
William Joiner Ctr. for the Study of War & Social Consequences,
Wade requested the DNA analysis that was avаilable at the time of his evidentiary healing in 2014, which included an analysis of thirteen short tandem repeat (STR) loci. “A DNA profile for an individual is that combination of alleles, or versions of genes, possessed by the individual at the loci tested.”
Commonwealth
v.
Gaynor,
The DNA expert indicated that, in prаctice, the ability of a particular test to discern contributors to a sample would depend on many factors, including, for example, whether the sample came from a single source, was a full profile, or was part of mixture.
We need not decide in this case whether a defendant effects an “at issue” waiver by moving for DNA testing on a ground that requires proof concerning trial counsel’s awareness of the existence of the evidence or biological material or whether, in those circumstances, trial counsel might be obligated to testify regarding such awareness.
