421 Mass. 186 | Mass. | 1995
On November 30, 1993, the juvenile was indicted by a grand jury in Hampden County on charges of murder, assault with intent to murder, kidnapping (two indictments), assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (two indictments), and illegal possession of a fire
The case was assigned for trial. The juvenile requested a first instance bench trial with the right to a subsequent de nova jury trial. A judge denied the request and a similar motion without formal written opinion on September 2, 1994. The juvenile filed a petition for relief pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3 (1994 ed.), in the county court. A single justice reserved and reported the matter to the full bench.
The juvenile asserts that the Juvenile Court judge erred in denying him a first instance bench trial with the right to a subsequent jury trial, contending that such a right has not been eliminated in the Juvenile Court. He further argues that, if the right to de nova jury trial has been abolished, it is a violation of his due process rights to enforce a change in the governing statutes against him. Because we find that the de nova system in the Juvenile Court remains in place for juveniles charged with being delinquent by reason of murder, we need not consider the juvenile’s due process argument. We remand this case to the county court where an order is to be entered vacating the order of the Juvenile Court denying
De nova jury trials in the Juvenile Court. Legislative amendments effective January 1, 1994, and applying only in cases commenced after that date, abolished the de nova trial system in the District Court Department of the Commonwealth. See St. 1992, c. 379, §§ 139 & 141, amending G. L. c. 218, §§ 26A & 27A. Prior to these amendments, a defendant in the District Court Department was entitled to waive his right to a jury trial in the first instance and have his case heard by a judge, with the right to appeal to the jury session. Id. When the Legislature amended G. L. c. 218, §§ 26A & 27A, it did not similarly amend G. L. c. 119, §§ 55A & 56, the corresponding provisions pertaining to the Juvenile Court Department. The de nova system, then, has not been explicitly abolished in the Juvenile Court.
The Commonwealth suggests that recent amendments to G. L. c. 119, however, reveal an implied intent by the Legislature also to abolish the de nova system in the Juvenile Court. See St. 1990, c. 267. These amendments remove certain procedural benefits formerly available to a juvenile charged with delinquency by reason of murder, and grant to the Juvenile Court jurisdiction to sentence juveniles to State prison.
The Commonwealth cites Charles C. v. Commonwealth, 415 Mass. 58 (1993), for the proposition that the procedures available in juvenile murder proceedings should mirror those applicable in the Superior Court. That language, referring to a juvenile’s right to indictment in the Juvenile Court, reads, “The amendments took into account that the imposition of lengthy criminal sentences to State correctional facilities (as
“When the Legislature added the indictment provisions to section 61 as part of the 1991 revision of that statute, it apparently did so to address possible constitutional issues. In this regard, the Legislature recognized that because section 72 of M. G. L. A. c. 119 permits (as a result of the 1991 amendment) the imposition of a criminal sentence (in addition to a commitment to the Department of Youth Services until a maximum age of twenty-one before commencement of the criminal sentence) in a Juvenile Court proceeding, comparable safeguards appurtenant to the adult criminal system should be applicable in such circumstances. Apparently, the Legislature was concerned that the provisions of section 72 authorizing incarceration of juveniles within the Department of Correction [] would be vulnerable to an equal protection challenge unless the right to a grand jury indictment was provided.” (Footnotes omitted.)
R.L. Ireland, Juvenile Law § 16, at 123 (1993). See Commonwealth v. Perry P., 418 Mass. 808, 813 (1994) (“Although [Mass. R. Crim. P.] 3 [c] [1] [, 378 Mass. 847 (1979)] was designed to deal with an adult’s waiver of the right to an indictment [and thus to obtain a probable cause hearing], we would not deny to a juvenile application of the same conditions for an effective waiver of a right to an indictment”).
The Commonwealth next suggests that pending legislation may be taken into account to clarify the Legislature’s intent and demonstrate that the failure previously to enact such legislation was an oversight. Two pending bills propose elimina
Jury waiver provisions of G. L. c. 263, § 6. General Laws c. 263, § 6 (1994 ed.), provides that “[a]ny defendant in a criminal case other than a capital case . . . may . . . waive his right to trial by jury . . . .” The Legislature chose to exempt capital cases from the option to waive a jury trial, which option is available in all other criminal cases. Such a distinction is justified by “legislative concern with procedural safeguards in these most serious of criminal cases.” Commonwealth v. Barry, 397 Mass. 718, 725 (1986), citing Commonwealth v. O’Brien, 371 Mass. 605, 606-607 (1976). “The statute . . . provid [es] that a man’s life shall not depend upon findings of fact made by one man.” Commonwealth v. Millen, 289 Mass. 441, 466, cert. denied, 295 U.S. 765 (1935). It appears clear that the intention of the Legislature
In Commonwealth v. O’Brien, supra, the defendant argued that the abolition of capital punishment abolished “capital cases,” and therefore G. L. c. 265, § 6, was no longer a bar to waiver of a jury trial. This court rejected his argument and held that the definition of “capital” crimes laid out in G. L. c. 278, § 33E, determined those cases in which a jury trial could not be waived. Id. at 606-607. General Laws c. 278, § 33E, governs the scope of review available in capital cases and defines a “capital case” as one “in which the defendant was tried on an indictment for murder in the first degree and was convicted of murder in the first degree.”
In Commonwealth v. Angiulo, 415 Mass. 502 (1993), this court decided that a defendant convicted as an accessory before the fact to murder in the first degree was entitled to § 33E review because the punishment was the same as that for one convicted of murder in the first degree. See Grady v. Treasurer of the County of Worcester, 352 Mass. 702 (1967) (indictment as accessory before the fact sets out “capital crime” for purposes of awarding attorney’s fees).
The maximum penalty faced by juveniles adjudicated delinquent by reason of murder in the first degree is twenty years, and ten years for murder in the second degree. G. L. c. 119, § 72. This case does not present the concerns faced in capital cases, where defendants face the proposition of life in prison without parole. See Commonwealth v. Angiulo, supra at 508-509, quoting Dickerson v. Attorney Gen., 396 Mass. 740, 744 (1986) (a “uniquely thorough review of first degree murder convictions is warranted by the infamy of the crime and the severity of its consequences”); Commonwealth v. O’Brien, supra at 606 (capital cases are “most serious criminal cases”); Commonwealth v. Millen, supra at 466 (“a man’s life shall not depend upon findings made by one man”).
We conclude that a determination of delinquency by reason of murder is not a “capital” case. A juvenile defendant, then, is not precluded by G. L. c. 263, § 6 (1994 ed.), from exercising his right to a first instance bench trial with appeal to the jury session of the Juvenile Court pursuant to G. L. c. 119, §§ 55A & 56 (1994 ed.).
We conclude that the de nova trial system has not been abolished either explicitly or by implication in juvenile murder cases. Further, we conclude that a determination of delinquency by reason of having violated G. L. c. 265, § 1, is not a “capital” case, even where the charging instrument is
We remand the case to the county court where an order is to be entered vacating the order of the Juvenile Court denying a bench trial, and remanding this case to the Juvenile Court for a bench trial with right of appeal to the jury session.
So ordered.
Two sets of complaints also were issued against the juvenile in the Springfield Division of the Juvenile Court Department. The first set charged him with murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and armed assault with intent to rob. The juvenile was arraigned on these charges in Juvenile Court on November 15, 1993, and entered a plea of not delinquent. Four additional complaints were issued against the juvenile on December 21, 1993, charging him with assault with intent to murder, two counts of kidnapping, and illegal possession of a firearm. The juvenile was arraigned on the additional complaints on December 21, 1993, and entered pleas of not delinquent. On the same date, one complaint for armed assault with intent to rob was nolle pressed by the Commonwealth. On the juvenile’s arraignment on the indictments on January 27, 1994, the remaining juvenile complaints were dismissed by the court.
General Laws c. 119, § 72, as amended by St. 1991, c. 488, § 7, continues to refer to a juvenile over the age of fourteen years who has been convicted of murder as “a child” who is “adjudicated a delinquent by reason of having violated section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-five” (emphasis added).
Maximum confinement for a juvenile over the age of fourteen years adjudicated a delinquent by reason of having committed murder in the first degree is twenty years. Such confinement is to the custody of the Department of Youth Services until the juvenile reaches the age of twenty-one years, and thereafter is to the Department of Correction. The juvenile becomes eligible for parole after fifteen years. The maximum confinement for a juvenile adjudicated a delinquent by reason of committing murder in the second degree is fifteen years, with eligibility for parole after ten years. G. L. c. 119, § 72, as amended by St. 1991, c. 488, § 7.
General Laws c. 119, § 61 (1994 ed.), provides as follows: “The commonwealth may request a transfer hearing whenever it is alleged in a complaint that a child, who is fourteen years old or older, has committed an offense against a law of the commonwealth, which, if he were an adult, would be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, and that the offense has allegedly been committed by a child who had previously been
“The court shall hold a transfer hearing whenever the commonwealth so requests. The court shall order a transfer hearing in every case in which the offense alleged is murder in the first or second degree, manslaughter, or a violation of section eighteen, twenty-two, twenty-two A or twenty-six of chapter two hundred and sixty-five, or section fourteen of chapter two hundred and sixty-six. «<
“If the offense alleged is murder in the first or second degree, manslaughter, or a violation of section eighteen, twenty-two, twenty-two A or twenty-six of chapter two hundred and sixty-five, or section fourteen of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, this portion of the transfer hearing shall be held within thirty days of the probable cause portion; provided, however, that a failure to hold such portion of the transfer hearing within said thirty days shall not prohibit such hearing from being held at a later time as determined by the court.
“If the offense alleged is murder in the first or second degree, the commonwealth may proceed by filing a complaint in juvenile court or in a juvenile session of a district court, as the case may be, or by indictment as provided by chapter two hundred and seventy-seven. In such proceedings initiated by the filing of a complaint, a probable cause hearing shall be held within the time set forth in this section, unless the commonwealth shall have proceeded by indictment prior to such hearing. If the commonwealth has proceeded by indictment, no probable cause hearing shall be held, and a transfer hearing shall be held as provided by this section. In all cases brought pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, the child shall have the right to an indictment proceeding under section four of chapter two hundred and sixty-three, unless such child, upon advice of counsel, duly waives indictment.”
One of the bills would abolish de nova trials in all juvenile proceedings. 1995 House Doc. No. 5154, An Act prohibiting trial de nova, so-called, for juveniles.
This view is strengthened by G. L. c. 265, § 1 (1994 ed.), which requires that the jury rather than the judge determine the degree of murder in capital cases.
Prior to its amendment, G. L. c. 278, § 33E, provided that capital crimes included those for which the defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree as well as murder in the first degree. See Commonwealth v. Davis, 380 Mass. 1, 12-17 (1980).
General Laws c. 265, § 1, in defining murder, states that, “[t]he degree of murder shall be found by the jury.” Cases interpreting this statute have involved “capital” cases. See Commonwealth v. Marshall, 373 Mass. 65, 67 (1977); Commonwealth v. O’Brien, 371 Mass. 605, 606 (1976); Commonwealth v. Smith, 357 Mass. 168, 175 (1970); Commonwealth v. Millen, 289 Mass. 441, 465, cert. denied, 295 U.S. 765 (1935). As discussed above, the juvenile murder provision at issue does not constitute a “capital” crime. This statute, therefore, is no bar to operation of the de nova jury trial system in juvenile murder cases.