DUFFLY, J.
After a mistrial at which the jury were deadlocked, the defendant was retried and convicted of two indictments charging murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation.
1. Background. Because the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, we recite the facts the jury could have found in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, see Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 676-677 (1979),
Just before 8 A.M. on Monday, March 13, 2006, Michael Zammitti, Sr., arrived at Allstate Concrete Pumping, Inc. (Allstate), on New Salem Street in Wakefield. He owned and operated the business with his son, Michael Jr.
In the early hours of their investigation, police received numerous potential leads. Bystanders described seeing at least two suspicious vehicles in the area of New Salem Street that morning, and Michael Sr. provided police with several names of people with whom he had had contentious business dealings. Police quickly determined that many of these leads were not viable, and focused their investigation on the defendant, who had been romantically involved with Michael Jr.'s wife, Michele.
Beginning in 2004, the defendant and Michele developed what was initially a close friendship. The defendant was a year-round resident of a small community of predominately seasonal homes in Freedom, New Hampshire. Michael Sr. and his wife, Patricia, had owned a vacation home there for many years;
During the summer of 2005, Michele and Michael Jr. recognized that their relationship had become strained and began to participate in marriage counselling; Michele became increasingly committed to repairing her marriage. In August, 2005, Michele's mother-in-law discovered Michele and the defendant in an "embrace." After discussing the incident with her mother-in-law, Michele began to distance herself from the defendant, although she attempted to remain on cordial terms with him for the sake of the children, who had grown fond of him, and in order to deflect the suspicions of her in-laws and neighbors. The defendant continued to urge Michele to leave her husband; in December, 2005, Michele informed the defendant that she wanted to end the relationship.
A few weeks before the shootings, Michele acquiesced to the defendant's requests that they meet in February, when she and the children would be on vacation in New Hampshire. The defendant had prepared for a romantic interlude and, during the meeting, again tried to persuade Michele to leave her husband. Michele made clear that she would not leave her husband, stating that the only way she and the defendant could be together would be if her husband left her or if "something happened to him." The defendant became angry; he pounded his fist on the table and shoved Michele into her automobile, slamming the door shut. In the weeks leading up to the murders, the defendant continued to press Michele to leave her husband; he told his best friend, David Spears, whose father also owned a home in Freedom, that a job offer he had recently received was not enough to support a family of five and that he was trying to figure out a way to salvage his relationship with Michele.
When Cass looked at Martin's property, he saw a green Ford F150 pickup truck with an extended cab parked outside. The vehicle was similar to a green truck Cass had observed in surveillance footage recorded by the cameras of three businesses on New Salem Street on the morning of the shootings. Baker contacted Martin at his seasonal home in Florida and obtained permission to take possession of the truck.
Martin executed a written waiver of any privilege or right of confidentiality he might have had in his E-ZPass records, which enabled police to obtain toll data for March 13 from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. The data revealed
After receiving this information, State police Trooper Robert Manning drove from Freedom to Wakefield to determine whether the activity on Martin's E-ZPass was consistent with someone arriving at Allstate just before 8 A.M. Manning testified that he left Freedom at 5:44 A.M. and arrived at Allstate just over two hours later, at 7:54 A.M.
Detectives also reviewed surveillance footage from cameras at businesses located along New Salem Street to determine whether this timing was consistent with the presence of the green pickup truck with an extended cab that was recorded traveling down New Salem Street on the morning of the shootings. The footage first shows the green truck traveling along New Salem Street at approximately 7:38 A.M.,
Although Martin had never authorized the defendant to be in his truck and had never seen the defendant in his truck, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) recovered from the vehicle's steering wheel contained a mixture of DNA from at least two people, with the major profile being a match for the defendant's DNA.
Police also interviewed the defendant's neighbors in Freedom to determine if anyone had seen the defendant on the morning of the shootings. Gertrude Ducharme, who lived across the street from the defendant, told police that she saw the defendant just after 10 A.M. on the morning of March 13, as she was leaving her house to start her daily walk. The defendant had been leaning against his truck, parked in his driveway, and called out to Ducharme as she walked past him; he later sent Ducharme a letter that stated, "And you, Gert, stay healthy. You are the only one who saw me that morning."
The defendant told police that he had first learned of the shootings when he spoke to his friend, Paul Taylor, on the telephone at approximately 9 A.M. on March 13, but the defendant's telephone records showed that the call had not occurred until 10:34 A.M. The defendant told police that he immediately went to Ducharme's house to tell her about the murders, but that Ducharme had already learned of the murders during a telephone call with Michele. Ducharme testified that she had never spoken to Michele on the telephone — on that morning or any other — and that the defendant did not come over to her house until sometime later in the day; when he did, the defendant announced, "Mike's been shot. It was a hit."
The defendant's telephone records also showed that he had
2. Sufficiency of the evidence. a. Motion to dismiss. The jury at the defendant's first trial were deadlocked, and the judge declared a mistrial. Before retrial, the defendant moved to dismiss the case on the ground that the Commonwealth had failed to present legally sufficient evidence to support the convictions. The defendant contends that, by denying his motion and subjecting him to a second trial, the judge
"Under the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment, applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Massachusetts statutory and common law, no person may be twice placed in jeopardy for the same criminal offense." Cruz v. Commonwealth, 461 Mass. 664, 670 (2012). "Consequently, once jeopardy has attached, a judge may declare a mistrial over a defendant's objection and commence a new trial only in light of a `manifest necessity.'" Id., quoting Commonwealth v. Nicoll, 452 Mass. 816, 818 (2008). "The `prototypical example' of a manifest necessity for a judge to declare a mistrial is a deadlocked jury." Commonwealth v. Ellis, 432 Mass. 746, 751 (2000), quoting Commonwealth v. Andrews, 403 Mass. 441, 448-449 (1988). As the defendant correctly observes, however, double jeopardy does not permit retrial where the evidence presented by the Commonwealth at the defendant's first trial was legally insufficient to convict. See
In reviewing the defendant's motion to dismiss based on the sufficiency of the evidence at the first trial, we apply the same standard that we use to consider the defendant's motion for required findings of not guilty based on the sufficiency of the evidence at the second trial. In both instances, we consider "whether the evidence produced by the Commonwealth in its case-in-chief was sufficient to convict on the crimes charged." Commonwealth v. Jansen, 459 Mass. 21, 27 (2011). "The evidence may be primarily or entirely circumstantial, provided that, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, it `and the inferences permitted to be drawn therefrom [are] of sufficient force to bring minds of ordinary intelligence and sagacity to the persuasion of [guilt] beyond a reasonable doubt.'" Id., quoting Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 677 (1979).
The defendant acknowledges that the Commonwealth's evidence at each trial was substantially the same.
A conviction may be based primarily or exclusively on circumstantial evidence and the permissible inferences that may be drawn therefrom. Corson v. Commonwealth, supra at 197. To be permissible, an inference need only be "reasonable and possible," not "necessary or inescapable." Commonwealth v.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, see Commonwealth v. Latimore, supra, the evidence presented at the defendant's first trial was sufficient to establish that he committed the murders with deliberate premeditation. There was evidence that the defendant had a motive to kill Michael Jr. He had been engaged in an affair with Michele, who, shortly before the shootings, sought to end the relationship and told the defendant that the only way they could be together was if "something happened" to her husband. See Commonwealth v. Linton, 456 Mass. 534, 545 (2010) (defendant had motive to prevent victim from interfering with adulterous sexual relationship); Commonwealth v. Lao, supra at 780 (defendant had motive to kill estranged wife who had started relationship with another man). The evidence also permitted an inference that the defendant had a motive to kill Roberts, who happened to arrive at Allstate while the defendant was present and could have identified the defendant as Michael Jr.'s killer. See Commonwealth v. Barbosa, 457 Mass. 773, 794 (2010), cert. denied, 131 S.Ct. 2441 (2011).
The evidence also established that the defendant had the opportunity to commit the crimes. According to State police Sergeant Richard Mahoney's testimony, the drive between the Allstate building in Wakefield and the defendant's residence in Freedom took approximately two hours. Despite the defendant's efforts to establish his presence in Freedom on the morning of March 13, 2006, no one saw him there until after 10 A.M. — just over two hours after the murders occurred. In addition, there was testimony that the defendant had driven to Allstate's building in Wakefield in the past; Taylor testified that the defendant
The inference that the defendant was present at the Allstate building at the time of the shootings is reinforced by Martin's E-ZPass records, which recorded toll activity at times consistent with travel from the defendant's home in Freedom to Allstate in Wakefield, and which correlated directly with surveillance footage from area businesses that recorded a green truck resembling Martin's entering the Allstate parking lot. From evidence that the driver paid cash rather than use the E-ZPass, the jury could have inferred that the driver wanted to avoid having the transactions recorded. In addition, Martin testified that the defendant had never been inside the truck, yet the defendant's DNA matched the major profile of DNA found on the steering wheel and he was included as a potential contributor of the minor DNA profile found on a key to the truck. There was also testimony that the position of Martin's truck when police found it was different from how Martin had left it, supporting the inference that the defendant had rushed to park the vehicle upon his return so that he could be standing in his driveway in time to talk to Ducharme when she passed his house on her customary 10 A.M. walk.
In arguing that this evidence is insufficient, the defendant places great emphasis on our decision in Commonwealth v. Mazza, 399 Mass. 395 (1987). In that case, we concluded that the evidence of the defendant's motive and opportunity to murder the victim was insufficient "to identify the defendant as the perpetrator." Id. at 399. The evidence in that case established only that the defendant and the victim were interested in the same woman; that the defendant had telephoned the victim about one and one-half hours before the victim's body was discovered; that the defendant had been present at a restaurant parking lot about one hour before the victim's body was discovered there; and that, when the defendant returned from the parking lot after being there for one and one-half minutes, he said to a friend, "There's a problem." Id. at 396. We concluded that evidence of the defendant's motive, opportunity, and presence
In addition, there was significant evidence showing the defendant's consciousness of guilt, which strengthened the circumstantial evidence of the defendant's guilt. See Commonwealth v. O'Laughlin, 446 Mass. 188, 202-203 (2006) (significant evidence establishing defendant's consciousness of guilt may compensate for relatively weak circumstantial evidence).
The jury could have found that the defendant's statements to others, and to police, regarding his whereabouts on the morning of the shootings were wilfully false and consistent with consciousness of guilt. See Commonwealth v. Robles, 423 Mass. 62, 71 (1996), citing Commonwealth v. Bonomi, 335 Mass. 327, 348 (1957) (consciousness of guilt may be inferred from defendant's wilfully false statements). Finally, the defendant's consciousness of guilt could also have been inferred from evidence that the defendant sent an anonymous, threatening letter to Michael Sr. in an effort to make it appear as though the shootings had to do with Allstate's business. The defendant had first suggested that the shootings were business related when he told Ducharme on the afternoon of March 13 that the shooting of Michael Jr. had been "a hit."
There was considerable evidence linking the defendant to the shootings. The evidence of the defendant's motive, opportunity, and consciousness of guilt was sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant killed both victims. The judge did not err in denying the defendant's motion to dismiss.
b. Motions for required findings of not guilty.
3. Third-party culprit evidence. The defendant contends also that the judge erred by preventing him from introducing evidence during the second trial that someone other than the defendant was responsible for the shootings. In particular, the defendant sought to cast suspicion on Ricky Cali, a former Allstate employee who had sued Michael Sr. over a labor dispute in 1995, eleven years before the shootings. The defendant argued that Cali had a motive to commit the crimes: Michael Sr. had threatened to "knock [Cali's mother's] house down with a bulldozer" during the course of their dispute. The lawsuit was eventually settled, but Cali expressed dissatisfaction with the settlement terms. The defendant argued also that Cali had had the means to commit the murders because he owned several shotguns.
The Commonwealth moved in limine to exclude any third-party culprit evidence regarding Cali. In the Commonwealth's view, the eleven-year span between Cali's dispute — which was with Michael Sr. and not either of the victims — rendered the defendant's theory too remote and speculative to be admissible. The judge agreed, stating that "[i]f there was evidence that could be produced that showed that this particular individual,... Cali, was in fact a viable suspect, I think it would be in a slightly different posture than it is now. But as I understand it, other than some animosity, significant animosity, between the families, that's the only evidence." Accordingly, the judge ruled that the defendant would not be permitted to question witnesses about the details of the hostility between Cali and Michael Sr.
It is well established that "[a] defendant has a constitutional right to present evidence that another may have committed the crime." Commonwealth v. Conkey, 443 Mass. 60, 66 (2004), S.C., 452 Mass. 1022 (2008). A defendant may "introduce evidence that tends to show that another person committed the crime or had the motive, intent, and opportunity to commit it."
Here, the judge correctly concluded that the defendant's proffered evidence about hostility between Cali and Michael Sr. was too remote and speculative to be admissible. The only evidence arguably linking Cali to the shootings was a labor dispute that had occurred more than a decade earlier. Although the defendant proffered evidence that the families had remained distant from each other since that time, no evidence was proffered to suggest that Cali's animosity toward Michael Sr. had been rekindled after 1995, let alone that it had grown to the point that it would support a motive for murder. To the contrary, Michael Sr. testified that he and Cali had largely resolved their differences in the intervening years. There was also no evidence to suggest that Cali had the means or opportunity to commit the crime.
4. Bowden defense and jury instruction. Related to the defendant's third-party culprit claim is his argument that the judge improperly limited his defense under Commonwealth v. Bowden, 379 Mass. 472, 485-486 (1980) (Bowden), and that she erred by
A defendant may invoke a Bowden defense to suggest that police failed to investigate other potential suspects and a third-party culprit defense to suggest that those other suspects actually committed the crime charged. See id. at 800-801. Accordingly, it is not uncommon for evidence relevant to a third-party culprit defense to be admitted as part of a Bowden defense. However, "[i]n contrast to the third-party culprit defense, where evidence may be admitted regardless of whether the police knew of the suspect, third-party culprit information is admissible under a Bowden defense only if the police had learned of it during the investigation and failed reasonably to act on the information" (emphasis in original). Commonwealth v. Silva-Santiago, supra at 803.
The defendant's argument with respect to his Bowden defense overlooks this limitation. He contends that the trial judge repeatedly stymied his efforts to question police witnesses about their failure to follow certain leads concerning other potential suspects. The record does not support this claim. Passages in the trial transcript cited by the defendant in support of this argument exemplify the judge's consistent rulings throughout the trial that appropriately limited the Bowden evidence to information that the police knew or reasonably should have known in the course of their investigation.
To the extent the defendant argues that the judge should have instructed the jury regarding the adequacy of the police investigation, this argument also fails. In denying the defendant's request for a Bowden instruction at the second trial, the judge correctly stated the law when she said that such an instruction is "never required under our case law." See Commonwealth v. Williams, 439 Mass. 678, 687 (2003) (instruction on adequacy of police investigation "is never required. In other words, there is no Bowden instruction"). In Bowden, supra at 486, we held that a judge may not foreclose the jury's consideration of the adequacy of the police investigation; we did not establish an affirmative requirement that the judge instruct the jury concerning their consideration of those perceived inadequacies.
5. New Hampshire toll records. Before the first trial, the Commonwealth moved to admit Martin's New Hampshire E-ZPass records, which it had obtained from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. A judge other than the trial judge (motion judge) allowed that motion. The defendant argues that it was error for the motion judge to allow the motion because New Hampshire law requires E-ZPass records remain confidential. The applicable statute provides, in relevant part:
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 237:16-e (LexisNexis 2008). The defendant suggests that the E-ZPass records admitted in this case serve to identify a vehicle (Martin's truck) and, by inference, the defendant as its occupant. He claims that he therefore has a stake in the controversy sufficient to satisfy traditional standing requirements. Even assuming that the defendant does have standing to raise this issue, a question we do not decide, we disagree that the statute bars the use of Martin's E-ZPass records "in any court in any action or proceeding," including a criminal proceeding in Massachusetts. Id.
We shall assume, as did the motion judge, that N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 237:16-e, as in effect at the time of trial, creates an evidentiary privilege in E-ZPass data for account holders, and perhaps for those who use a transponder with an account holder's consent. However, under both Massachusetts and New Hampshire law, evidentiary privileges are to be narrowly construed and are generally waivable. See, e.g., Commissioner of Revenue v. Comcast Corp., 453 Mass. 293, 304 (2009); State v. Melvin, 132 N.H. 308, 309-310 (1989).
As the parties observe, there are no cases interpreting N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 237:16-e or the analogous Massachusetts statute. See G. L. c. 6C, § 13 (a). Nonetheless, based on the plain language of the statute, we conclude that, however broadly the New Hampshire Legislature may have intended the privilege to reach, it has no bearing in the circumstances of this case. Martin's transponder was used on the day of the shootings without his knowledge or consent. Martin, the only person authorized to use the transponder, thereafter executed a written
6. DNA evidence. The defendant contends that the trial judge erred in permitting the Commonwealth's DNA analyst to testify at the second trial about inconclusive test results from the wire coat hanger found in the bed of Martin's truck. He argues also that a chart depicting the results of the DNA testing of the coat hanger and various locations in Martin's truck should not have been admitted. Both claims are without merit.
Over the defendant's objection, Amy Barber, a DNA analyst with the State police crime laboratory, was permitted to testify that a swab of the wire coat hanger contained a mixture of DNA from at least two people, but that it yielded inconclusive results with respect to the defendant. According to Barber, results for comparison with the defendant and Roberts were inconclusive, and Michael Jr. and Martin were excluded as potential sources. The prosecutor also introduced in evidence a chart of the alleles Barber had identified
To support his claim that Barber should not have been permitted to testify about the inconclusive results, the defendant primarily relies on our decision in Commonwealth v. Mattei, 455 Mass. 840 (2010). In that case, we concluded that "expert testimony that DNA tests could not exclude the defendant as a potential source of DNA found at the crime scene, absent
Where, as here, the testimony concerns inconclusive test results, admissibility is determined on a case-by-case basis, and turns largely on whether the defendant pursues a Bowden defense at trial. See Commonwealth v. Mathews, supra at 872. If the defendant has "call[ed] into question the integrity of the police investigation," id., quoting Bowden, supra at 485, "the prosecutor is entitled to introduce testimony to demonstrate that tests were performed and results (even if inconclusive) were obtained." Id. "In such circumstances, testimony regarding DNA test results, even those that are inconclusive, is relevant and probative to establishing the integrity and adequacy of the police investigation." Commonwealth v. Cavitt, 460 Mass. 617, 634-635 (2011). That was precisely the case here; as such, there was no error in allowing Barber to testify that DNA testing of the wire coat hanger had yielded inconclusive results.
Our decision in Commonwealth v. Buckman, 461 Mass. 24 (2011), cert. denied, 132 S.Ct. 2781 (2012) (Buckman), does not support the defendant's related claim, in reliance on that case, that the chart was erroneously admitted. In Buckman, supra at 34, we said that "the fact of, but not the details of, an inconclusive test result may be admitted to show the extent of the police investigation." Although the chart in question here contained "details of" the inconclusive test results, in that it identified certain alleles present in the DNA obtained from the wire, these are not the type of details to which our decision in Buckman was directed.
The prosecutor in Buckman had asked the expert a series of questions regarding whether "it would be possible for [the victim] to be the source of the DNA," and had elicited inculpatory testimony from the expert witness despite the inconclusive results. Id. at 33-34. Here, by contrast, the judge precluded the
7. Other claims. a. Jailhouse telephone call. The defendant challenges the seizure and admission in evidence of a recorded telephone call that he made to Spears while being held at the Cambridge jail awaiting trial. Before his first trial, the defendant moved to suppress the recording by arguing, inter alia, that he had a cognizable privacy interest in the contents of the telephone call, and that he was denied due process when the Middlesex County sheriff's department voluntarily provided the recording to State police. We have consistently rejected such an argument where, as here, all parties to the recorded conversation had notice that the call would be monitored or recorded. See Commonwealth v. Odgren, 455 Mass. 171, 188-189 (2009); Matter of a Grand Jury Subpoena, 454 Mass. 685, 687-688, 692-693 (2009); Cacicio v. Secretary of Pub. Safety, 422 Mass. 764, 772-773 (1996). Thus, the defendant's motion was properly denied.
b. Telephone call with Michele. The defendant maintains that the trial judge erred by prohibiting the admission of the defendant's statements during a recorded telephone call with Michele. When the conversation occurred on March 20, 2006, approximately one week after the shootings, the defendant was
c. Expert testimony. The defendant argues, for the first time on appeal, that Nicole Spaun, an image analyst with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was permitted to engage in "inconclusive speculation" when she testified as an expert regarding similarities between Martin's truck and the vehicle captured on surveillance footage near the scene of the shootings. The thrust of the defendant's argument is that, because the surveillance footage was admitted in evidence and available for the jury's independent review, the jury needed no assistance in deciding whether the vehicle depicted therein was in fact Martin's truck. See Commonwealth v. Pytou Heang, 458 Mass. 827, 844 (2011) ("purpose of expert testimony is to assist the trier of fact in understanding evidence or determining facts in areas where scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge would be helpful"); Mass. G. Evid. § 702 (2012).
Trial judges have broad discretion in deciding whether to admit expert testimony. Commonwealth v. Federico, 425 Mass. 844, 847 (1997). Because this claim was raised for the first time on appeal, the trial judge was not afforded an opportunity to perform her role as a gatekeeper in assessing the reliability and utility of Spaun's testimony. Thus, because the defendant did
8. Review under G. L. c. 278, § 33E. We have carefully reviewed the entire record of the case in accordance with our responsibility under G. L. c. 278, § 33E, and have found no basis on which to set aside or reduce the verdicts of murder in the first degree.
Judgments affirmed.
Moreover, when David Spears surveyed his house for missing items and came to the conclusion that nothing had been stolen from his living room, it was the defendant who quickly pointed out that a video game console was in fact missing. From this evidence, the jury could reasonably have inferred that the defendant had stolen the shotgun from Michael Sr.'s house and had orchestrated several other staged burglaries so as not to draw attention to that house.