Commonwealth v. Saya
Commonwealth v. Saya
Opinion of the Court
The defendant appeals from his conviction of breaking and entering a dwelling house in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony.
1. The motion to suppress. “In reviewing the judge’s findings of fact and rulings of law on the motion to suppress, we accept the judge’s resolution of the conflicting testimony, and will not disturb his subsidiary findings if they are warranted by the evidence.” Commonwealth v. Watkins, 375 Mass. 472, 476 (1978). We summarize the judge’s findings of fact, which are amply supported by the evidence. Quincy police Officer Rogers and F.B.I. Agent Clark went to the defendant’s place of employment on March 16, 1979, and met with him for about two and one-half hours in a small office. Rogers showed the defendant a warrant for his arrest on an indictment for a burglary in Medway, and told him that the officers were interested in obtaining information about “Social Register” burglaries in
The judge concluded that the first interrogation on March 16 was custodial in nature, and thus Miranda warnings should have been given, and that the interrogations of March 18 and 19, during which the defendant incriminated himself with respect to the Claflin burglary, were not. “[W]here the ultimate findings and rulings bear on issues of constitutional dimension, they are open for review. Our appellate function requires that we make our own independent determination on the correctness of the judge’s ‘application of constitutional principles to the facts as found.’ ” Commonwealth v. Haas, 373 Mass. 545, 550 (1977), quoting from Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387, 403 (1977). See Commonwealth v. Watkins, supra at 476. The defendant does not seem to dispute, and we accept as sound, the judge’s conclusion that the interrogations of March 18 and 19 were noncustodial. Both meetings were held at the defendant’s request; and the location of the second was changed at his request for his convenience. The defendant was not under restraint in any way. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444 (1966); Commonwealth v. Haas, supra at
2. Prosecutorial misconduct. The defendant argues that the prosecutor broke a promise which she made to the motion judge by introducing at trial statements made by the defendant at the first meeting on March 16. See Commonwealth v. Harris, 364 Mass. 236, 238 (1973). The defendant does not challenge the trial judge’s ruling on his objections to the evidence offered; and prosecutorial misconduct was not the basis of objection. We look then to determine whether there is a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice. See Commonwealth v. Boiselle, 16 Mass. App. Ct. 393, 399 (1983), and cases cited. The prosecutor indicated to the motion judge that she would not offer the defendant’s statements of March 16 “substantively” at trial. Prior to trial she indicated to the trial judge that she intended to use the statements only as they were relevant to the issue of the voluntariness of the later incriminating statements of the defendant. The prosecutor asked for, received and followed the judge’s guidance in mak
As has been said above, the defendant did not incriminate himself on March 16 with respect to the Claflin burglary. While the jury knew that the officers had an arrest warrant for the defendant, they were not informed that the defendant had been indicted and that the warrant was on account of the Medway burglary. Immediately after testimony of Rogers that the defendant, on March 16, admitted involvement or participation in burglaries other than the Claflin burglary, the judge forcefully instructed the jury that the defendant was on trial only for the Claflin burglary, that “participation” and “involvement” may include noncriminal activity, and that the jury should “keep your eye on the ball.”
We conclude that there is no substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice.
3. Delay in executing the arrest warrant. The defendant argues that his due process rights were violated by the delay in the service of the arrest warrant for the Medway burglary. The argument is without merit in this case, which involves only the Claflin burglary.
Judgment affirmed.
A conviction of larceny of personal property with a value of more than $100 was filed with the defendant’s consent. See Commonwealth v. Hoffer, 375 Mass. 369, 370 n.l (1978).
See Commonwealth v. Saya, 14 Mass. App. Ct. 509 (1982), where the defendant’s conviction as an accessory before the fact to the Medway burglary was affirmed, and this issue apparently was not raised.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.