Commonwealth v. Dulmaine
Commonwealth v. Dulmaine
Opinion of the Court
The defendant appeals after her 2015 conviction of while operating under the influence (OUI), third offense, pursuant to G. L. c. 90, § 24(1)(a )(1). She contends that the Commonwealth failed to satisfy its burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt each one of the defendant's prior offenses that were relied on to prove the subsequent OUI offense. We affirm.
To prove that the defendant was guilty of a third offense, the Commonwealth presented certified copies of the dockets from the defendant's two prior OUI convictions, one from 2003 and a second from 2005. The defendant conceded the sufficiency of the Commonwealth's proof of the 2005 conviction, but argued that the Commonwealth's evidence of the 2003 conviction, which consisted of only the docket sheet and an initial notice of assignment of counsel, was insufficient to prove a valid conviction.
While the defendant asserts that the initial notice of assignment of counsel did not reflect whether an attorney aided the defendant in her decision to enter a guilty plea, or whether she instead waived counsel before entering her plea, it is not the Commonwealth's burden to "come forward with proof on the point unless the defendant first makes a showing that the conviction was obtained without representation by or waiver of counsel." Commonwealth v. McMullin,
In addition, "[a] notation of the name of counsel for the defendant on the face of a complaint is sufficient to satisfy the Commonwealth's burden" to prove that the defendant was represented by counsel. Commonwealth v. Napier,
The trial judge also could have relied on the documents submitted to prove the 2005 OUI conviction, second offense, to establish that the defendant had previously been convicted. See Commonwealth v. Bowden,
Judgment affirmed.
The defendant maintains that she argued the issue at trial. ("[T]he Defendant most certainly presented an argument that her representation by an attorney in the 2003 case was called into question.") However, she offered no evidence on the issue.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.