Fuentes v. Commonwealth
Fuentes v. Commonwealth
Opinion of the Court
Jose Fuentes appeals from a judgment of a single justice of this court denying his petition for relief under G. L. c. 211, § 3. We affirm the judgment.
Fuentes was indicted on charges of unlawful distribution of heroin, second or subsequent offense, and of unlawful distribution of heroin in a school zone. A jury trial commenced in the Superior Court. On the second day of deliberations, the jury requested and received reinstruction on reasonable doubt and direct and circumstantial evidence. After deliberations resumed, the foreperson of the jury sent a note to the trial judge, asking, “At what point is a jury hung?” At the request of the Commonwealth and with Fuentes’s assent, the judge charged the jury in accordance with Commonwealth v. Tuey, 8 Cush. 1,
We review the single justice’s judgment for abuse of discretion or other error of law. Where the evidence is sufficient to warrant a conviction (and Fuentes does not suggest that it was not), double jeopardy principles do not bar retrial if there was a “manifest necessity” for the declaration of a mistrial. Thames v. Commonwealth, 365 Mass. 477, 479 (1974). “The question for decision, as it was before the single justice, is whether the petitioner has shown an abuse of discretion by the trial judge in declaring a mistrial.”
Fuentes argues that despite the apparent deadlock, there was no manifest necessity for the mistrial because the judge neither asked the foreperson in open court whether there was any reasonable probability of unanimous verdicts nor asked if the jury would consent to further deliberations. G. L. c. 234, § 34. Nothing in our case law or in § 34 required the judge to make either inquiry as a matter of course, and the circumstances before the judge did not necessitate either inquiry. The final note from the foreperson unequivocally stated that the jury were “unable to come to a unanimous decision,” in other words, that the jury were deadlocked. The note did not suggest, for example, that the jury were merely having trouble making a decision or needed further
Fuentes also argues that he was not given an opportunity to be heard before the judge declared the mistrial. Although, as the single justice stated, the more prudent course would have been to consult with counsel, see Commonwealth v. Floyd P., 415 Mass. 826, 833-834 (1993), the record does not show that such consultation would have produced any fruitful alternatives. As noted, there was no reasonable probability that the jury would have consented to deliberate further, and without such consent, they could not have been compelled to do so. G. L. c. 234, § 34. There was no abuse of discretion by either the trial judge or the single justice.
Judgment affirmed.
The judge stated that she had “no choice . . . but to declare a hung jury.” Fuentes argues that the judge believed that she lacked any discretion, and so her declaration of a mistrial was based on an error of law. It is at least as likely, however, that the judge meant that in her view, there was a manifest necessity for the mistrial. See Commonwealth v. Knight, 392 Mass. 192, 195 (1984) (“the record can support a conclusion that the judge knew he had discretion and exercised it”).
That question itself might have suggested to the judge that the jury did not believe they would be able to resolve their impasse and were disinclined to keep trying.
Reference
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- Jose Fuentes v. Commonwealth
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