Josh J., a juvenile v. Commonwealth
Josh J., a juvenile v. Commonwealth
Opinion
*1125 **716 This case, here on a reservation and report by a single justice of the county court in response to the juvenile's petition under G. L. c. 211, § 3, requires us to consider the proper application of G. L. c. 276, § 58, and G. L. c. 276, § 58B, specifically with regard to the number of days an individual may be held without bail after a bail revocation hearing. We conclude that where an individual has been released on bail pursuant to G. L. c. 276, § 58, and there is probable cause to believe the individual committed a crime while released on bail, the Commonwealth may seek to revoke bail under either § 58 or § 58B. The judge must then determine whether the Commonwealth satisfied the requirements of the particular statute, either § 58 or § 58B, under which it sought to revoke bail.
**717 1. Background and prior proceedings . On May 6, 2016, a delinquency complaint issued charging the juvenile with breaking and entering in the daytime with intent to commit a felony and larceny over $250. A judge in the Juvenile Court set the juvenile's bail at $1,000. The judge also advised the juvenile, pursuant to G. L. c. 276, § 58, that the juvenile's bail could be revoked if he committed a new crime while on release. The juvenile posted bail and was released.
In August, 2016, two delinquency complaints issued against the juvenile for several new crimes he allegedly committed while on release on the pending charges, including two counts of assault and battery on a pregnant victim and one count of malicious destruction of property valued over $250. In November, 2016, based on the new charges, the Commonwealth sought to revoke the juvenile's bail pursuant to G. L. c. 276, § 58. A Juvenile Court judge allowed the Commonwealth's motion, revoked the juvenile's bail, and set a date for a bail review hearing on January 30, 2017, which amounted to a ninety-day bail revocation. 1
By January 10, 2017, the charges stemming from the juvenile's conduct while he was released on bail had been resolved. 2 The juvenile continued to be held on the original charges, however, so he moved to vacate the bail revocation order, but the judge who had revoked bail denied that motion. In response, the juvenile filed an emergency petition with this court pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3. After a hearing, the single justice issued an interim order, noting that the issue raised by the juvenile in the petition, which he now presses before the full court, was not raised in the trial court, and concluding that the Juvenile Court judge did not abuse his discretion in refusing to vacate the bail revocation order in these circumstances. One day later, there was a disposition in the underlying delinquency complaint. The single justice subsequently reserved and reported the matter raised in the juvenile's petition to the full court, in order to give the court an opportunity to address the proper application of G. L. c. 276, §§ 58 and 58B,
2.
Discussion
. Although this case is moot, we address the issues raised because, as the single justice noted, they are "fully briefed
**718
and raise matters of importance
*1126
that are likely to arise again, but are unlikely to be capable of appellate review in the normal course before they become moot."
Delaney
v.
Commonwealth
,
Bail revocation under §§ 58 and 58B . The juvenile claims that the judge erred in applying the ninety-day revocation period under G. L. c. 276, § 58B, as opposed to the sixty-day revocation period under G. L. c. 276, § 58, after finding probable cause to believe that the juvenile had committed a crime while released on bail under § 58. The crux of the juvenile's argument is that because bail can be revoked under either § 58 or § 58B, where an individual commits a crime while on release, the statutes create an ambiguous bail revocation framework, and therefore, the rule of lenity requires the application of the sixty-day revocation period under § 58. To resolve this issue, we begin with the pertinent portions of § 58 and § 58B. General Laws c. 276, § 58, sixth par., provides in pertinent part:
"If a person is on release pending the adjudication of a prior charge, and the court ... finds probable cause to believe that the person has committed a crime during said period of release, the court shall then determine, in the exercise of its discretion, whether the release of said person will seriously endanger any person or the community.... If the court determines that the release of said person will seriously endanger any person or the community and that the detention of the person is necessary to reasonably assure the safety of any person or the community, the court may revoke bail on the prior charge and may order said person held without bail pending the adjudication of said prior charge, for a period not to exceed sixty days."
The relevant portion of G. L. c. 276, § 58B, provides:
"A person who has been released after a hearing pursuant to [ § 58 ]... shall be subject to a revocation of release and an order of detention ... [if] the judicial officer finds (1) that there is probable cause to believe that the person has committed a [F]ederal or [S]tate crime while on release, ... and (2) the judicial officer finds that there are no conditions of release that will reasonably assure the person will not pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community; or **719 the person is unlikely to abide by any condition or combination of conditions of release."
"...
"A person detained under this subsection ... shall not be detained for a period exceeding ninety days excluding any period of delay as defined in [ Mass. R. Crim. P. 36 (b) (2),378 Mass. 909 (1978) ]."
To determine the proper application of §§ 58 and 58B, we apply the well-established principles of statutory construction. Our fundamental aim is to "discern and effectuate the intent of the Legislature."
Commonwealth
v.
Morgan
,
The plain language of G. L. c. 276, §§ 58 and 58B, is clear and unambiguous, particularly where § 58B explicitly includes persons released on bail under § 58 ; an individual who is released on bail pursuant to § 58 may have his or her bail revoked under either § 58 or § 58B where, among other requirements, there is probable cause to believe the individual committed a crime while on release. The Legislature's decision to provide two bail revocation mechanisms in these circumstances does not create ambiguity.
Paquette
,
b.
Due process
. The juvenile also claims that revoking bail under § 58B where an individual has been released on bail pursuant to § 58, and subsequently commits a crime while on release, violates due process.
4
Because pretrial detention
*1128
encroaches on a fundamental liberty interest, we consider both substantive and procedural due process. See
Paquette
,
We held in
Paquette
,
ii. Procedural due process. Even where government action survives substantive due process scrutiny, procedural due process protections require that the governmental action be implemented in a fair manner.
Paquette
,
We conclude that G. L. c. 276, § 58B, contains adequate procedural safeguards to protect against erroneous deprivations of liberty that are sufficient to satisfy the requirements of procedural due process. A critical component of our holding in
Paquette
was that, prior to releasing a defendant on bail, § 58 requires that the judge explicitly advise the defendant that bail may be revoked if the defendant commits a new crime while on release.
Paquette
,
The procedures applied where bail is revoked under § 58B are also constitutionally adequate. As relevant here, a court "shall" revoke bail under § 58B only after a hearing where the Commonwealth (and the defendant) present evidence, and two requirements are satisfied.
6
First, there must be "probable cause to believe that the person has committed a [F]ederal or [S]tate crime while on release." G. L. c. 276, § 58B. We hold, as we did in
Paquette
, that the probable cause standard for determining whether a defendant committed a crime while on release survives
**723
constitutional scrutiny in the context of a bail revocation hearing. See
Paquette
,
Second, "the judicial officer" has to "find[ ] that there are no conditions of release that will reasonably assure the person will not pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community; or the person is unlikely to abide by any condition or combination of conditions of release." G. L. c. 276, § 58B. This is a significantly weightier showing to revoke bail than under § 58. Section 58 requires a showing that the defendant "will seriously endanger any person or the community." Revocation under § 58B requires not only a showing that the person will pose a danger to any other person or the community, but also "that there are no conditions of release that will reasonably assure the person" will not pose such a danger. Only after determining that there is
no
set of conditions that would allow the release of the individual under § 58B"shall" the judge revoke bail.
Conclusion . We conclude that where an individual has been released on bail pursuant to G. L. c. 276, § 58, and there is probable cause to believe the individual committed a crime while released on bail, a trial court judge may revoke bail under either § 58 or G. L. c. 276, § 58B, if the Commonwealth is able to make the requisite showing under the respective statute.
The matter is remanded to the single justice of the county court, where an order shall enter dismissing the petition as moot.
So ordered .
The Juvenile Court judge allowed the Commonwealth's motion to revoke bail in a margin endorsement which did not cite G. L. c. 276, § 58, or G. L. c. 276, § 58B, or otherwise reference a ninety-day revocation period.
Ultimately, the juvenile was adjudicated delinquent on one count of assault and battery on a pregnant victim. The juvenile received a suspended sentence and was placed on probation until his eighteenth birthday.
We note that although §§ 58 and 58B are not ambiguous, the existing bail revocation scheme, as it applies to individuals released on bail under § 58, can lead to incongruous results. For example, an individual who has been released on bail in Superior Court pursuant to G. L. c. 276, § 57, for a serious crime may have his or her bail revoked for sixty days under § 58 if he or she commits another serious crime while on release. In contrast, if an individual commits a less serious crime and is released by a District Court judge on bail with conditions of release pursuant to § 58, and that person violates a condition of release that does not amount to a crime, the only available revocation mechanism is § 58B, which results in a revocation period not to exceed ninety days, excluding any period of delay as defined by Mass. R. Crim. P. 36 (b) (2),
Based on the facts in the record and the issue that was reserved and reported, we narrow our focus to determine whether revocation under § 58B satisfies due process requirements only where an individual is released on bail under § 58.
Moreover, we observed that a "defendant cannot be heard to complain that his constitutional right to liberty has been violated when continued freedom was entirely within his own control, and the deprivation thereof was an inevitable consequence of his alleged failure to conform his conduct to the laws of this Commonwealth and to the explicit condition of his earlier release."
Paquette
v.
Commonwealth
,
Because G. L. c. 276, § 58B, relates to "[a] person who has been released after a hearing pursuant to section[ ] ... 58," we interpret the procedural requirements of a revocation hearing under § 58B to be equivalent to those when the Commonwealth seeks to revoke bail for the commission of a subsequent offense while the person is on release pursuant to § 58. See
Jake J.
v.
Commonwealth
,
The parties did not argue, and we do not decide, whether the rebuttable presumption in § 58B is constitutional in the context of a revocation under § 58B when bail was granted under § 58. See G. L. c. 276, § 58B, second par. ("[i]f there is probable cause to believe that" defendant committed crime while on release, "a rebuttable presumption arises that no condition or combination of conditions will assure that the person will not pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community"). We note, however, that the rebuttable presumption in § 58B may be difficult to reconcile with the presumption recognized in § 58 that an individual will be released on bail or personal recognizance. Cf.
Delaney
v.
Commonwealth
,
We are cognizant that the potential deprivation of liberty implicated by a bail revocation under § 58 or § 58B can be substantial. We held in
Commonwealth
v.
Pagan
,
"The principal legislative purpose of § 58 is 'to protect the rights of the defendant by establishing a presumption that he or she will be admitted to bail on personal recognizance without surety and by delineating carefully the circumstances under which bail may be denied.' "
Pagan
,
The juvenile's claim that the Juvenile Court judge erred in denying his motion to reconsider the bail revocation order exceeds the parameters of the issue before us, and thus we decline to address it.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- JOSH J., a Juvenile v. COMMONWEALTH.
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- 7 cases
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- Published