Commonwealth v. Lutskov
Commonwealth v. Lutskov
Opinion
*636 **576 The defendant, Maksim Lustkov, was sixteen years old in October, 1999, when he committed an armed home invasion during which he shot one occupant three times in front of the occupant's teenage daughter. A Juvenile Court jury adjudicated the defendant a youthful offender on indictments charging armed home invasion and various related offenses, and he was sentenced to a mandatory minimum State prison term of from twenty years to twenty years and one day. 1
In 2016, after our decision in
Diatchenko
v.
District Attorney for the Suffolk Dist
.,
On appeal, the defendant primarily argues that in light of this court's decision in
Commonwealth
v.
Perez
,
For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the evidence was
**577
sufficient to sustain the defendant's adjudication as a youthful offender and, although we agree that the judge failed to instruct the jury that they were required to find the defendant's qualifying age in order to adjudicate him a youthful offender, this error does not require reversal. As to the constitutionality of the defendant's sentence, we agree that the defendant's sentence violates the proportionality requirement inherent in art. 26. Our decision in
Perez I
,
2. Trial . During its direct case at trial, the Commonwealth offered evidence of the defendant's age through two witnesses. A Springfield police detective testified that a fingerprint lifted from the mask left at the Aikens' house was identical to the defendant's **578 left thumbprint, and a fingerprint card bearing the defendant's name and date of birth ("02/06/83") was admitted in evidence. Fulia also testified that the intruders appeared to be "kids ... [a]bout sixteen, seventeen, eighteen [at] the most." At the close of the Commonwealth's case, the defendant moved for a required finding of not guilty on all charges, which the judge denied. After the Commonwealth rested, the defendant offered medical records and testimony from his physician establishing that he was sixteen years old on the date of the offenses. The defendant was adjudicated a youthful offender pursuant to G. L. c. 119, § 54, on all charges.
3. Sentencing . At the sentencing hearing, the Commonwealth recommended a sentence of from thirty to forty years in State prison on the home invasion charge, and a combination of concurrent and from-and-after sentences on the remaining counts. Pursuant to G. L. c. 119, § 58, as amended through St. 1996, c. 200, § 5, the defendant requested a sentence of commitment to the Department of Youth Services (DYS) until age twenty-one, and thereafter a commitment to State prison for a term of from five to seven years.
The judge did not follow the defendant's sentence recommendation. She explained that armed home invasion carried a mandatory minimum sentence and, although a split sentence with commitment to DYS was an available option, such a disposition was not appropriate considering the defendant's age at the time of sentencing (almost nineteen years old), public safety concerns, and the violent nature of the offenses. The judge sentenced the defendant to from twenty years to twenty years and one day in State prison on the armed home invasion charge.
4.
Posttrial proceedings
. In August, 2013, after serving one-half of his committed sentence, the defendant filed, pro se, a motion for relief from unlawful restraint and for a new trial pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 30 (a) and (b), as appearing in
*638 In November, 2016, the defendant, represented by counsel, filed his second motion for relief from unlawful restraint pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 30 (a). He argued that art. 26 prohibited the automatic application of any mandatory minimum sentence for a **579 juvenile defendant. He also argued that the Commonwealth presented insufficient evidence that he was between fourteen and seventeen years of age at the time of the crimes, and that the trial judge failed to instruct the jury that they were required to find the defendant's age within this range in order to adjudicate him a youthful offender. A different judge of the Juvenile Court (the trial judge having retired) denied the motion, concluding that the defendant's failure to raise either argument at trial, on direct appeal, or in his first rule 30 motion constituted waiver. After finding the defendant's arguments waived, the judge nonetheless went on to consider whether any of the claimed errors would give rise to a miscarriage of justice. The judge agreed that the jury heard insufficient evidence of the defendant's age at the time of the offenses and that the trial judge erred in failing to instruct the jury that in order to adjudicate the defendant as a youthful offender, they must find that the Commonwealth had proved that he was between fourteen and seventeen years of age at the time of the offenses. Nevertheless, the motion judge found no risk of a miscarriage of justice because, although she found that the Commonwealth failed to submit sufficient evidence of the defendant's age during its case-in-chief, the defendant introduced evidence establishing that he was between fourteen and seventeen years of age at the time of the crimes. The judge further concluded that the sentencing judge's imposition of a twenty-year mandatory minimum sentence was not automatic: the record demonstrated that she had considered the evidence presented at trial and the probation department's presentence report before imposing the mandatory minimum sentence.
Discussion
. We review the denial of a motion for relief from unlawful restraint brought under Mass. R. Crim. P. 30 (a) for an abuse of discretion or error of law. See
Perez I
,
1.
Sufficiency of the evidence
. The defendant argues that the evidence at trial was insufficient to sustain his adjudication as a youthful offender, and therefore that his motion for a required finding of not guilty should have been allowed. Specifically, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence that he was between the ages of fourteen and seventeen at the time of the offenses. We consider this claim to determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, any rational jury could have found each of the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
Commonwealth
v.
Latimore
,
**580 In order for a juvenile to be adjudicated a youthful offender, the Commonwealth must present sufficient evidence that (1) the juvenile was between fourteen and seventeen years of age at the time of the offense; (2) the offense, if committed by an adult, is punishable by imprisonment in State prison; and (3) either the juvenile has previously been committed to DYS, the alleged offense involves certain enumerated firearms violations, or the alleged offense involves the infliction or threat of serious bodily harm. G. L. c. 119, § 54, as amended through St. 1996, c. 200, § 2. 4
*639 Here, the evidence introduced at trial concerning the defendant's age was sufficient to support his adjudication as a youthful offender. During its case-in-chief, the Commonwealth offered a fingerprint card bearing the defendant's name and date of birth ("02/06/83"), and Fulia testified that the intruders were "kids ... [a]bout sixteen, seventeen, eighteen [at] the most." Accordingly, there was no error in the denial of the defendant's motion for a required finding. 5
2. Jury instructions . The defendant next contends that the trial judge's jury instructions were erroneous because the judge did not instruct the jury that if the defendant were to be adjudicated a youthful offender, they must find that he was between fourteen and seventeen years of age at the time of the offenses.
**581
The judge instructed the jury only that the Commonwealth was proceeding against the defendant "as a youthful offender." The instruction should have informed the jury that the Commonwealth was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the requirements set forth in G. L. c. 119, § 54, including the defendant's qualifying age at the time of the offenses. See G. L. c. 119, § 54 ;
Commonwealth
v.
Quincy Q
.,
We conclude that the judge's omission in her instruction to the jury does not warrant reversal. At the close of the case, the evidence showing that the defendant was between fourteen and seventeen years of age at the time of the offenses was so overwhelming that the defendant's age was not a contested issue at trial. See
Quincy Q
.,
3.
Constitutionality of the sentence
. The defendant was sentenced prior to the issuance of the United States Supreme Court's decision in
Miller
,
In
Miller
,
In
Perez I
,
"a juvenile defendant's aggregate sentence for nonmurder offenses with parole eligibility exceeding that applicable to a juvenile defendant convicted of murder is presumptively disproportionate. That presumption is conclusive, absent a hearing to consider whether extraordinary circumstances warrant a sentence treating the juvenile defendant more harshly for parole purposes than a juvenile convicted of murder."
Perez I
,
In
Perez II
, also decided today, we emphasized that under the individualized sentencing process outlined in
Perez I
,
"the criminal conduct alone is not sufficient to justify a greater parole eligibility period than is available for murder. The juvenile's personal and family history *641 must also be considered **583 independently; this consideration of the individual's personal and family history is also not the ordinary mitigation analysis associated with sentencing.... [B]oth the crime and the juvenile's circumstances must be extraordinary to justify a longer parole eligibility period."
Perez II , 480 Mass. at 569, 106 N.E.3d at 628. Although the Commonwealth need not show that "the defendant exhibited 'irretrievable depravity' or 'irreparable corruption,' " id . at 571, 106 N.E.3d at 630, the Commonwealth must prove "that the juvenile's personal characteristics make it necessary to delay parole eligibility for a time exceeding that available to juveniles convicted of murder." Id .In other words, "the Commonwealth must prove that there is no reasonable possibility of the juvenile's being rehabilitated within the time after which a juvenile convicted of murder becomes eligible for parole." Id .
The defendant in this case was sentenced to the mandatory twenty-year minimum sentence under the armed home invasion statute, G. L. c. 265, § 18C, without a
Miller
hearing. Because this is five years longer than the sentence applicable to a juvenile convicted of murder in 2001, the presumption announced in
Perez I
applies. See
Perez I
,
Where the mandatory minimum sentence imposed by statute exceeds
the parole eligibility
for murder, by definition, the sentencing judge is not afforded an opportunity to consider the
Miller
factors as they relate to imposing a sentence below the mandatory minimum. See
Perez I
,
Conclusion . For the foregoing reasons, the order denying the defendant's rule 30 motion is vacated, and the matter is remanded to the Juvenile Court for resentencing consistent with this opinion.
So ordered .
The defendant was adjudicated a youthful offender on indictments charging armed home invasion; assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (two counts); armed assault with intent to rob; assault by means of a dangerous weapon; and assault and battery.
We acknowledge the amicus briefs submitted by the youth advocacy division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, Children's Law Center of Massachusetts, Citizens for Juvenile Justice, and the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; and by the Boston Bar Association.
Because Fulia Aiken and her father, Amhet Aiken, share a last name, we refer to them by their first names.
The version of the youthful offender statute in effect at the time of the defendant's offenses defined a "youthful offender" as "a person who is subject to an adult or juvenile sentence for having committed, while between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, an offense against a law of the commonwealth." G. L. c. 119, § 52, as amended through St. 1996, c. 200, § 1. In 2013, the Legislature amended the definition of a "youthful offender" to a person "between the ages of fourteen and [eighteen]." G. L. c. 119, § 54, as amended through St. 2013, 84, § 8.
We agree with the motion judge's conclusion that Fulia's testimony regarding the defendant's physical appearance, by itself, would have been insufficient to support the defendant's adjudication as a youthful offender. See
Commonwealth
v.
Pittman
,
Under the juvenile disproportionality test announced in
Perez I
,
The Commonwealth contends that the defendant's sentence is not presumptively disproportionate under
Perez I
,
A Juvenile Court judge has three dispositional choices after a defendant is adjudicated a youthful offender: (1) a sentence provided by law (i.e., an adult punishment for the offense); (2) a combination sentence consisting of a commitment to the Department of Youth Services (DYS) until the juvenile reaches the age of twenty-one followed by a suspended adult sentence; or (3) commitment to DYS until the age of twenty-one. G. L. c. 119, § 58, third par. See
Commonwealth
v.
Samuel S
.,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- COMMONWEALTH v. Maksim LUTSKOV.
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published