Commonwealth v. Lugo
Commonwealth v. Lugo
Opinion
**95 In November 2011, the victim, Kyle McManus, was murdered after a plan to rob him of marijuana failed. A jury convicted the defendant, Nathan Lugo, of murder in the second degree. 1 The defendant, who was seventeen years old at the time of the murder, was sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment with eligibility for parole after fifteen years. 2 On appeal, the defendant argues that the mandatory sentence is unconstitutional because it does not allow the judge to exercise his or her discretion to impose anything less than a life sentence with the possibility of parole. The defendant contends that the judge erred in denying his motion to continue his sentence so that he could present evidence related to his juvenile status. He further argues that (1) the judge erred in denying his request to instruct the jury on accident; (2) his counsel was ineffective for not requesting other jury instructions; and (3) the judge erred in denying the defendant's *1216 motion to suppress the warrantless "pinging" of his cellular telephone (cell phone).
In
Commonwealth
v.
Okoro
,
Background . We summarize the facts that the jury could have found, reserving pertinent facts for the discussion of the defendant's arguments. In addition, we reserve the facts that the motion judge found for the discussion of the defendant's motion to suppress.
The defendant and three friends, Alison Deshowitz, Devante Thames, and Brian Moulton, developed a plan to rob the victim of marijuana. Deshowitz, who had dated the victim, contacted him under the guise that she was arranging a drug transaction. The plan was for the group to meet the victim at a restaurant, bring him to his home to secure the marijuana, and then rob him of the marijuana. The defendant drove the group in his mother's black sport utility vehicle (SUV) to meet the victim. On the way to the restaurant, he informed the group that he was armed with a revolver.
The group met the victim at the restaurant and drove him to his house to get the marijuana. After going inside the victim's house to measure the marijuana, the victim and Thames walked back to the SUV that was idling in the victim's driveway. The victim leaned into the front passenger's side window of the SUV to collect the money for the marijuana that Thames already was holding. Moulton displayed the money to be used to complete the drug transaction, and the victim commented that it looked to be less than the agreed-upon purchase price. Upon hearing the victim's suspicions, the defendant "threw the car in reverse" and backed out of the driveway with the victim still leaning through the window. A scuffle ensued between the victim and Moulton as the victim attempted to grab the money in Moulton's hand and **97 get out of the moving SUV. The victim did not have a weapon but was carrying an open beer can or bottle that he had taken from the restaurant. The victim shouted, "Help," before a loud pop was heard; the SUV sped away, leaving the victim behind. Thames testified that the defendant extended his hand with the gun across the passenger seat. Moulton bent *1217 down, and the defendant shot the victim in the chest. The victim was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly thereafter.
Police quickly discovered that the victim was last seen alive with Deshowitz. After going to Deshowitz's house and learning that she was not home, police spoke to her on her cell phone. Police then attempted to locate her cell phone by "pinging" it. Deshowitz's cell phone location, coupled with other information that police gathered, indicated that she was located at the defendant's house. Police proceeded to the defendant's house, where they arrested the defendant and the group.
At the defendant's house, police discovered a black SUV in the garage. Police recovered several bags of marijuana in the defendant's bedroom and a .22 caliber revolver, later revealed to be the murder weapon, hidden in a hollowed-out hole under a patio brick.
2. Procedural history . The offenses were committed three months before the defendant's eighteenth birthday. At the conclusion of trial, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after fifteen years on the charge of murder in the second degree. At the sentencing hearing, although defense counsel acknowledged that the judge had no discretion in imposing a sentence for murder in the second degree, he asked for a continuance so that he could present evidence of mitigation. Defense counsel informed the judge that he had retained an expert in juvenile psychology and that he wanted to present the expert's testimony at sentencing. According to defense counsel, this testimony would have discussed "unique things about juveniles, their perception, their need for instant gratification, their likelihood of success and rehabilitation ... all things that are important." The judge acknowledged the possible importance of this information when the defendant is eligible for parole, but denied the defendant's request. The judge believed that the information was better suited to be presented to the parole board at the time of the parole hearing.
The defendant timely filed a notice of appeal, which was stayed so that he could pursue a motion for a new trial. In his motion, the defendant argued, among other things, that the statutorily mandated **98 sentence of life with the possibility of parole after fifteen years violated provisions of the State and Federal Constitutions; certain instructions given on the homicide charge were erroneous; and counsel was ineffective in failing to object to improper instructions. After a nonevidentiary hearing, the motion was denied. The motion judge, who was also the trial judge, found that
"[r]eview of the Okoro ruling makes clear that a person in [the defendant's] position is not under the law as presently enunciated in a position to argue that he must receive an individualized sentencing hearing after his conviction of second degree murder, an offense which requires the imposition of the mandatory sentence called for in [ G. L. c. 265, § 2 ]."
The defendant's appeal from that denial was consolidated with his direct appeal, and we granted his application for direct appellate review.
Discussion
. 1.
Constitutionality of the defendant's sentence
. The defendant argues that the statutory sentencing scheme for juveniles convicted of murder in the second degree, G. L. c. 127, § 133A, which mandates a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after fifteen years, violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and art. 26 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. He contends that the statutory scheme does not allow judges to exercise their
*1218
discretion to impose anything less than a life sentence, with the possibility of parole, after an individualized hearing.
4
He argues that such a mandatory sentence for a conviction of murder in the second degree is disproportional in light of the decisions in
Okoro
,
In
Diatchenko I
, we held that, in light of the United States Supreme Court's decision in
Miller
,
5
the Massachusetts statute imposing a sentence of mandatory life without parole, G. L. c. 265, § 2, violated the defendant's right of protection against cruel and unusual punishment and that the discretionary sentence of life without parole upon the defendant violated the State constitutional prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment.
Diatchenko I
,
Two years after the decision in
Diatchenko I
, we expanded its holding in
Okoro
,
supra
. In
Okoro
, the defendant argued that the Eighth Amendment, as established in
Miller
, required individualized sentencing hearings in every case in which a juvenile homicide offender received a life sentence.
Okoro
,
*1219
Id.
at 62,
In
Okoro
,
At that point, we thought it prudent to allow this area of the law to settle further before revisiting our interpretation of Miller . For the same reasons we stated in Okoro , we remain unwilling to revisit our interpretation in regard to individualized sentencing. The Commonwealth suggests that in the four years since Okoro , our case law has only affirmed that the opportunity to seek parole after fifteen years is an appropriate and proportional minimum sentence for murder in the second degree. The defendant points to extrajurisdictional cases, dicta, and one scientific study to suggest that there have been significant changes in the relevant law and science since Okoro . We are unpersuaded that the law and science are firmly established to warrant further consideration at this time. In sum, we leave the question open and conclude, as we did in Okoro , that a mandatory life sentence with parole eligibility after fifteen years for a juvenile homicide offender convicted of murder in the second degree is constitutional. The motion judge did not abuse his discretion in concluding that the defendant is not entitled to individualized sentencing.
The defendant further contends that the judge violated his due process rights in denying his request for a continuance of sentencing **101 so that he could present evidence of mitigation. He argues that evidence available to him at the time of sentencing -- at a minimum, evidence of his mental state and immaturity -- may not be available to him at the time of his first parole hearing. The judge acknowledged the possible importance of this evidence when the defendant is eligible for parole but denied the defendant's request. The judge believed that the information was better suited to be presented to the parole board at the time of the parole hearing.
In
Diatchenko II
, 471 Mass. at 24, 27, 32,
Here, we agree with the judge. Although the defendant constitutionally is entitled to funds to establish mitigating evidence that will be relevant before the parole board, he or she is not entitled to make a record through an adversarial process before sentencing. The defendant may, for example, immediately seek funds for an expert report explaining the relationship between a defendant's neurobiological immaturity and culpability. However, the appropriate time to make a record of any expert evidence will be at the parole board hearing. 6
2.
Jury instructions
. At trial, the defendant sought, but did not receive, jury instructions on accident, involuntary manslaughter, and voluntary manslaughter. He argues that two of these instructions, on involuntary manslaughter and voluntary manslaughter by reason of sudden combat, would have allowed the jury to consider a lesser charge than murder and that an instruction on accident would have given the jury the opportunity to acquit. We review the denial of a motion for a new trial for an abuse of discretion. See
**102
Commonwealth
v.
Acevedo
,
a. Accident instruction . The judge declined to instruct the jury on the defense of accident. The defendant argues that the evidence at trial was sufficient to warrant such an instruction. The Commonwealth argues that the judge was correct in not providing the accident instruction because the evidence did not support one and it would have contradicted the defendant's theory at trial of self-defense or defense of another. We conclude that the evidence presented at trial did not warrant an accident instruction.
An accident instruction is warranted where "the evidence at trial fairly raised the possibility that [the defendant caused the victim's death] unintentionally while engaged in conduct that was neither wanton nor reckless."
Commonwealth
v.
Moore
,
Here, viewed in the light most favorable to the defendant, there is no evidence that the victim's fatal injuries were caused by an accident. The evidence at trial showed that the defendant, along with his cohorts, planned to rob the victim of marijuana. The defendant armed himself with a revolver and told his confederates not to "worry" about the robbery because he had ready access to the weapon and that he "wouldn't be afraid to use it." Once the victim realized that the payment was short, the defendant effectuated the plan, "threw the car in reverse," and backed out of the victim's driveway with the victim still leaning through the vehicle window. Before the victim could get out of the moving SUV, the defendant shot him in the chest.
Citing testimony from the Commonwealth's firearms expert, the defendant argues that evidence that the firearm used in the killing required a small amount of trigger pressure supported his
**103
request for an accident instruction because it would have been "very easy" for the gun to have discharged accidentally. This evidence does not warrant an accident instruction alone, and there was no additional evidence to support the contention that the firearm was discharged accidentally. In fact, the jury heard evidence that the defendant extended his arm with the gun across the passenger seat and shot the victim in the chest. The evidence showed that the defendant's intentional conduct caused the gun to fire, not mere "inadvertence, mistake, or negligence." See
Figueroa
,
b.
Involuntary and voluntary manslaughter instructions
. The defendant argues that the judge erred in denying his request to instruct the jury on involuntary manslaughter. He further contends that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to the judge's decision not to give the instruction. We review for a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice. See
Commonwealth
v.
Randolph
,
We have "stated repeatedly that, 'when the evidence permits a finding of a lesser included offense, a judge must, upon request, instruct the jury on the possibility of conviction of the lesser crime.' "
Commonwealth
v.
Gaouette
,
Involuntary manslaughter is an unintentional killing occurring while a defendant is engaged in wanton or reckless conduct that creates a high degree of likelihood that substantial harm will result to another.
Commonwealth
v.
Power-Koch
,
The defendant also raises the same arguments regarding the judge's denial of his request for a voluntary manslaughter instruction. Specifically, he argues that the judge erred in not instructing the jury on reasonable provocation and sudden combat. 7
Voluntary manslaughter is "a killing from a sudden transport of passion or heat of blood, upon a reasonable provocation and without malice, or upon sudden combat."
Commonwealth
v.
Walden
,
In cases where sudden combat is the claimed provocation, the victim generally must attack the defendant, or at least strike a
**105
blow against the defendant in order to warrant a manslaughter instruction. See
Curtis
,
3.
Motion to suppress cell phone location
. Prior to trial, the defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence of his cell site location information (CSLI) that police obtained from his cell phone carrier. The motion judge denied the motion, concluding that the emergency aid exception justified the warrantless pinging of Deshowitz's and the defendant's cell phones. In reviewing a decision on a motion to suppress, "we accept the judge's subsidiary findings absent clear error 'but conduct an independent review of [the] ultimate findings and conclusions of law.' "
Commonwealth
v.
Jones-Pannell
,
Tuitt returned to the police station, where he spoke with Sergeant Detective Melissa McCormack about obtaining the location of Deshowitz's cell phone. McCormack began the process of "pinging" Deshowitz's cell phone through her cell phone carrier. McCormack contacted a representative of the carrier and stated that there were exigent circumstances that necessitated the request for the cell phone's location based upon her certification of "imminent danger of death or serious physical injury."
In the interim, Tuitt received a telephone call from Deshowitz's mother, who told Tuitt that she believed something was wrong with her daughter. When police received Deshowitz's cell phone coordinates at 1:26 A.M. , they discovered that the cell phone was located in Brockton. Tuitt asked Deshowitz's mother if Deshowitz knew anyone in Brockton. The mother replied that she knew a "Nate" and gave his address. The mother accompanied Tuitt to the address, where Tuitt observed a vehicle registered to the defendant's mother parked in the driveway. McCormack also learned from registry records that a licensed driver named "Nathan Lugo" resided at the residence.
As part of the exigency request, the cell phone carrier also provided police with the cell phone numbers and subscriber names for cell phones that either received or made calls to Deshowitz's cell phone. Among those numbers was a cell phone *1224 subscribed to the defendant's mother. McCormack had that cell phone pinged via its carrier, which showed it to be in the same general location as Deshowitz's cell phone.
At approximately 3 A.M. , police arrived at the defendant's residence and were allowed in by the defendant's mother. Police retrieved Deshowitz and asked her to speak with responding officers. Later that morning, the officers procured a search warrant. During their search, police discovered evidence linking the defendant to the killing, including the murder weapon. The officers proceeded to arrest the defendant, Deshowitz, Thames, and Moulton.
On appeal, the defendant argues that the motion judge erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the pinging of Deshowitz's and his cell phones. He argues that the emergency aid exception to the warrant requirement does not apply because police had no objectively reasonable basis to
**107
believe that Deshowitz was injured or was in "imminent danger of physical harm" (citation omitted).
Commonwealth
v.
Entwistle
,
To prevail on a motion to suppress under art. 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, a defendant must demonstrate that he or she has standing to contest the search and that he or she had an expectation of privacy in the area searched or in the item seized that society recognizes as reasonable. See
Commonwealth
v.
Figueroa
,
We conclude that the action by police of causing Deshowitz's and the defendant's cell phones to reveal their real-time location constituted a search in the constitutional sense. See
Commonwealth
v.
Almonor
, 482 Mass. ----, ----,
a.
Deshowitz's cell phone
. We first look to determine if the defendant has standing to challenge the search of Deshowitz's cell phone. We conclude that he does not. See
Commonwealth
v.
Estabrook
,
Likewise, at the time of the initial search of Deshowitz's cell phone, police did not know that she was with the defendant. Police only knew that she was the last person seen with the victim. It was not until the investigation unfolded that police discovered Deshowitz was at the defendant's house. The defendant cannot establish a reasonable expectation of privacy in Deshowitz's cell phone when it was tracked for a brief period of time and he was never a target of the tracking. Contrast
Rousseau
, 465 Mass. at 382,
In any event, the defendant's challenge of the search of Deshowitz's cell phone would be futile because the search was justified by the emergency aid exception. See
Commonwealth
v.
Raspberry
,
b.
Defendant's cell phone
. The defendant has standing to challenge the search of his cell phone. However, the information gathered from the pinging of the defendant's cell phone -- confirmation of the location of his residence -- already had been gathered by other means, the search of Deshowitz's cell phone. Put another way, all of the evidence that led police to locate the defendant was obtained through the initial search of Deshowitz's
**109
cell phone. Prior to pinging the defendant's cell phone, police had gathered the following information: (1) Deshowitz's cell phone's coordinates were at an address located in Brockton; (2) Deshowitz's mother informed police that she knew her daughter frequently visited an address in Brockton with a person named "Nate"; (3) at the address in Brockton, police discovered a vehicle in the driveway registered to the defendant's mother; (4) registry records also indicated that a driver named "Nathan Lugo" resided at the residence; and (5) Deshowitz's cell phone carrier provided police with information that her cell phone had been in contact with a cell phone registered to the defendant's mother. Only then did police ping the defendant's cell phone and discover that it was in the same location as Deshowitz's cell phone -- the defendant's address. Therefore, even if the pinging of the defendant's cell phone was improper, in the circumstances, the police eventually would have found the defendant,
*1226
and all the evidence that tied him to the crime, at his residence when they conducted the search for Deshowitz. See
Commonwealth
v.
Hernandez
,
Conclusion . We affirm the defendant's convictions and the order denying his motion for a new trial.
So ordered .
The defendant also was convicted of armed robbery, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, and conspiracy to violate the controlled substance law.
The defendant received concurrent sentences for the other convictions.
We acknowledge the amicus briefs submitted by the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, Families for Justice as Healing, and the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls; the Juvenile Law Center, the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior, and the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth; the Boston Bar Association; the youth advocacy division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts, Hon. Gail Garinger, and Robert Kinscherff; and the district attorneys for the Berkshire, Bristol, Cape and the Islands, Eastern, Hampden, Northwestern, Plymouth, Middle, and Suffolk districts.
The defendant does not contend that parole eligibility after fifteen years is cruel and unusual or disproportional to the offense, but is instead "challenging the legislature's one size fits all determination that a life sentence is necessary for every juvenile convicted of second degree murder."
In
Miller
v.
Alabama
,
We determine that juvenile homicide offenders are allowed to seek funds to investigate immediately because of the closeness in time to the conduct that resulted in their incarceration. We also recognize that there is no mechanism -- in rule or procedure -- that grants a juvenile homicide offender the opportunity to seek immediate funds. Allowing the defendant to seek immediate funds is necessary to ensure that the juvenile homicide offender receives a meaningful opportunity for release. See
Diatchenko
v.
District Attorney for the Suffolk Dist.
,
The judge instructed the jury on voluntary manslaughter and imperfect self-defense, but did not mention reasonable provocation or sudden combat.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- COMMONWEALTH v. Nathan LUGO.
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published