Commonwealth v. French (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-031-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-12012 COMMONWEALTH vs. ERIC S. FRENCH. February 14, 2017. Breaking and Entering. Larceny. Practice, Criminal, Required finding. Evidence, Fingerprints, Identification. Identification. Following a jury-waived trial in the District Court, a judge found the defendant, Eric S. French, guilty of breaking and entering in the daytime with the intent to commit a felony, in violation of G. L. c. 266, § 18, and larceny of property over $ 250, in violation of G. L. c. 266, § 30 (1). The defendant appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions.[1] The Appeals Court, in a divided decision, affirmed the judgments. See Commonwealth v. French, 88 Mass. App. Ct. 477 (2015). The case is now before this court on further appellate review. Because we conclude that the evidence was not sufficient to find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant committed the crimes charged, we reverse. Background. The convictions stem from a break-in and robbery that occurred at a market in Springfield in August, 2013. At trial, one of the proprietors of the store testified that she closed the store at 6 P.M. on August 30. She returned to the store “during the night” after being notified of a break-in. When she arrived she saw that “[s]omebody had broken in on the side window and taken the panel out and climbed in.” She also testified that approximately $ 400 to $ 500 worth of cigarettes had been stolen. Several Springfield police officers also testified. Officer Eugene Rooke responded to a call to go to the market on the morning of August 31, and arrived there with his partner at approximately 7:20 A.M. When they arrived, they spoke with two men who lived next door to the store and who had alerted the police that a front window to the store was “missing.” Officer Rooke saw that the plexiglass window pane from the window located to the right of the front door had been removed and was set against the door. Photographs entered as exhibits at trial show the plexiglass leaning against the front door, next to the window frame from which it had been removed. Officer Rooke estimated that when the plexiglass was intact, inside the window frame, the top of it was more than six feet, four inches from the ground. Additionally, he saw a milk […]