Commonwealth v. Pike (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-049-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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‑11499 COMMONWEALTH vs. MATTHEW J. PIKE. March 17, 2014. Sex Offender. Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Act. Evidence, Sex offender. On May 20, 2010, the defendant pleaded guilty to several charges including indecent assault and battery. He was sentenced to two years at a correctional facility, time deemed served, and placed on probation for two years. His conditions of probation included, among other things, that he register as a sex offender pursuant to G. L. c. 6, §§ 178C-178P. He was subsequently charged in a complaint, on July 30, 2010, with failing to register, in violation of G. L. c. 6, § 178H (a), and, following a jury-waived trial, was convicted of that charge. The Appeals Court affirmed the conviction, rejecting the defendant’s argument that the evidence was insufficient and declining to consider his argument that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because he had not first raised the claim in a motion for a new trial. See Commonwealth v. Pike, 83 Mass. App. Ct. 1128 (2013). The case is now before this court on further appellate review. The defendant raises the same two issues here that he did in the Appeals Court: that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. To prove that the defendant violated G. L. c. 6, § 178H (a), the Commonwealth must show that, among other things, the defendant failed to notify the Sex Offender Registry Board (board) of a change of address.[1] At trial, the Commonwealth attempted to prove this element of the crime through the testimony of the defendant’s probation officer, Susan McDonough. She testified that she was scheduled to visit the defendant at his home on July 14, 2010, but that she “left a message that [she] would not be able to make that appointment and for him to come into the office. He did not report.” She also stated that on July 21, 2010, she went to the defendant’s home and he was not there. That same day, the defendant left a message on McDonough’s voice mail “that all is good and he [was] staying with a friend.” As a result of these events, McDonough asked for a warrant on July 23, 2010, leading to the issuance of the July 30, 2010, complaint charging the defendant with failing to register […]