Commonwealth v. Resende (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-105-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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-11981 COMMONWEALTH vs. ADMILSON RESENDE. Plymouth. April 4, 2016. – July 25, 2016. Present: Gants, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Duffly, Lenk, & Hines, JJ. Controlled Substances. Constitutional Law, Plea, Conduct of government agents. Due Process of Law, Plea, Disclosure of evidence, Presumption. Practice, Criminal, Plea, New trial, Conduct of government agents, Disclosure of evidence, Presumptions and burden of proof. Evidence, Guilty plea, Certificate of drug analysis, Presumptions, Disclosure of evidence. Indictments found and returned in the Superior Court Department on November 9, 2006. A motion to withdraw a guilty plea, filed on October 2, 2012, and supplemented on March 20, 2014, was heard by Paul A. Chernoff, J., special judicial magistrate, and an order affirming the proposed order of the special judicial magistrate was entered by Frank M. Gaziano, J. The Supreme Judicial Court granted an application for direct appellate review. Patrick Levin, Committee for Public Counsel Services, for the defendant. Laurie Yeshulas, Assistant District Attorney (Lisa J. Jacobs, Assistant District Attorney, with her) for the Commonwealth. SPINA, J. The present case is the most recent in a series of cases concerning the egregious misconduct of Annie Dookhan, a chemist who was employed in the forensic drug laboratory of the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute (Hinton drug lab) from 2003 until 2012. On January 23, 2007, the defendant, Admilson Resende, pleaded guilty on indictments charging distribution of a class B controlled substance (cocaine), G. L. c. 94C, § 32A (c) (five counts); violation of the controlled substances laws in proximity to a school or park, G. L. c. 94C, § 32J (three counts); and possession of a class B controlled substance (cocaine) with intent to distribute, G. L. c. 94C, § 32A (c) (one count).[1] He completed service of his sentences.[2] On October 2, 2012, the defendant filed in the Superior Court a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 30, as appearing in 435 Mass. 1501 (2001), based on Dookhan’s malfeasance. Prior to the issuance of a ruling on the defendant’s motion, this court decided Commonwealth v. Scott, 467 Mass. 336 (2014), in which we articulated, in reliance on Ferrara v. United States, 456 F.3d 278, 290-297 (1st Cir. 2006), a two-prong framework for analyzing a defendant’s motion […]