Commonwealth v. LeBlanc (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-170-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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-12066 COMMONWEALTH vs. RANDY A. LeBLANC. Franklin. September 8, 2016. – October 28, 2016. Present: Gants, C.J., Botsford, Lenk, Hines, Gaziano, Lowy, & Budd, JJ. Motor Vehicle, Leaving scene of accident. Statute, Construction. Complaint received and sworn to in the Orange Division of the District Court Department on May 3, 2013. The case was heard by David S. Ross, J. After review by the Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court granted leave to obtain further appellate review. Leslie H. Powers for the defendant. Thomas H. Townsend, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. BUDD, J. Following a jury-waived trial in the Orange Division of the District Court Department in March, 2014, the defendant, Randy A. LeBlanc, was found guilty of knowingly causing damage to another automobile in a private driveway and leaving without identifying himself to the owner under G. L. c. 90, § 24 (2) (a).[1] He appealed, and the Appeals Court affirmed the conviction in a memorandum and order issued pursuant to its rule 1:28. Commonwealth v. LeBlanc, 88 Mass. App. Ct. 1112 (2015). We granted further appellate review to determine whether the prohibition set forth in § 24 (2) (a) against leaving the scene after causing property damage without providing identification includes as an element of the crime that the accident causing the damage occurred on a public way.[2] We conclude that it does not and affirm the defendant’s conviction. Background. The trial evidence would permit the following facts to be found. In February, 2013, a friend of the defendant telephoned him to ask for a ride to a nearby convenience store. The defendant arrived in his pickup truck at the home where the friend was staying and pulled into the driveway where the homeowner’s Chevrolet Cavalier automobile was already parked. The friend entered the truck and the two men left. Upon their return, the defendant backed his truck into the driveway. When the friend got out of the truck, he noticed that the Cavalier’s hood was “pushed up” and that it had been pushed back into a trailer. The friend waved his arms to signal to the defendant, but the defendant “just left.” The defendant later admitted to the friend and to an investigating police officer that he had accidentally hit the Cavalier. Discussion. 1. […]