Gammell, petitioner (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-080-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 13-P-396 Appeals Court JACK GAMMELL, petitioner. No. 13-P-396. Bristol. April 3, 2014. – July 15, 2014. Present: Kafker, Brown, & Sikora, JJ. Sex Offender. Evidence, Sex offender, Expert opinion, Scientific test, Age. Witness, Expert. Petition filed in the Superior Court Department on November 6, 2009. The case was tried before Bonnie H. MacLeod, J. David Hirsch for the petitioner. Brendan J. Frigault for Massachusetts Treatment Center. KAFKER, J. The petitioner, Jack Gammell, appeals the judgment of the Superior Court finding him still sexually dangerous pursuant to G. L. c. 123A, § 9. He raises three issues on appeal: (1) whether a qualified examiner may testify regarding his evaluation of the credibility of various statements made by the petitioner during the clinical interview; (2) whether the trial judge properly excluded from the trial the results of a penile plethysmograph assessment (PPG test) by the treatment center, including references to the assessment in a qualified examiner’s report, when there had been no attempt to establish the reliability of the assessment; (3) whether the judge also properly excluded evidence on the possible effects of reduced testosterone resulting from aging on the likelihood of reoffending, when the petitioner had never been tested and therefore could submit no evidence of his own testosterone levels. We affirm, as we discern no error in any of the trial judge’s rulings. Background. The petitioner is currently civilly committed to the Massachusetts Treatment Center (treatment center) pursuant to G. L. c. 123A, § 9. At trial, the Commonwealth presented the reports and testimony of two qualified examiners, Michael Henry, Psy.D., and Gregg Belle, Ph.D., as well as the testimony and report of a member of the community access board (CAB), Katrin Rouse-Weir, Ed.D. All diagnosed the petitioner with pedophilia and determined that he remained a sexually dangerous person (SDP). The petitioner presented the testimony of Eric Brown, Psy.D., and Joseph J. Plaud, Ph.D, each of whom opined that Gammell was no longer an SDP. The jury were warranted in finding the following facts regarding the petitioner’s history of offenses. The petitioner, age fifty-four at the time of trial, first offended at the age of twelve or thirteen, when he engaged in sexual activity with his eleven year old neighbor. He was adjudicated delinquent of indecent assault and battery and placed on probation. While on probation, he again […]