Commonwealth v. Guaman (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-102-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 14-P-1965 Appeals Court COMMONWEALTH vs. NICOLAS DUTAN GUAMAN. No. 14-P-1965. Worcester. May 2, 2016. – August 17, 2016. Present: Agnes, Massing, & Kinder, JJ. Motor Vehicle, Operating under the influence, Homicide. Homicide. Wanton or Reckless Conduct. Evidence, Spontaneous utterance. Practice, Criminal, Required finding, Transcript of evidence, Duplicative punishment. Indictments found and returned in the Superior Court Department on October 21, 2011. The cases were heard by David Ricciardone, J. Ethan C. Stiles for the defendant. Donna-Marie Haran, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. MASSING, J. Following an afternoon of drinking beer, the defendant, Nicolas Dutan Guaman, drove off in his pickup truck, struck a motorcyclist, and continued to drive for several blocks while dragging the victim to his death. The defendant appeals from his convictions of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 13½ (OUI manslaughter), felony motor vehicle homicide in violation of G. L. c. 90, § 24G(a), and other related charges.[1] He claims that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he knowingly engaged in wanton or reckless conduct to sustain his conviction of OUI manslaughter. In addition, he contests evidentiary rulings admitting the recording of a 911 call and an English translation of his video-recorded sobriety tests. We affirm, but because felony motor vehicle homicide is a lesser-included offense of OUI manslaughter and the defendant cannot be punished for both, we vacate the conviction and sentence for felony motor vehicle homicide. Background. As the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, we recite the facts in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth to determine whether a rational trier of fact could find the defendant guilty of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 676-678 (1979); Commonwealth v. Giavazzi, 60 Mass. App. Ct. 374, 376 (2004) (“There must be adequate evidentiary support for each essential element of the offense”). At about 7:50 P.M. on August 20, 2011, the defendant, driving his black Ford F-150 pickup truck with his six-year-old son Jonathan and his brother as passengers, rolled through a stop sign on Fayette Street in Milford. Matthew Denice was driving his motorcycle up Congress Street when the defendant’s truck pulled out in front of him. As the victim quickly applied […]
Commonwealth v. Guaman (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-102-16)
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 14-P-1965 Appeals Court COMMONWEALTH vs. NICOLAS DUTAN GUAMAN. No. 14-P-1965. Worcester. May 2, 2016. – August 17, 2016. Present: Agnes, Massing, & Kinder, JJ. Motor Vehicle, Operating under the influence, Homicide. Homicide. Wanton or Reckless Conduct. Evidence, Spontaneous utterance. Practice, Criminal, Required finding, Transcript of evidence, Duplicative punishment. Indictments found and returned in the Superior Court Department on October 21, 2011. The cases were heard by David Ricciardone, J. Ethan C. Stiles for the defendant. Donna-Marie Haran, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. MASSING, J. Following an afternoon of drinking beer, the defendant, Nicolas Dutan Guaman, drove off in his pickup truck, struck a motorcyclist, and continued to drive for several blocks while dragging the victim to his death. The defendant appeals from his convictions of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 13½ (OUI manslaughter), felony motor vehicle homicide in violation of G. L. c. 90, § 24G(a), and other related charges.[1] He claims that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he knowingly engaged in wanton or reckless conduct to sustain his conviction of OUI manslaughter. In addition, he contests evidentiary rulings admitting the recording of a 911 call and an English translation of his video-recorded sobriety tests. We affirm, but because felony motor vehicle homicide is a lesser-included offense of OUI manslaughter and the defendant cannot be punished for both, we vacate the conviction and sentence for felony motor vehicle homicide. Background. As the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, we recite the facts in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth to determine whether a rational trier of fact could find the defendant guilty of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Latimore, 378 Mass. 671, 676-678 (1979); Commonwealth v. Giavazzi, 60 Mass. App. Ct. 374, 376 (2004) (“There must be adequate evidentiary support for each essential element of the offense”). At about 7:50 P.M. on August 20, 2011, the defendant, driving his black Ford F-150 pickup truck with his six-year-old son Jonathan and his brother as passengers, rolled through a stop sign on Fayette Street in Milford. Matthew Denice was driving his motorcycle up Congress Street when the defendant’s truck pulled out in front of him. As the victim quickly applied […]