Commonwealth v. Cruz (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-103-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 11-P-1160 Appeals Court COMMONWEALTH vs. MIGUEL CRUZ. No. 11-P-1160. Suffolk. March 1, 2016. – August 18, 2016. Present: Cypher, Cohen, & Neyman, JJ. Controlled Substances. “School Zone” Statute. Practice, Criminal, New trial, Public trial, Assistance of counsel. Constitutional Law, Public trial, Assistance of counsel. Words, “Preschool.” Indictments found and returned in the Superior Court Department on March 6, 2008. The cases were tried before Regina L. Quinlan, J., and a motion for a new trial, filed on August 22, 2012, was heard by Raymond J. Brassard, J. James E. Methe for the defendant. Matthew P. Landry, Assistant Attorney General, for the Commonwealth. CYPHER, J. Following a jury trial, the defendant, Miguel Cruz, was convicted of two counts of trafficking in cocaine, G. L. c. 94C, § 32E(b); two counts of distribution of cocaine, G. L. c. 94C, § 32A(c); and four counts of distributing drugs in a school zone, G. L. c. 94C, § 32J. On the defendant’s consolidated appeal from his convictions of the four school zone violations and the denial of his motion for a new trial, the primary issue is whether a child care facility that enrolls younger than school aged children can qualify as a “preschool” within the meaning of the school zone statute. Concluding that it does, and finding no merit in the defendant’s remaining claims, we affirm. Background. Taken in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the evidence showed that, on four occasions between November 20, 2007, and December 12, 2007, the defendant sold cocaine to a police officer working undercover.[1] Three of the drug transactions occurred at a street address located approximately 259 feet from the parking lot of the East Boston YMCA, and a fourth transaction was conducted in a vehicle parked 173 feet and 4 inches from the same YMCA property.[2] A private, nonprofit social service organization, the East Boston YMCA operates within its building a health center, teen programs, and the East Boston Child Care Center (center). The center is licensed as a child care facility by the Massachusetts department of early education and care. It is also accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which assesses the center’s staffing levels and the educational capabilities of its teachers. Ninety-three children between the ages of fifteen months […]