Commonwealth v. Felix (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-056-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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-11692 COMMONWEALTH vs. NATALIO FELIX. Worcester. December 19, 2016. – April 12, 2017. Present: Gants, C.J., Botsford, Lenk, Hines, & Gaziano, JJ. [1] Homicide. Practice, Criminal, Instructions to jury, Assistance of counsel, Capital case. Indictment found and returned in the Superior Court Department on September 21, 2011. A pretrial motion to suppress evidence was heard by Bruce R. Henry, J.; the case was tried before Kathe M. Tuttman, J., and a motion for a new trial, filed on March 16, 2015, was heard by her. Leslie W. O’Brien for the defendant. Jane A. Sullivan, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. BOTSFORD, J. The defendant, Natalio Felix, appeals from his conviction of murder in the first degree and the denial of his motion for a new trial. The defendant was convicted of the murder of his wife, Janice Santos, on the theory of deliberate premeditation. The defendant’s principal arguments on appeal concern the absence of any instruction on manslaughter; he claims that although he admittedly killed his wife, the trial evidence, and particularly his own trial testimony, entitled him to instructions on both voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, and that for several reasons, the absence of these instructions constituted error requiring reversal of his conviction and a new trial. The defendant also seeks relief pursuant to G. L. c. 278, § 33E. We affirm the defendant’s conviction and the order denying his motion for a new trial, and decline to grant relief under G. L. c. 278, § 33E. Background. We summarize facts that the jury could have found, and reserve discussion of additional evidence in connection with the issues raised. In May of 2011, the defendant and the victim had been married for a decade or more.[2] They jointly owned a home in Worcester where they lived with their son and daughter, aged ten and eleven, and the victim’s sixteen year old son from a prior relationship. The defendant and the victim both held jobs outside the home, the defendant as a truck driver and the victim at the Superior Court in Worcester County, but the defendant quit his job around this time, and the couple argued frequently, often about money. Their relationship, however, contained no history of physical violence. During that month, following an argument with his stepson, […]
Felix F. v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-086-15)
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-11644 FELIX F., a juvenile vs. COMMONWEALTH. Suffolk. February 5, 2015. – May 26, 2015. Present: Gants, C.J., Cordy, Botsford, Duffly, Lenk, & Hines, JJ. Youthful Offender Act. Controlled Substances. Grand Jury. Practice, Criminal, Grand jury proceedings, Indictment. Evidence, Grand jury proceedings, Threat. Civil action commenced in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk on December 9, 2013. The case was heard by Spina, J. Paul R. Rudof, Committee for Public Counsel Services (Joseph D. Mulhern, Jr., Committee for Public Counsel Services, with him) for the juvenile. Shoshana E. Stern, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. HINES, J. The defendant, a juvenile, was indicted as a youthful offender under G. L. c. 119, § 54, for possession of heroin with intent to distribute, in violation of G. L. c. 94C, § 32 (a). Under the youthful offender statute, a juvenile may be prosecuted as an adult if the charge involves the “infliction or threat of serious bodily harm.” G. L. c. 119, § 54. Arguing that the evidence presented to the grand jury was insufficient to establish this requirement, the juvenile moved to dismiss the indictment. A judge in the Juvenile Court denied the motion,[1] and the juvenile filed a petition for relief pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3. This appeal, from the denial of the juvenile’s petition, presents the issue whether evidence of the generalized potential for harm from the distribution and use of heroin meets the probable cause standard for “infliction or threat of serious bodily harm.”[2] We conclude that it does not and reverse the decision of the single justice denying the defendant’s G. L. c. 211, § 3, petition.[3] Background. Only one witness, a Taunton police officer, testified before the grand jury. We summarize that testimony as background for our discussion. On August 27, 2013, at approximately 2:45 P.M., the officer observed two males on an all-terrain, off-road vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed in the opposite direction on Oak Street in Taunton. He was concerned for the safety of the males and other motorists because of the speed of travel and because the males were not wearing helmets, a requirement of all-terrain vehicle use. The males looked directly at the officer and then turned onto railroad tracks running perpendicular to the road. The officer drove down various crossroads to the railroad […]
Felix Arroyo Launches Official Campaign for Mayor
City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo officially kicked off his mayoral campaign on Saturday in the South End. Arroyo outlined a series of goals that included improving Boston’s public schools, and having safe and affordable neighborhoods. “My family, like many families, needed a leg up and needed affordable housing and that was provided for them right here in Villa Victoria,” he said. “Everyone deserves to have a place to live, and that doesn’t happen by accident, and that doesn’t happen because you wish it so. That happens by intention.” Arroyo also noted he plans to support small businesses in the city. “Boston has over a billion dollars in deposits in various banks, yet we don’t know that these banks invest at all in any of our neighborhoods,” he said. “As Mayor I would implement legislation that will ensure that we only do business with banks that are lending to small businesses, to qualified homebuyers, to development projects, and that are helping solve our foreclosure crisis.” South End Patch
Felix Arroyo Kicks Off Campaign for Mayor
Standing in front of a wall lined with supporters, another city councilor announced he would be running for mayor Tuesday morning. City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo officially entered his name into the race at a press conference from SEIU Local 615 Tuesday morning. If elected, Arroyo, who lives in Jamaica Plain, would be Boston’s first Latino mayor. Arroyo answered a few questions from the media, including one about his campaign’s approach. “I will have the strongest grassroots campaign, powered by committed volunteers and funded by small donors, that’s…the only way that I would want to win, and that’s exactly how I will govern,” he said. Arroyo has been an organizer advocating for workers’ rights at SEIU 16. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch