Commonwealth v. Proia (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-025-18)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 16-P-1191 Appeals Court COMMONWEALTH vs. KAYLA M. PROIA. No. 16-P-1191. Barnstable. October 4, 2017. – March 2, 2018. Present: Agnes, Sacks, & Lemire, JJ. Controlled Substances. Practice, Criminal, Failure to make objection, Waiver, Argument by prosecutor, Jury and jurors, Empanelment of jury. Evidence, Prior misconduct, Constructive possession. Jury and Jurors. Complaint received and sworn to in the Barnstable Division of the District Court Department on February 17, 2015. The case was tried before Christopher D. Welch, J. Kerry A. Haberlin for the defendant. Elizabeth M. Carey, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. AGNES, J. Following a jury trial, the defendant, Kayla Proia, was convicted of one count of possession of a class A substance. G. L. c. 94C, § 34. The defendant moved for a required finding of not guilty pursuant to Mass.R.Crim.P. 25(a), 378 Mass. 896 (1979), at the close of all evidence. The defendant’s motion was denied, and the case was submitted to the jury. After the jury returned their guilty verdict, the defendant again moved for a required finding of not guilty, both orally and in a subsequent written motion, pursuant to Mass.R.Crim.P. 25(b)(2), 378 Mass. 8962 (1979). The defendant’s motion for a required finding of not guilty was again denied. On appeal, the defendant argues that testimony relating to a prior search of her apartment was erroneously admitted at trial. The defendant further argues that the Commonwealth failed to present sufficient evidence to convict her of possession of a class A substance. The defendant also claims that the prosecutor made improper remarks in his closing argument and that the judge did not remain impartial during the jury empanelment process. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. Background. The jury could have found the following facts. January, 2015, search of the defendant’s apartment. In January, 2015, a search warrant (January warrant) was executed at the defendant’s apartment (January search or first search). Although the January warrant is not included in the record on appeal, it is inferable from the evidence concerning the second warrant, discussed below, that Alan Carey[1] was named in the January warrant and was the target of the police investigation. While conducting the January search, the police found approximately seventeen grams of heroin on top of the defendant’s kitchen cabinets, as […]