Commonwealth v. Martinez (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-046-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 12‑P‑1758 Appeals Court COMMONWEALTH vs. NICHOLAS MARTINEZ. No. 12‑P‑1758. Worcester. November 6, 2013. ‑ May 7, 2014. Present: Trainor, Vuono, & Rubin, JJ. Home Invasion. Practice, Criminal, Required finding. Indictments found and returned in the Superior Court Department on November 10, 2009. The cases were tried before Janet Kenton‑Walker, J. William B. Van Lonkhuyzen for the defendant. Donna‑Marie Haran, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. TRAINOR, J. At issue on appeal is whether G. L. c. 265, § 18C, applies to an assault of an individual who entered a dwelling after the defendant and codefendant had entered the dwelling and already had assaulted the persons who were present. This individual was not a legal occupant or legal resident of the apartment. We hold it does, so we affirm. Factual and procedural background. The defendant appeals from his convictions arising from the incident at 91 Nashua Street.[1] Specifically, on appeal the defendant argues it was error to deny his motion for a required finding of not guilty on one count of home invasion upon Francis Curran. We summarize the relevant evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth. Commonwealth v. Stokes, 440 Mass. 741, 747 (2004). The defendant agreed with others to enter the third-floor apartment at 91 Nashua Street to rob the occupant of that apartment, David Bastarache, of money and drugs. The defendant and codefendant entered the main gate for 91 Nashua Street (which requires a code to open) and, then, entered the third-floor apartment. After entering the third-floor apartment, the defendant and the codefendant assaulted Bastarache and his guest. Curran, who lived in the second-floor apartment, heard the noise upstairs, and went to investigate carrying a baseball bat. After Curran entered the apartment, he proceeded down the hall. Curran saw the codefendant and the defendant come toward him. The codefendant grabbed the baseball bat, stabbed Curran twice, and pushed Curran into an open bedroom door. Based on this evidence, the jury convicted the defendant of home invasion against Curran. Discussion. The relevant part of the home invasion statute, G. L. c. 265, § 18C, inserted by St. 1993, c. 333, provides: “Whoever knowingly enters the dwelling place of another knowing or having reason to know that one or more persons are present within or knowingly enters the dwelling place of another and […]