Commonwealth v. Indrisano (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-087-15)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 12-P-1922 Appeals Court COMMONWEALTH vs. STEPHEN M. INDRISANO. No. 12-P-1922. Essex. October 1, 2014. – August 4, 2015. Present: Berry, Hanlon, & Carhart, JJ. Firearms. Evidence, Firearm, Presumptions and burden of proof, Rebuttal, Argument by prosecutor, Prior inconsistent statement, Consciousness of guilt. License. Practice, Criminal, Presumptions and burden of proof, Affirmative defense, Instructions to jury, Affidavit, Admissions and confessions, Argument by prosecutor. Complaint received and sworn to in the Lynn Division of the District Court Department on March 19, 2009. The case tried before Stacey Fortes-White, J., and a motion for a new trial was heard by her. Mark G. Miliotis for the defendant. Ronald DeRosa, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. HANLON, J. After a jury trial, the defendant was convicted of possession of a firearm and possession of a loaded firearm, both without a license.[1] His motion for a new trial was denied.[2] On appeal, his chief arguments are the following: (1) the judge improperly shifted the burden of proof with respect to his affirmative defense of “licensure”; (2) it was error for the judge to give a consciousness of guilt instruction; (3) it was error to allow the Commonwealth to offer rebuttal evidence; (4) the prosecutor’s cross-examination of the defendant with his prior inconsistent statements was improper, as was the prosecutor’s summation referring to that evidence; and (5) the judge erroneously denied the defendant’s motion for new trial. We affirm. Background. On March 18, 2009, Sergeant Richard Ball of the Massachusetts State Police stopped the defendant in his GMC pickup truck near the intersection of Route 107 and Route 60 in Saugus.[3] When Ball activated the lights and siren on his unmarked police cruiser, the defendant immediately slowed and pulled over to the right shoulder. However, he then traveled another five hundred feet before coming to a complete stop. As the truck slowed, Ball was driving immediately behind it; he observed, through the large window in the back of the truck cab, the defendant reach his arm behind the “split bucket” passenger seat. The defendant’s arm and shoulder were moving up and down, and he appeared to be “covering something up” that was in back of the seat. Approaching the passenger’s side of the defendant’s truck, Ball said to the defendant, “[S]how me your hands”; the defendant […]