Commonwealth v. Waller (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-129-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 15-P-928 Appeals Court COMMONWEALTH vs. TASHA WALLER. No. 15-P-928. Essex. June 15, 2016. – September 20, 2016. Present: Green, Rubin, & Sullivan, JJ. Animal. Constitutional Law, Vagueness of statute. Due Process of Law, Vagueness of statute. Evidence, Expert opinion, Hearsay. Practice, Criminal, Required finding, Probation. Search and Seizure, Probationer. Complaint received and sworn to in the Lynn Division of the District Court Department on April 16, 2013. The case was heard by Cathleen E. Campbell, J. Sarah M. Unger for the defendant. Philip A. Mallard, Assistant District Attorney (Katelyn M. Giliberti, Assistant District Attorney, with him) for the Commonwealth. RUBIN, J. The defendant was convicted under the animal cruelty statute for starving to death her dog, Arthur, a miniature dachshund. The finding of guilt is affirmed, as is the condition of the defendant’s probation prohibiting her from owning “any pet or animal of any kind.” Under settled law, however, the condition of probation requiring the defendant to submit to suspicionless inspections of her home requires modification for which that aspect of the case will be remanded. Facts. We recite the facts as they could have been found by the judge, the fact finder in this bench trial, viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth. Arthur. On the night of January 23, 2013, the defendant brought Arthur to the Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital in Woburn. Arthur was nonresponsive and was brought immediately to the treatment area for emergency care. He was seen by Christina Valiant, an emergency care veterinarian. Dr. Valiant found Arthur in an extremely emaciated condition. She testified that he was “very, very, very thin”; that “his bones were all visible through his skin”; and that “he had no muscle mass.” He had physical indications of prolonged malnutrition: “a lot of the fur was rubbed away from the left side of his body.” Dr. Valiant also testified that Arthur “had scabs over the left side of his body where the fur had been rubbed away on the left side of his rib cage, on his elbow, on his knee, . . . on [his] hip,” on the “tip of his tail,” and on the “tip[s] of his ears.” Dr. Valiant testified that scabs and “pressure sores” come from […]