Commonwealth v. Powell (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-151-16)
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT CRIMINAL ACTION 2002-11199 COMMONWEALTH vs. JOHN POWELL MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR POST CONVICTION ACCESS TO EVIDENCE AND FORENSIC ANALYSIS PURSUANT TO G.L. c. 278A In November of 2005, a Suffolk County jury convicted John Powell (“Powell” or the “Defendant”) of (1) murder in the second degree, G.L. c. 265, § 1; (2) assault with intent to kill, G.L. c. 265, § 18(b), a lesser included offense of the charged assault with intent to murder; (3) unlawful possession of a firearm, G.L. c. 269, § 10(a); (4) unlawful possession of ammunition, G.L. c. 269, § 10(h); and (5) possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, G.L. c. 94C, § 32A. Powell appealed these convictions, and the Appeals Court affirmed all but the conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute (which it reversed). Powell subsequently filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied.[1] With an eye toward a second new trial motion, the Defendant has now filed a motion for forensic discovery pursuant to G.L. c. 278A. In this motion, Powell seeks DNA testing of blood on a baseball bat that was found at the crime scene and used by the victim in the hours before his murder. The Commonwealth opposes the motion, arguing that the Defendant cannot show, as he must under G.L. c. 278A, § 7(b)(4), that the testing will potentially result in evidence that is material to the identity of the murder’s perpetrator. Upon consideration the parties’ arguments and a review of the appellate authority construing and applying Chapter 278A, the Court concludes that the Defendant’s motion shall be ALLOWED. BACKGROUND The victim, Paul Gauthier, was shot and killed in his apartment at 18 Wardman Road in Roxbury. Gauthier was found in the kitchen/dining area, lying in a pool of blood and near a silver baseball bat. There was blood on the victim’s hands, on the baseball bat, and throughout the victim’s apartment. Earlier that day, Gauthier had used the baseball bat to vandalize 16 Wardman Street, a reputed crack house where the Defendant sold cocaine, causing extensive property damage. The victim had also been seen chasing two unidentified black men (neither of whom was the Defendant) with the bat in his hands. The Defendant seeks to test the blood-stained baseball bat in accordance with G.L. c. 278A, asserting that the presence of third-party DNA will show that someone other than Powell (i.e., someone whom Gauthier may have assaulted and injured with the bat earlier in the day) had a motive to commit the murder. A post-conviction request for […]