Commonwealth v. Hart (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-029-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 SJC‑11344 COMMONWEALTH vs. MICHAEL E. HART. Bristol. November 7, 2013. ‑ February 26, 2014. Present: Ireland, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, & Duffly, JJ. Resisting Arrest. Practice, Criminal, Plea. Complaint received and sworn to in the New Bedford Division of the District Court Department on October 30, 2008. A motion for a new trial, filed on July 9, 2010, was heard by Thomas Barrett, J., and a motion for reconsideration was considered by him. After review by the Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court granted leave to obtain further appellate review. Laura B. Banwarth for the defendant. William R. Connolly, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth. BOTSFORD, J. In February of 2009, the defendant pleaded guilty in the District Court to complaints charging him with disorderly conduct, G. L. c. 272, § 53, and resisting arrest, G. L. c. 268, § 32B. The following year, the defendant filed a motion for a new trial seeking to vacate his plea to the charge of resisting arrest; he argued in part that there was no factual basis for the crime. The same District Court judge who had taken the defendant’s guilty plea heard the motion and thereafter denied it; the defendant appealed. A divided panel of the Appeals Court affirmed the denial of the defendant’s motion, see Commonwealth v. Hart, 82 Mass. App. Ct. 448 (2012), and we granted the defendant’s application for further appellate review. Essentially for the reasons set forth in the opinion of the dissenting Justices in the Appeals Court, see id. at 454 (Mills, J., dissenting, with whom Rubin, J., joined), we reverse. Background. 1. The incident. On October 30, 2008, the defendant arrived at his apartment on Hemlock Street in New Bedford to find the police there, investigating a potential domestic disturbance. The defendant became excited, began yelling and swearing, and made numerous attempts to enter the apartment, despite being told by the officers to calm down and wait outside. Because the defendant continued to enter and interfere with the investigation, the officers escorted him outside, where a crowd had gathered, and told him that if he did not cease his actions, he would be subject to arrest. The defendant yelled, “Fuck that bullshit, you better not touch me motherfuckers, I don’t like the fucking police,” […]