Commonwealth v. Shin (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-121-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 13-P-818 Appeals Court COMMONWEALTH vs. JACOB E. SHIN. No. 13-P-818. Suffolk. April 14, 2014. – September 25, 2014. Present: Green, Hanlon, & Hines, JJ.[1] Indecent Assault and Battery. Mental Impairment. Insanity. Complaint received and sworn to in the Central Division of the Boston Municipal Court Department on January 24, 2011. The case was heard by Annette Forde, J. Katherine Godin for the defendant. Zachary M. Hillman, Assistant District Attorney (Neil J. Flynn, Jr., Assistant District Attorney, with him) for the Commonwealth. HANLON, J. After a jury-waived trial, the defendant was convicted of indecent assault and battery on a person fourteen years of age or older.[2] He argues that his motion for a required finding of not guilty should have been allowed because there was insufficient evidence to prove that he was criminally responsible at the time of the crime. In addition, he argues that the judge employed the wrong analysis in determining that he was criminally responsible. We agree that the analysis was flawed and therefore reverse. Background. At approximately five o’clock in the evening on January 20, 2011, the victim boarded a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line subway train at Park Street station, heading for Cleveland Circle. It was rush hour and the train was crowded; she stood with her back against the wall by the “accordion bend” in the middle of the train in an attempt to allow space for other passengers. At the Copley stop, many people entered the train and it became very crowded; the defendant boarded with the other passengers and he went to stand “very close” to the victim, so close that he made her uncomfortable, “and he was touching [her] arm on [her] left side.” After the train left Copley and before the next stop (Hynes Convention Center), the defendant lifted his hand and touched the victim between her legs on her upper thigh, within “two inches” of her genital area. She testified that “[i]t was very high on [her] leg.” As soon as the defendant put his hand on the victim’s leg, she lifted up her left arm and, pushing him in the center of his chest, “said watch your hands. [She] pushed him as far as [she] could push him away from [her].” The victim got off […]