Commonwealth v. Grimbilas

93 Mass.App.Ct. 1101

103 N.E.3d 766 (Table)

COMMONWEALTH

v.Nicholas GRIMBILAS.

17–P–27

Appeals Court of Massachusetts.

Entered: March 15, 2018.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 1:28

Following a jury trial in the District Court, the defendant, Nicholas Grimbilas, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of fourteen. On appeal, he contends that the judge erred in (1) denying his motion for a mistrial, (2) admitting hearsay testimony in violation of the first complaint doctrine, (3) refusing to provide the jury with a "good faith mistake" instruction, and (4) denying his motion to dismiss pursuant to Mass.R.Crim.P. 36(b)(1), 378 Mass. 909 (1979). We affirm.

Background. On December 21, 2012, the defendant—the long-time boy friend of the victim's mother—held a party at his home. The victim, her mother, and the victim's two sisters, whom we shall call Karen and Beth, among others, attended. The defendant served food and drinks and became intoxicated. Over the course of about two hours, the victim drank two "very strong" martinis, one of which she did not finish. Around 11:30 P.M., a group, including the victim and the defendant, went to the basement to watch a movie. Everyone quickly fell asleep and, at some point, the victim awoke feeling sick.¹ She went upstairs to the bathroom, shut the door, and began to throw up. Shortly thereafter, the defendant woke up, went upstairs, and heard the victim vomiting.

It is undisputed that, at that point, the defendant entered the bathroom and started rubbing her back. The victim had vomit on her clothing. The defendant unhooked her bra, continued rubbing her back, and "when [the victim] stopped throwing up, [they] leaned against the wall in the bathroom and [she] rested [her] head on his shoulder." The victim started to "doze off" and then "realized that [the defendant] was inappropriately touching [her]." He touched her chest, put his hands down her pants, underneath her underwear, "[a]nd then he was playing with [her] clitoris." The defendant then "took his hand out" and "started to try to put [the victim's] hand down [her] pants." The victim testified that "[she] resisted. [She] didn't say anything. [Her] eyes were not open. [She] was still—[she] was in a panic." When she resisted, "he kept trying for, like a little bit, but then he stopped." The victim kept her eyes closed during the assault because she was "scared" and "shocked."

The victim disclosed the assault to her sister, Karen, the next day,² and also told her sister, Beth. The victim ultimately reported the defendant's conduct to the police in November, 2014, nearly two years after the incident. She contacted the police at that time because, due to her sister's engagement, she felt that she could no longer avoid the defendant. She had not seen the defendant since the night of the incident.

The main issues at trial were consent and witness credibility. On cross-examination of the victim, defense counsel elicited testimony that she put her head on the defendant's shoulder while he was rubbing her back, and that she did not verbally protest when the defendant undid her bra or touched her breasts. The defendant testified that the victim exhibited heavy breathing as he touched her abdomen and breasts, that there was a "flow" between them, and that she moved her hips as he rubbed her vagina. The jury convicted the defendant as charged. This appeal ensued.

Discussion. 1. Motion for mistrial. The defendant contends that the judge erroneously denied his motion for a mistrial because the prosecutor's opening statement contained prejudicial errors. The decision to allow or deny a mistrial is committed to the sound discretion of the trial judge, and "this court should defer to that judge's determination of whether the prosecutor committed prejudicial error, how much any such error infected the trial, and whether it was possible to correct that error through instruction to the jury." Commonwealth v. Thomas, 429 Mass. 146, 157 (1999).

The defendant first claims that the prosecutor misstated the victim's age in her opening statement. The prosecutor stated that the victim was "between the ages of [eighteen] and [nineteen] at the time" of the incident when she was nineteen at the time. To the extent that any mistake existed, it was inconsequential, particularly where the victim testified that she was nineteen years old at the time of the incident. Thus, the "minor and insignificant variation" in evidence was corrected and had no bearing on the jury's consideration of any relevant issues. Commonwealth v. Thomas, 44 Mass. App. Ct. 521, 525 (1998).

Next, the defendant argues that the prosecutor improperly told the jury that earlier on the night of the incident, the defendant leaned over to the victim's oldest sister, Beth, put his hand between her thighs, and whispered something to her. The defendant contends that this statement painted the defendant as a sexual predator and was prejudicial. We agree that the statement was in error, as the prosecutor had inadvertently failed to disclose the existence of this event.³ However, we discern no abuse of discretion in the judge's handling of the issue. First, prior to trial, the judge instructed that opening statements are not evidence. Second, upon the defendant's objection at the conclusion of the prosecutor's opening statement, the judge immediately provided a clear instruction, which reiterated three times that opening statements are not evidence. Third, after the defendant moved for a mistrial, the judge imposed the additional sanction of excluding from evidence any reference to the incident involving Beth. Fourth, the judge repeatedly emphasized, in his final charge, that opening statements are not evidence. Finally, in his closing argument, defense counsel referenced the prosecutor's promise to provide evidence of the defendant's touching of Beth's thigh, and chastised the Commonwealth for failing to deliver on that promise. He argued that this failure showed that the Commonwealth was not credible and that the "government" was "telling you things that didn't happen."⁴ The prosecutor objected to this argument. Although the judge agreed that defense counsel's statement was improper, he declined to strike the argument or provide a specific instruction to the jury regarding its impropriety. We agree that defense counsel's argument was improper. See Commonwealth v. Harris, 443 Mass. 714, 732 (2005). Accordingly, in the absence of a corrective instruction from the judge, the defendant materially benefited from this tactic, as his counsel used the combination of the prosecutor's error and the judge's sanction to gain a strategic advantage. See Commonwealth v. Haraldstad, 16 Mass. App. Ct. 565, 568 (1983) (noting that exploitation of excluded evidence is "fundamentally unfair"). In conjunction with the judge's thorough instructions, defense counsel's argument mitigated any risk that the jury might have considered the prosecutor's statement as evidence. See Commonwealth v. Kozec, 399 Mass. 514, 517 (1987).

The defendant also claims that the prosecutor impermissibly informed the jury that after learning of the incident, the victim's sisters told the defendant to stay away from the victim. The defendant argues that this information was hearsay solely designed to cast him as a "monster." We disagree. As the judge found at trial, the statement, and the ensuing testimony of the victim's sister, Beth, was proper and admissible for the nonhearsay purpose of explaining "why certain actions did or did not happen," including the delayed disclosure of the indecent assault and battery to law enforcement.⁵ See Commonwealth v. Fales, 60 Mass. App. Ct. 102, 105 (2003). See also Commonwealth v. Breese, 381 Mass. 13, 17 (1980).

Finally, the defendant contends that the prosecutor impermissibly referenced "post-first complaint statements" by the victim to Beth, in violation of the first complaint rule. For the reasons discussed in section 2, infra, the judge acted within his discretion to admit this testimony, with concurrent and correct limiting instructions. Thus the prosecutor did not err in referencing this anticipated testimony in her opening statement.

2. First complaint. The defendant argues that the judge abused his discretion in permitting the victim to testify that in 2014, two years after the incident, she told her mother about it and reported it to the police.⁶ We disagree with the claim that this testimony violated the first complaint doctrine. The first complaint doctrine does not "prohibit the admissibility of evidence that, while barred by that doctrine, is otherwise independently admissible." Commonwealth v. Arana, 453 Mass. 214, 220–221 (2009). Here, the victim's testimony was independently admissible to explain the timing and reasoning underlying her delay in reporting the incident to law enforcement, and to explain her state of mind in a case where credibility and consent were at issue. See id. at 225 ("Evidence of a victim's state of mind or behavior following a crime has long been admissible if relevant to a contested issue in a case"). See also Breese, supra; Commonwealth v. Richardson, 423 Mass. 180, 187–188 (1996) ; Commonwealth v. Hall, 66 Mass. App. Ct. 390, 393–394 (2006). The judge carefully weighed the testimony's probative and prejudicial value, and we discern no abuse of discretion in his ruling. See Commonwealth v. Aviles, 461 Mass. 60, 69 (2011).

3. Good faith mistake instruction. The defendant contends that the judge erred in refusing to provide a "good faith mistake jury instruction."⁷ To date, Massachusetts courts have not required a mistake of fact instruction in the context of an indecent assault and battery prosecution, but the Supreme Judicial Court has held open the possibility that such an instruction "may be an appropriate and fair defense" in certain cases. Commonwealth v. Kennedy, 478 Mass. 804, 811 (2018), citing Commonwealth...