Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveVerdict
28 linesCOURT OFFICER: Hear ye. Hear ye. Hear ye. All persons having anything to do before the Honorable Beverly Cannone, Justice of the Superior Court, now holden within and for the County of Norfolk. Draw near, give your attendance and you shall be heard. God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This court is in session. Please be seated.
JUDGE CANNONE: Before we send you back out to deliberate — was everyone able to follow the instructions and refrain from discussing this case with anyone since we left yesterday? Everyone said yes or nodded affirmatively. Were you also able to follow the instructions and refrain from doing any independent research or investigation into this case? Everyone said yes or nodded affirmatively. Did anyone happen to see, hear, or read anything about this case since we left yesterday? No one raised their hand. Well, with that, Mr. Foreman, thank you all. We're going to send you back out to deliberate. All right. Counsel. I think it worked out well having everybody planning on being here at four o'clock and being no more than ten minutes away. So we'll see you here a little bit before four this afternoon.
JUDGE CANNONE: Thank you. All right.
JUDGE CANNONE: All right. I appreciate you all getting back here. During the luncheon break I received word from a court officer that the jury had knocked on the door indicating that they had a verdict. But before I could even summons everybody into court, shortly thereafter they knocked again and said they didn't have a verdict. So I asked the court officer to tell them to put that verdict slip in an envelope and seal it. And to give it to us. Paul, do you have it? Thank you. I haven't seen this. It's been sealed. I'm now going to seal it in the legal sense. So this is sealed. No one will have access to it. It will be preserved and made part of this record. I'm going to ask it to be marked for identification with the word jury — Chrissy. Just to keep it separate and apart from everything else.
JUDGE CANNONE: So it's marked for ID with the word jury. All right. So we do not have a verdict because as we all know there is no verdict until it is announced and recorded in open court. So we are still awaiting a verdict. Because it took a while to pull this together, I would ask that everybody remain in the building until the end of the day. So we'll see everybody later. [unintelligible]
COURT OFFICER: Deliberating jurors remain standing. Defendant remains standing. All other parties may be seated.
COURT CLERK: Your Honor, may the record reflect the twelve deliberating jurors and six alternates are present.
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes. May I inquire?
COURT CLERK: Yes. Mr. Foreman, members of the jury, have you agreed upon a verdict?
JURY FOREMAN: Yes.
COURT CLERK: Thank you. May I see the papers? Mr. Foreman, have the verdicts been placed therein in open court and have they been in your presence ever since?
COURT CLERK: Mr. Foreman, on docket number 2282CR117001, murder in the second degree, what say you? Is the defendant at the bar guilty or not guilty?
JURY FOREMAN: Not guilty.
COURT CLERK: So say you, Mr. Foreman? So say you all?
JUDGE CANNONE: No, no. Do you agree?
JUDGE CANNONE: Do all of you agree?
JUDGE CANNONE: Thank you.
COURT CLERK: On count 002, what say you? Is the defendant at the bar guilty or not guilty? Is not guilty or guilty of that charge, or any lesser included charge?
COURT CLERK: Specifically, number five — operating under the influence of liquor by operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .08 or greater. Correct? FOREMAN: Yes. So say you, Mr. Foreman? FOREMAN: Guilty. So say you all? JURY: Guilty. Zero zero three. What say you? Is the defendant at the bar guilty or not guilty of leaving the scene after an accident resulting in death? FOREMAN: Not guilty. So say you, Mr. Foreman? FOREMAN: Not guilty. So say you all? JURY: Not guilty. Jurors, hearken to your verdict as the court records it. You, upon your oath, say the defendant on zero zero one is not guilty. On zero zero two is guilty of operating under the influence of liquor. On zero zero three, not guilty.
JUDGE CANNONE: Thank you. All right. Jurors, everybody please be seated. Jurors, we thank you for your service, and it is time for me to send you back — your service is complete. I'd like to come back and talk to you a little bit after. Thank you very much.
COURT OFFICER: All rise.
JUDGE CANNONE: Miss Read, can I have your attention? As required by statute, I must inform you that the records regarding the charges that you have been found not guilty of will be sealed by the commissioner of probation by the court, unless you notify the commissioner of probation in writing within ten days that you do not want these records sealed. To request that these records not be sealed, you may use the request not to seal form, which is posted on the trial court's website on mass.gov. I cannot accept the form here in court. You must submit it to the commissioner of probation at the address provided on the form.
JUDGE CANNONE: Please be aware that if the records regarding the charges which you have been found not guilty of are sealed, you will be unable to access the sealed record of the not guilty dispositions or any other records regarding those charges. If you want copies of any documents regarding those charges before the records are sealed, you should request copies from the court within ten days. Do you understand? Thank you. All right, so we need a date for sentencing. Can we do it next week? Are you prepared to go forward today? DEFENSE COUNSEL: Okay. We're not going to put [unintelligible] on people. Okay. All right. So [unintelligible], you're ready to go forward today as well? DEFENSE COUNSEL: Yes, please. Mr. Brennan, what's the Commonwealth's recommendation?
MR. BRENNAN: The Commonwealth moves to sentencing. We recommend probation, one year. Twenty-four-D program. So the standard that everybody else gets on their first time.
JUDGE CANNONE: Oh, yes. Certainly. Okay. So I'm happy to do it. All right. Thank you all. One year probation. One year probation on docket number zero zero two. The lesser included offense of operating under the influence. One year probation. Thank you. The 24D program. Thank you.
COURT OFFICER: All rise.