Massachusetts Drug Offense Conviction Heroin Confrontation Clause Grounds Lawyers Attorneys

COMMONWEALTH vs

COMMONWEALTH vs. FRANCISCO PIMENTEL.

APPEALS COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS

October 8, 2009, Argued

February 3, 2010, Decided

A cooperating witness, who was a convicted heroin dealer, made controlled buys of apparent heroin from defendant.

A cooperating witness, who was a convicted heroin dealer, made controlled buys of apparent heroin from defendant.Defendant unsuccessfully objected, on Confrontation Clause grounds, to the admission in evidence of five certificates of drug analysis.

Issues:

Whether the trial court's admission in evidence of drug analysis certificates, in violation of defendant's confrontation rights under U.S. Const. amend. VI, was harmless error?

Observation and Holding:

The word heroin was regularly used in describing the packaged substances obtained in the controlled buys, but at no time did the police or the cooperating witness refer to objective evidence, criteria, or field tests; they also did not articulate how their expertise permitted them to identify the substances as heroin. Finally, the packages obtained in the controlled buys and the certificates of analysis were admitted in evidence together, and the prosecutor in closing argument read the quantities and weights from some of the certificates, essentially relying on them as evidence of trafficking in heroin. We conclude in these circumstances that the certificates provided significant evidence of the nature of the substances as heroin and were the only definitive evidence of the weight of the packages. Because we conclude that the error in their admission was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, the convictions cannot stand.

Disclaimer:

These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group. They represent the firm's unofficial views of the Justices' opinions. The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content.

Massachusetts Drug Offense Conviction Heroin Confrontation Clause Grounds Lawyers Attorneys

By: Atchuthan Sriskandarajah

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