Massachusetts DUI Blog

On April 2, 2010, the Massachusetts Appeals Court decided the case of Commonwealth v. Dale McMullen. On appeal from his conviction for a fourth offense operating under the influence, Mr. McMullen challenged the use by the prosecution of certified copies of Registry of Motor Vehicles and District Court records to prove that he had been convicted on three previous occasions. McMullen contended that the 2009 United States Supreme Court case of Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts should be interpreted to mean that his constitutional right to confront and cross-examine witnesses was violated by the use of only documents to prove the prior convictions. The Appeals Court disagreed, ruling that the records in question were created for the administration of the entity’s affairs, and not for purposes of proving a fact at trial. Since they were not testimonial in nature, the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause was not violated by their admission at the subsequent offense trial.

In Massachusetts, individuals convicted of DUI are entitled to a separate trial on the issue of whether they have been previously convicted of the same or similar offense. At the trial, the normal Massachusetts evidentiary standards apply, and the defendant is entitled to have a jury or judge hear the evidence. Since the two Supreme Court cases of Crawford v. Washington and Melendez-Diaz, both of which were favorable rulings for defendants, practitioners were hoping to expand these decisions to DUI cases and require live testimony on the issue of whether defendants had been convicted in the past of the same or similar offenses. Following the Appeals Court’s decision in McMullen, and unless the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules otherwise, prosecutors will not be required to produce live witnesses in order to prove prior offenses.

The Massachusetts State Police recently announced that a “Sobriety Checkpoint” will be implemented by the State Police beginning Saturday, April 3 and continuing into Sunday, April 4, 2010. The roadblock will take place at an undisclosed secondary state highway in Bristol County. Bristol County is made up of twenty cities and towns, including Taunton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Fall River and New Bedford.
The State Police often team up with local law enforcement when operating these checkpoints, which may utilize over a dozen officers at a time as well as mobile breath testing equipment. Many of these roadblocks are part of the nationwide “Over The Limit, Under Arrest” mobilization, for which state and federal grant money is used to fund police overtime, equipment and education.
The constitutionality of these sobriety checkpoints were recently upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. However, the police must strictly comply with the many requirements that the Court has outlined in order for them to survive constitutional challenges, and the failure to do so may result in the exclusion of all evidence obtained against a defendant.
If you are arrested following a roadblock or “sobriety checkpoint,” contact an attorney who knows how to defend these cases successfully. Call Brooks & Crowley LLP at 781-251-0555.