Commonwealth v. M.D. – Brockton District Court
Docket No.: 1315 CR 5197
CHARGES AGAINST BROCKTON MAN FOR HITTING VICTIM IN THE HEAD WITH A BASEBALL BAT ARE DISMISSED AS THE TRIAL WAS UNDERWAY.
On 09/09/13, Brockton Police were called to Panorama Pizza in Brockton for a report of a male bleeding profusely from his head after being struck in the head with a baseball bat. Upon arrival, police observed trails of blood in the parking lot and large pools of blood inside Panorama Pizza. The Defendant, a 29 year-old pizza delivery man, admitted to police that he struck the victim in the head with a baseball bat but that it was in self-defense. Due to the severity of the head injury and the amount of blood loss, the victim was taken by helicopter to the hospital in Boston where he stayed for almost one week.
The Defendant was charged with Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon (G.L. c. 265, §15A), a felony offense punishable up to 10 years in state prison.
The Noonan Defense Team thoroughly prepared the case for trial where they intended to assert that the Defendant was justified in using deadly force in self-defense. The Defendant and the victim were employees at Panorama Pizza in Brockton. The Noonan Defense Team interviewed the other employees at the pizza shop and intended to have all three employees testify at trial. At the trial, the Commonwealth moved to introduce a surveillance video, which showed the Defendant strike the victim in the head with the baseball bat.
Attorney Patrick J. Noonan sought to introduce the following evidence at trial: The pizza shop employees would testify that the victim had a reputation for being a violent and quarrelsome person. The employees would testify that the victim would show up to the pizza shop on a regular basis highly intoxicated and would act aggressively toward the employees. The employees would testify to approximately 10 instances where the victim would threaten to cause bodily harm to the Defendant. The employees would testify to an incident where the victim threatened a police officer and was almost arrested. Finally, the employees would testify to an incident that occurred at 8:00 p.m. just one hour before the assault in question where the victim showed up to the pizza shop highly intoxicated and made threats to the manager and the Defendant. Despite the efforts of the manager and the Defendant, the victim refused to leave and go home. The victim remained outside the pizza shop where he proceeded to stare at the Defendant in a threatening manner. At the top of his lungs, the victim screamed threats to cause bodily harm to the Defendant. The victim leaned against the Defendant’s car and waited for him to come outside knowing that the Defendant would eventually have to go to his car to deliver pizzas. Fearing that the victim would physically attack him, the Defendant called the police to have the victim removed from the premises. The police arrived and removed the victim from the premises.
One hour after being removed from the premises by the police, the victim returned to the pizza shop where he confronted the Defendant in the parking lot. As the Defendant was exiting his car, he observed the victim quickly approaching him in an aggressive manner. Fearing that the victim was about to attack him, the Defendant grabbed a miniature-sized baseball bat that he kept in his car for protection. The victim got in the Defendant’s face and made threats to “kill him.” Prior to using the bat in self-defense, the Defendant pushed the victim back and yelled for him to “back up” but the victim continued with his threats to kill him. With no other alternative and having a legitimate fear that the victim would seriously harm him, the Defendant struck the victim in the head with the baseball bat. The victim was completely unfazed by the blow to the head and continued to pursue the Defendant who then ran inside the pizza shop for safety.
Attorney Patrick J. Noonan intended to call an expert witness in Toxicology and Physiology. The expert witness would testify that the victim had a blood alcohol level of 0.24 when he showed up to the pizza shop at 8:00 p.m. and that the victim had a blood alcohol level of 0.22 when he showed up an hour later and confronted the Defendant in the parking lot. The expert witness would also testify as to the signs and symptoms that a person exhibits in this state of intoxication, which include: exaggerated emotional states (such as rage), emotional instability, loss of critical judgment, and increased pain threshold.
At the start of the trial, Attorney Patrick J. Noonan argued a Motion in Limine to introduce evidence of the victim’s violent character and to introduce six specific instances of violence committed by the victim. The DA objected and moved to exclude each of the six instances of violence committed by the victim. After a hearing, the trial judge ruled that Attorney Noonan could introduce 4 of the 6 instances of violence committed by the victim. In addition, Attorney Patrick J. Noonan moved to introduce testimony from his expert as to the level of the victim’s intoxication along with the mental state and behavior associated with such a high level of intoxication. Again, the DA objected and moved to exclude the expert from testifying. After a hearing, the trial judge ruled that Attorney Noonan could introduce the proposed testimony from his expert.
Result: After the hearing in which the trial judge ruled that Attorney Patrick J. Noonan could introduce evidence of the victim’s violent character, the four specific instances of violence committed by the victim, and the expert testimony as to the victim’s high level of intoxication, the DA moved to dismiss the case before the jury was empaneled.
“Man beaten with baseball bat outside Brockton pizza shop.” http://www.wcvb.com/article/man-beaten-with-baseball-bat-outside-brockton-pizza-shop/8188389