79 Mass. App. Ct. 902
Appeals Court
April 25, 2011
Probation, Revocation, Excessive Use of Alcohol
Defendant appealed from a trial judge’s order revoking his probation on the grounds that he violated his probation by not following the “no excessive use of alcohol” clause. The Appeals Court upheld the revocation of the defendant’s probation.
Facts
One of the defendant’s probation conditions was “no excessive use of alcohol.” At the probation hearing, the prosecution put forth evidence showing that the defendant met with his probation officer with alcohol on his breath three different times.
Issue: Should the trial judge have struck the probation condition for vagueness, and if not, did the trial judge properly find that the defendant violated the condition?
While the Appeals Court noted that there may be instances where probation conditions are so vague that a court must strike them, the specific facts of the case entitled the trial judge to find a violation of any fair understanding of the condition. The court looked at the three different factual instances where the defendant reported to his probation officer with alcohol on his breadth and determined this to show that the defendant had little or no control over his consumption of alcohol. As such, the court upheld the trial judge’s determination that the defendant violated the terms of his probation.
Judgment Affirmed
Prepared by AAO
