Commonwealth v. Rutkowski
459 Mass. 794 (2011)
Supreme Judicial Court
May 24, 2011
First-degree Murder, Extreme Atrocity and Cruelty
A jury found the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. The defendant appealed her conviction claiming: 1) the judge erred when he failed to instruct the jury that they could consider evidence of mental impairment on the question or extreme atrocity or cruelty, 2) ineffective assistance of counsel, 3) the judge erred when he failed to limit instruction as to the use of the defendant’s statements to mental health professionals, and 4) that the verdict should be reduced to murder in the second degree or manslaughter or a new trial should be granted pursuant to G.L. c. 278, § 33E. The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) held that the jury was not properly instructed, but that the conviction of murder in the second degree could stand unless the Commonwealth moved for a new trial.
Facts
The victim was disabled due to partial paralysis, moved slowly, had difficulty
speaking, and had a long history of mental illness. He frequently left the home he shared with his wife without saying where he was going, and this made her upset.
On the afternoon of August 17, 2004, the victim and defendant (his wife) went fishing at a lake in Wales. While they were fishing they got into an argument, and the victim walked away. When he did not return, the defendant frantically searched for him for two hours without finding him. She then drove home by herself. At 6 P.M the defendant noticed the victim in the parking lot outside their apartment. She rushed outside, demanded to know how he got home, and became angry when he did not respond. She told him she was “kicking him out” of the apartment. After this statement the victim began to laugh.
Neighbors heard the defendant scream at the victim, call him “retarded,” and tell him he would not need his belongings anymore because, “he was going to be dead very soon.” The victim did not get upset, but continued laughing. The defendant went inside, got the victim’s belongings and threw them down the stairs. She went back outside, gathered the victim’s belongings out of their van and threw them in the dumpster. As this was happening the victim continued to laugh. The defendant got in the van and drove away, then returned and purposely drove into the victim. She drove back and forth over him several times, about five times total. She then parked the van and threatened a neighbor that if she didn’t “get back into [her] own apartment” she would be next.
The victim was lying on the ground when police arrived. When an officer asked the defendant if she saw what happened she said, “Yes, I did. I ran him over. We had what you’d call a domestic situation here.” Police arrested the defendant, and the victim was transported to the hospital. He died shortly thereafter.
At trial expert psychiatric testimony revealed the defendant had a long history of mental illness. The psychiatrist also testified that the defendant’s headache medication “fuel[ed]” her bipolar disorder and that this disorder, along with depression and a history of psychosis and head injuries “were in play” when she ran over the victim. The psychiatrist testified that as a result of mental illness, the defendant “lacked the substantial capacity to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law.”
Even though the defendant requested a jury instruction specifically “on all of the factors” to prove “murder with extreme atrocity or cruelty,” the jury was instructed on mental impairment only as it related to intent and knowledge, which are not aspects of extreme atrocity or cruelty.
Issue 1: Did the judge err in his jury instructions for extreme atrocity or cruelty?
The SJC found it “should have been made clear to the jury that they could consider evidence of mental impairment on the specific question whether the murder was committed with extreme atrocity or cruelty.” In Commonwealth v. Gould, 380 Mass. 672, 686 (1980), the SJC found that “impairment of a defendant’s ability to make a decision in a normal manner may have a direct bearing on the degree of murder, and consequently, on the issue of extreme atrocity or cruelty.” The defendant argued it was error for the jury not to be instructed on mental impairment as it applies to extreme atrocity or cruelty, and because of her long history of mental illness presented at trial, the jury should have been instructed accordingly.
Issue 2: Was the assistance of counsel ineffective?
Because the SJC found that the jury instructions were erroneous, they did not decide whether counsel was ineffective.
Issue 3: Did the judge err in limiting the use of defendant’s statements to mental health professionals?
The defendant claims the jury should have been allowed to consider statements to mental health professionals, presented in her medical records, for the truth of such statements. However, as shown in Commonwealth v. Brown, 449 Mass. 747, 768 (2007), “an instruction limiting consideration of a defendant’s statement to her expert as the basis for the expert’s opinion, not for the truth of the underlying statements, is a correct statement of the law.” Therefore, it was not error for the trial judge to instruct the jury not to consider the truth of statements made by the defendant to mental health professionals.
Issue 4: Should the verdict be reduced?
The defendant requested a reduction of the verdict to murder in the second degree, manslaughter or a new trial. The SJC found no error in the jury’s verdict for second-degree murder. The case is remanded, and the Commonwealth can choose whether to retry the defendant for murder on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty, or to accept the lesser conviction of second-degree murder.
Remanded to the Superior Court
Prepared by JC
