Appellant McCowen Brief - Mass Cases

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they had to speak. It's not necessary to ask why racial slurs were uttered, ox what impact they had on other jurors. Hearings proved the statements were made. Miranda further underscored two instances of juror misconduct, corroborating the affiant jurors and proving Gomes lied during voir dire and post-trial hearing. His dishonesty prejudiced McCowen. Amirault, 399 MaS8. 617, 625 (1987); Fidler, supra; Commonwealth v. Kincaid, 444 Mass. 381 (2005). In fact, Gomes' prejudices were bared even before Miranda came forward. McCowen proved by a preponderance of the evidence that racially biased statements were made and then the burden shifted to the Commonwealth, which presented no evidence. The statements' impact on jurors and the verdict need not be shown because prejudice is presumed. Laguer, supra at 99. Yet the Commonwealth presented nothing, falling far short of proving McCowen suffered no prejudice beyond a reasonable doubt. See Fidler, supra at 201; United States v. Howard, 506 F.2d 865, 869 (5th Cir. 1975); United States v. Blair, 444 'F. Supp. 1273, 1275 (D.D.C. 1978). All doubts must be resolved in favor of the defendant. Comnonwealkh v. Vardinski, 438 Mass. 444, 452-53 (2003). The trial judge's rejection of McCowen's motion was stunning. He summarily dismissed Huffman's testimony: -45-
she "misled the court," was cast in "a bad light in her community", had "a motive to wreak havoc on the judicial process. " She'd been "meddlesome, " causing Bohanna to mistrust others. The charades incident had no import: neither Audet nor Bohanna could verify it. Racist taunting never occurred, though jurors testified they'd played the game. "This jurist does not find her credible." App. 217-18. The judge acknowledged Audet's affidavit tracked Bohanna's, but said his testimony, "while sincere" was faulty. Audet was uncertain whether Cahill or George feared McCowen; he was fuzzy about chronology, about dates as if dates would alter content. App. 220. By nullifying Huffman and hudet, the judge placed the racism charges squarely on Bohanna, then dismissed large portions of her testimony by saying "[tlhe court accepts Juror Bohanna's ire as a warning flag that careful scrutiny must be given to Juror George's words ... Juror Bohanna was appropriately vigilant in keeping. racial bias from infecting the deliberations. Her ca1:Ling was honorable." App. 224. Yet Bohanna's testimony failed, perhaps because the affidavits of all "complaining aff iants , " had been "filtered through defense counsel' s draftsmanship," App. 219. -46-
Page 1 and 2:
COMMONWEAITH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUPRE
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CASES Commonwealth v. DiGi
Page 5 and 6: Commonwealth v. Laguer 410 Mass. 89
Page 7 and 8: Commonwealth v. Freeman 407 Mass. 2
Page 9 and 10: Turner v . Safley 482 U.S. 78 (1987
Page 11 and 12: on November 16, 2006 App. 52. That
Page 13 and 14: inquired about Arnold's leering at
Page 15 and 16: something and another witness descr
Page 17 and 18: ejected that argument. App. 20-22.
Page 19 and 20: Lemire: We ran two. One standard wa
Page 21 and 22: instant case. Tr. 3427-29. The tria
Page 23 and 24: counsel's request, the trial court
Page 25 and 26: people, referring to African-Americ
Page 27 and 28: factual findings of the unavailable
Page 29 and 30: time-of-death evidence and competin
Page 31 and 32: Diaz, the U.S. Supreme Court overru
Page 33 and 34: 13, 2006, the trial court conferred
Page 35 and 36: necessary "good cause," was reversi
Page 37 and 38: perfunctory dismissal was error. "A
Page 39 and 40: the trial judge's reasons fox refus
Page 41 and 42: judge. Kamara, 422 Mass. at 620; Te
Page 43 and 44: (whether the defendant or the polic
Page 45 and 46: interrogators less likely to use co
Page 47 and 48: a a 0 a 0 1) 0 0 poverty, inebriati
Page 49 and 50: counsel in opening, questioning, an
Page 51 and 52: post-verdict dinner with the prosec
Page 53: L D D D D B D D I I find ,. [an] af
Page 57 and 58: juvenile, probation, arrest and cri
Page 59 and 60: trial. Despite repeated requests, t
Page 61 and 62: Worthington when he attacked two to
Page 63 and 64: e a 0 The trial court's denial of t
Page 65 and 66: 0 e 0 0 0 Q Q D B other; if with on
Page 67 and 68: (1983). The trial court‘s media p
Page 69 and 70: These questions opened the door to
Page 71 and 72: fX. THESE VERDICTS c. 278, §33E. S
Page 73 and 74: job was to help jurors understand i
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Appellant McCowen Brief - Mass Cases

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