(DOWNLOAD) "Commonwealth v. Richard A. Priestley" by Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Commonwealth v. Richard A. Priestley
- Author : Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- Release Date : January 10, 1995
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 65 KB
Description
Bail. Motor Vehicle, Operating under the influence. Evidence, Right to obtain evidence, Intoxication. GREANEY, J. We transferred this case here on our own motion to decide the claim by the defendant, Richard A. Priestley, that his motion to dismiss the complaint charging him with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, G. L. c. 94, § 24 (1992 ed.), should have been allowed. The motion was based on the assertion that the police had denied the defendant the right to be considered for bail in a timely fashion thereby preventing him from obtaining an independent medical examination pursuant to G. L. c. 263, § 5A (1992 ed.). 1 The defendant now indicates that he would have exercised his § 5A right to obtain an independent breath or blood alcohol test which might have furnished him with exculpatory evidence. A District Court Judge sitting in a jury-of-six session held an evidentiary hearing on the motion to dismiss and entered a written decision containing findings of fact and rulings of law. The Judge concluded that the police had violated the defendant's rights, but that the complaint should not be dismissed because the evidence of the defendant's intoxication was overwhelming. Following the denial of the motion to dismiss, the defendant waived his right to a jury trial and was found guilty by the Judge. 2 We affirm the defendant's conviction.