Commonwealth v. LeBlanc

Commonwealth v. Armand J. LeBlanc

Commonwealth v. LeBlanc, 334 N.E.2d 647 (Mass. App. Ct. 1975)

Court: Massachusetts Appeals Court · State Appellate Courts
Decided: September 17, 1975
Citations: 334 N.E.2d 6473 Mass. App. Ct. 7801975 Mass. App. LEXIS 825

Cited by 9 7 descriptions by later courts

Opinion of the Court

Text extracted by OCR from a scanned original; check the original for exact wording.

There was no error in denying the defendant’s motions for directed verdicts on two indictments, one charging assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (No. 59654) and the other assault and battery on a police officer (No. 59655). From the evidence most favorable to the Commonwealth (the appeals are under G. L. c. 278, §§ 33A-33G) the jury could have found that a State police officer while on duty on Route 2 in Lancaster at about 7:00 p.M. — it was already dark — observed an automobile being driven erratically. The officer pursued the automobile for some distance in his cruiser; he put on the dome light, flashed the headlights, and turned on the siren. The automobile eventually pulled off the road and stopped; the defendant was driving. The officer approached the vehicle and stood at the door on the driver’s side. He shone his flashlight into the car and heard a female voice scream for help. He saw a female passenger seated next to the defendant apparently trying to escape from the passenger’s side. Thereupon the door on the driver’s side swung open, knocking the officer down, and the defendant drove off. These circumstances were sufficient to permit the jury to infer that the defendant intentionally struck the officer with the door, and it was proper to deny the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict on No. 59654, made on the ground that sufficient evidence of intent was lacking — also the only contention in this court in support of the motions. Commonwealth v. Doherty, 137 Mass. 245, 247 (1884). Commonwealth v. Holiday, 349 Mass. 126, 128 (1965). Commonwealth v. Boyer, 355 Mass. 762, 764 (1969). Commonwealth v. *781 Wygrzywalski, 362 Mass. 790, 792 (1973). After having been knocked down the officer returned to the cruiser and chased the defendant three or four miles. The officer shot and hit the tires of the defendant’s automobile, and it finally came to a stop. The defendant refused to get out of the car, and after about ten minutes of trying to “talk him out of the vehicle” the officer took the defendant out of the car. As the officer was removing the defendant, he kicked the trooper and punched him repeatedly. It is clear that a second assault occurred at that time, and the motion for a directed verdict on No. 59655 was properly denied. Commonwealth v. Heard, 360 Mass. 855 (1971). Further, it was separate from the earlier assault; this is not a case of “only one assault.” Cf. Commonwealth v. White (No. 2), 365 Mass. 307, 311 (1974), cert. den. 419 U. S. 1111 (1975). The defendant could therefore be sentenced on both indictments. See Commonwealth v. Farrell, 322 Mass. 606, 607-608, 614 (1948). See also Commonwealth v. Iannello, 344 Mass. 723, 727-728 (1962). We therefore need not discuss (nor did the defendant discuss) the relationship between the two crimes and their respective elements. Cf. Kuklis v. Commonwealth, 361 Mass. 302, 306 (1972).

Conrad W. Fisher for the defendant. James P. Donohue, Assistant District Attorney, for the Commonwealth.

Judgments affirmed.

How later courts describe this case

Explanatory parentheticals written by citing courts — 7 in all; the most informative distinct ones are shown.

(conviction for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon affirmed where police officer, who was not otherwise injured, was temporarily knocked off his feet by car door)

Commonwealth v. Lord, 770 N.E.2d 520 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002)
(automobile door used to strike police officer)

Commonwealth v. Appleby, 402 N.E.2d 1051 (Mass. 1980)
(chair brought down upon victim’s head)

Commonwealth v. Davis, 406 N.E.2d 417 (Mass. App. Ct. 1980)

Cited by 9 cases

View all citing references →

Relies on it most ⓘ

Commonwealth v. Welch450 N.E.2d 1100 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983)
Shea v. Porter56 F. Supp. 3d 65 (D. Mass. 2014)
Commonwealth v. Appleby402 N.E.2d 1051 (Mass. 1980)
Commonwealth v. Davis406 N.E.2d 417 (Mass. App. Ct. 1980)
Commonwealth v. Moore632 N.E.2d 1234 (Mass. App. Ct. 1994)
Commonwealth v. Sexton680 N.E.2d 23 (Mass. 1997)

Most recent

Commonwealth v. Jefferson110 N.E.3d 1220 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018)
Shea v. Porter56 F. Supp. 3d 65 (D. Mass. 2014)
Commonwealth v. Lednum916 N.E.2d 416 (Mass. App. Ct. 2009)
Commonwealth v. Lord770 N.E.2d 520 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002)
Commonwealth v. Sexton680 N.E.2d 23 (Mass. 1997)
Commonwealth v. Moore632 N.E.2d 1234 (Mass. App. Ct. 1994)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 9

Depth	Case	Cited by
	Kuklis v. Commonwealth, 280 N.E.2d 155 (Mass. 1972)	111
	Commonwealth v. Farrell, 78 N.E.2d 697 (Mass. 1948)	84
	Commonwealth v. Holiday, 206 N.E.2d 691 (Mass. 1965)	50
	Commonwealth v. Iannello, 184 N.E.2d 364 (Mass. 1962)	48
	Commonwealth v. Doherty, 137 Mass. 245 (1884)	40
	Commonwealth v. White (No. 2), 311 N.E.2d 547 (Mass. 1974)	12
	Commonwealth v. Wygrzywalski, 291 N.E.2d 401 (Mass. 1973)	11
	Commonwealth v. Heard, 275 N.E.2d 32 (Mass. 1971)	5
	Commonwealth v. Boyer, 247 N.E.2d 589 (Mass. 1969)	4

`/`	Focus the search box
`j` `k`	Next / previous result
`Enter`	Open the selected result
`x`	Add / remove the selected result from the download list
`n` `p`	Next / previous search term in a case
`c`	Copy the citation of the current case
`+` `−`	Larger / smaller reading text
`?`	Show this list