Opinion
10-P-518
08-16-2011
COMMONWEALTH v. JIMMY DIAZ.
NOTICE: Decisions issued by the Appeals Court pursuant to its rule 1:28 are primarily addressed to the parties and, therefore, may not fully address the facts of the case or the panel's decisional rationale. Moreover, rule 1:28 decisions are not circulated to the entire court and, therefore, represent only the views of the panel that decided the case. A summary decision pursuant to rule 1:28, issued after February 25, 2008, may be cited for its persuasive value but, because of the limitations noted above, not as binding precedent.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 1:28
The defendant, Jimmy Diaz, appeals from his convictions, after a jury-waived trial, of carrying a firearm without a license and possessing a firearm without a firearms identification card. At the defendant's trial, a ballistics certificate was introduced without accompanying testimony from the ballistician who created it, in violation of Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 129 S. Ct. 2527 (2009). The Commonwealth concedes that the Melendez-Diaz error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and that reversal of the convictions is compelled. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Muniz, 456 Mass. 166, 172 (2010). After an independent review, we agree with that concession of error.
We need not reach the defendant's additional arguments on appeal because those alleged claims of error are not likely to recur at any possible retrial.
Judgments reversed.
Findings set aside.
By the Court (Trainor, Brown & Carhart, JJ.),