To convict a defendant of drunk driving in Massachusetts, prosecutors must proof three things beyond a reasonable doubt:
- the defendant “operated” the vehicle;
- the defendant was “impaired” at the time of operation; and
- the defendant’s impaired operation took place on a “public way.”
A public way is defined as “[a]ny street or highway that is open to the public and is controlled and
maintained by some level of government.”
Most officers are familiar with this definition and testify accordingly as trial. For instance, the officer will usually testify that the OUI stop took place on “_____________Street which is a public way maintained by the town of ______________.”
Today the Appeals Court issued an opinion saying that the “public way” requirement can be inferred from an officer’s testimony:
Here, the officer described Onset Avenue as a two-lane road, with one lane going in each direction…Most important, Onset Avenue has a post office. Indeed, the defendant’s motor vehicle was parked “right by the post office.” It strains credulity to posit that the Federal government placed a post office on a private way without a right of public access.
Accordingly the Appeals Court concluded that the testimony “provided sufficient evidence to show that the defendant traveled on a public way.”
The full text of the opinion is attached below.