Mass. Appeals Court hears challenge to admission of lottery and Facebook evidence in Commonwealth v. Matheson

At a Massachusetts Appeals Court oral argument, a three-judge panel heard competing arguments over the admissibility of lottery commission records and Facebook-derived testimony in Commonwealth v. Nicole Matheson, a criminal appeal that turns on whether the evidence proved intent to defraud under chapter 10, section 30. The panel took the case under advisement at the end of argument.

The details at issue centered on how the lottery records were prepared and authenticated and on whether officers’ testimony about what they saw online amounted to inadmissible hearsay. Ariane Bueno, court staff member who introduced the panel, told counsel that each side had 15 minutes to argue; the panel consisted of Justice Robert Brennan and Justice Annie D’Angelo.

Defense attorney Arter, representing appellant Nicole Matheson, argued that the documents introduced by Kevin Foster, identified at trial as a lottery investigator or compliance analyst, were admitted in error and did not fall within the business‑records exception to the hearsay rule. "He testified that these records did not exist in the shape and form that they…