Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Decisions 2012
Date: December 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11091
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with home invasion and other offenses. Defendant filed a motion to suppress an audio recording allegedly made by a key witness in violation of state and federal wiretap laws. The witness was…
Date: December 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11110
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for armed assault with intent to murder and other offenses. Defendant filed a motion seeking information as to the alleged victim's status as a police informant. Defendant argued that this…
Date: December 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11286
Date: December 21, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10815
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction, holding that the trial court did not err in (1)…
Date: December 21, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11150
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged in the district court with operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and various civil motor vehicle infractions. The court denied Defendant's motion to dismiss. Defendant sought leave to…
Date: December 21, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11205
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a complaint against Chukwuma Azubuko for failure to pay rent. Azubuko, in turn, filed a third-party complaint against the Commonwealth, two cities, and a town, asserting various constitutional, statutory,…
Date: December 18, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11066
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. Defendant appealed the trial court's denial of Defendant's motion in limine to admit evidence…
Date: December 18, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11141
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of murder in the first degree. After the conviction was affirmed, Petitioner filed several pro se motions for a new trial and sought appointment of counsel with respect to these postconviction,…
Date: December 17, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11059
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved an employment dispute between Defendant, a home heating oil company, and Plaintiffs, two former delivery truck drivers. Plaintiffs argued that they were owed compensation based on their classification…
Date: December 12, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10474
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, holding (1) the trial judge did not err in instructing the…
Date: December 12, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11155
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, who was a juvenile at the time of the offense, was indicted for murder in the second degree. The superior court judge dismissed the indictment on the ground that the Commonwealth presented insufficient…
Date: December 5, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11056
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned a limited search of the recent call list displayed on a cellular telephone that had been seized by the police in a warrantless search of Defendant incident to arrest. A judge in the municipal court…
Date: December 5, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11242
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged in a two-count complaint with distribution of a class B substance and a drug violation near a school or park. Defendant moved to suppress evidence obtained from a warrantless search of his cellular…
Date: December 3, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10871
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree based on deliberate premeditation. Defendant filed a motion for a new trial alleging that his trial counsel was ineffective. The motion was denied. Defendant's direct…
Date: December 3, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11194
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a petition in the county court seeking an investigation into alleged misconduct of an assistant clerk of the court and a determination that he violated his obligation under the Code of Professional…
Date: November 27, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11057
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an inmate at a correctional center, was held in administrative segregation in center's special management unit (SMU) on awaiting action status as prison officials sought his transfer or reclassification.…
Date: November 21, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11026
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Creative Playthings Ltd., a Massachusetts corporation, entered into a franchising agreement with Defendant under which Defendant agreed to operate a Creative Playthings franchise store in Florida. Plaintiff…
Date: November 21, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11075
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for possession with intent to distribute heroin and for possession with intent to distribute heroin, subsequent offense. The charges resulted from the execution of a search warrant at Defendant's…
Date: November 19, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11180
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was classified by the sex offender registry board as a level two sex offender. Defendant subsequently registered with the police department. When Defendant failed to register again a few months later during the…
Date: November 15, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10781
Justia Opinion Summary: A superior court jury convicted Defendant of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation, and of two firearms offenses. On appeal, Defendant claimed error in a number of respects. The Supreme Court…
Date: November 14, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11002
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on an informant's tip, as well as police observation of three controlled drug purchases and additional surveillance, police obtained a warrant to search Defendant's apartment. They found a firearm and significant…
Date: November 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11116
Justia Opinion Summary: In an underlying care and protection case in the juvenile court, following a seventy-two hour hearing, the judge granted temporary custody of a child to the Department of Children and Families. The child's mother filed a…
Date: November 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11013
Justia Opinion Summary: The named Plaintiffs, African-American and Hispanic police officers, brought suit on behalf of themselves and a class of similarly situated individuals against Defendants, the Commonwealth and the division of human…
Date: November 6, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10547
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted by a jury of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation in the stabbing death of her boyfriend. Defendant appealed from both her conviction and the denial of her motion for…
Date: November 6, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10972
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sought employment as a police officer with the Boston police department. On three occasions, the department extended conditional offers of appointment to Plaintiff, each of which was contingent upon her…
Date: October 29, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11068
Justia Opinion Summary: This case came before the Supreme Court on Plaintiff's application for direct appellate review of a decision of the superior court affirming a decision of the contributory retirement appeal board. The case required the…
Date: October 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10980
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal, filed by brothers Gary and Dennis Baasch (Appellants), concerned disputed land located in Howard County. After a bench trial, the district court for Howard County denied Gary Baasch's counterclaim for quiet…
Date: October 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11067
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether the crime of leaving the scene of an accident where death resulted requires the Commonwealth to prove that the defendant knew he collided with a person. Because the superior court judge…
Date: October 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11089
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed suit in superior court claiming that she and her son entered into an oral that granted her a life estate in certain property. Petitioner sought to enforce the oral agreement or, in the alternative,…
Date: October 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11129
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant filed a petition seeking reversal of an order of the superior court that denied Defendant's motion to correct his jail time credit to include fourteen days spent in custody awaiting trial on charges pertaining…
Date: October 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11169
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of a loaded firearm. In addition, Defendant was convicted after a jury-waived trial of violating the armed career…
Date: October 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11234
Justia Opinion Summary: The sole issue in this appeal was whether an uncontroverted affidavit attesting to the statutory form "Affidavit of Sale under Power of Sale in Mortgage" was sufficient to show compliance with the power of sale for the…
Date: October 24, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10638
Justia Opinion Summary: After a mistrial at which the jury was deadlocked, Defendant was retried and convicted of two indictments charging murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation. The Supreme Court affirmed the…
Date: October 22, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-09959
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted by a jury of murder in the first degree, armed assault with intent to kill, assault with a dangerous weapon, and various firearms offenses. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions and…
Date: October 18, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10956
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, attorneys who were the subject of disciplinary proceedings, challenged the validity of two aspects of the Commonwealth's workers' compensation, claiming (1) Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 152, 7C, which authorizes the…
Date: October 15, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10427
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury conviction, Defendant was convicted of deliberately premeditated murder. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and declined to reduce the verdict or order a new trial, holding that the trial court did…
Date: October 15, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10997
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted of Defendant of being an accessory before the fact to murder. The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction because the evidence did not establish that he had done any act before the assault to…
Date: October 11, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10682
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Defendant of murder in the first degree on the theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty, and of possession of a firearm without a license. The Supreme Court affirmed the order…
Date: October 11, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10945
Justia Opinion Summary: This matter arose from an application filed by Plaintiff in the Somerville division of the district court department for a criminal complaint against a police officer. The first assistant clerk of the court denied the…
Date: October 11, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11257
Justia Opinion Summary: The trustee of a trust established by Carol Vollmer (settlor) commenced this action in the probate and family court seeking reformation of the trust to comply with certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. A judge…
Date: September 28, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11010
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted an application for appellate review of Defendant, Miko Rose, to consider whether a judge in the probate and family court erred when she recognized Rose's California registered same-sex domestic…
Date: September 19, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10841
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was (1) whether a superior court judge erred in ordering the dismissal of an age discrimination complaint filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination for lack of subject matter…
Date: September 14, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11139
Justia Opinion Summary: In two separate actions, seven Massachusetts hospitals and one managed health care organization that disproportionately provided medical care to the poor alleged that the Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and…
Date: September 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11016
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, and unlawful possession of one firearm. Defendant's convictions arose out of the then sixteen-year-old…
Date: September 10, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10274
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Defendant of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction, holding (1) because the admission of a…
Date: September 7, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11050
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on an assault that occurred on June 6, 2007, a jury convicted Defendant of attempted murder, armed home invasion, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery. The appeals court…
Date: September 7, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11061
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that Defendant committed a breach of a settlement agreement with the town by failing to remove mulch from property owned by Plaintiff. Defendant filed a special motion to dismiss…
Date: September 6, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11124
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was false accused of assaulting with a gun Ramon Benzan, a person who was performing work for Defendant. After the criminal complaint issued, it became apparent that Benzan had lied to a Boston police detective…
Date: September 5, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10926
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendants, two brothers, were convicted of several violations of the controlled substances laws, including the possession of class B and class D substances with intent to distribute. On appeal,…
Date: August 31, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11045
Justia Opinion Summary: Ernest Murphy was employed by the Commonwealth as a superior court judge for eight years. Following the publication of libelous articles about Murphy's performance of his judicial duties, and his subsequent receipt of…
Date: August 30, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11008
Justia Opinion Summary: An electrician was killed by electrocution while attempting to repair an electrical transformer at the Logan Airport Hilton Hotel (Hilton). Plaintiff, as administratrix of the electrician's estate, filed suit against,…
Date: August 28, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11122
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1941, Anna Child Bird executed a will with a testamentary trust that benefitted her sons, her grandsons, and their issue. At the time the will was executed, the law provided that an adopted child was excluded from the…
Date: August 27, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10539
Justia Opinion Summary: A superior court jury convicted Defendant William Santos of armed robbery and murder in the first degree on a theory of felony-murder fin the shooting death of Luis Rodriguez. The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's…
Date: August 23, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11062
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commonwealth and William O'Connell (collectively, Petitioners) filed a petition in the county court seeking relief from a district court judge's order releasing from impoundment a redacted version of a search warrant…
Date: August 21, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10438
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree for the death of Lourdes Hernandez. Defendant appealed, claiming that inappropriate statements made in the prosecutor's closing argument and a defective jury…
Date: August 15, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10910
Justia Opinion Summary: Family Court ordered that father, a retired stockbroker, pay mother, a physician, $454 in weekly child support, to equalize the parties' net incomes. The mother was required to pay specific child-related expenses. The…
Date: August 14, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10788
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, defendant's wife and their nine-month-old daughter were found dead in a bed in the master bedroom of their home in Hopkinton. His wife had been shot once in the forehead; his daughter had been shot in the…
Date: August 10, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11009
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1990 McCarthy bought land at a mortgage foreclosure sale conducted by defendant, Seamen's, the mortgage holder. The advertisement described the parcel as "at the end of the paved portion of Higgins Hollow Road,…
Date: August 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11117
Justia Opinion Summary: A district attorney filed a complaint with the Commission on Judicial Conduct alleging that a judge had exhibited "disregard for the law, lack of impartiality, and bias against the Commonwealth," S.J.C. Rule 3:09. The…
Date: August 8, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10432
Justia Opinion Summary: On November 19, 1985, Patricia Clark was discovered stabbed to death in her Lowell home. At the time, the investigation focused on the defendant, a former boyfriend; Clark had ended their relationship earlier that year.…
Date: August 8, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11031
Justia Opinion Summary: The Bridgewater State University Foundation owns three buildings and three undeveloped parcels. One building is occupied by foundation offices and the university's alumni office; another houses the university's political…
Date: August 6, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10930
Justia Opinion Summary: Three witnesses identified defendant as the shooter. He was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of both premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty, G.L. c. 265, s 1; carrying a firearm without a…
Date: August 2, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10835
Justia Opinion Summary: Manavoglu was shot while pursuing the man who had robbed him at gun point in the restaurant he owned in Boston. He died two days later. A jury convicted defendant, whom the police apprehended in the area within minutes…
Date: August 1, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10983
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of rape and furnishing alcohol to a person under 21 years of age. On appeal he claimed error in the denial of his right to cross-examine the victim as to her motive to fabricate; in denial of his…
Date: August 1, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11011
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004-2005, Costa & Son Construction performed site work for the general contractor (Braitt) on such a project in Bridgewater. After Braitt terminated the relationship Costa sued, alleging breach of contract and…
Date: July 30, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11015
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2000 Go-Best wired $5 million to an account entitled "Morris M. Goldings client account" at Citizens Bank, based on representations made by Morris M. Goldings, who was then a Massachusetts attorney. Goldings later…
Date: July 27, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10870
Justia Opinion Summary: At trial, defendant conceded his guilt of murder, but sought a verdict of murder in the second degree on the ground that his impaired mental condition affected his ability to make decisions in a normal manner or to…
Date: July 27, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11088
Justia Opinion Summary: Healey, convicted of multiple sexual offenses involving children, completed his prison sentences, but remains committed to the Massachusetts Treatment Center as a sexually dangerous person. He was initially committed in…
Date: July 27, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11197
Justia Opinion Summary: Blonde appealed denial of his motion to stay pending appeal after a probate judge appointed a special master for the purpose of selling the parties' former marital home. The property has since been sold. The…
Date: July 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10853
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered the apartment of his estranged wife and their two children with a can of gasoline; poured the gasoline so that it landed on himself, his 14-month-old daughter (Diana), the babysitter, and the floor; and…
Date: July 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11023
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003 plaintiff entered into a same-sex civil union in Vermont. His Vermont civil union has never been dissolved by any civil authority. Nevertheless, in 2005, plaintiff and defendant were married in Worcester. In 2009…
Date: July 24, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11156
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, charged with deriving support from prostitution, was tried before a jury that indicated that they were unable to reach a verdict. The judge declared a mistrial. Prior to retrial, defendant filed a motion to…
Date: July 17, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10140
Justia Opinion Summary: Following internal upheaval in a gang, five members and a nonmember associate executed a sixth member. Two other members testified under cooperation agreements. Davenport, the nonmember who killed the victim, testified…
Date: July 16, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10994
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commonwealth alleged that, at age 16-17, the defendant committed several crimes including acts of child rape. The defendant was not apprehended until he was 26 years old. The defendant moved to dismiss the youthful…
Date: July 16, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11004
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to rape of a child and an unrelated unarmed burglary, and was sentenced to eight to 15 years. He had been the live-in boyfriend of the victim's mother for many years. When the victim was…
Date: July 16, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11012
Justia Opinion Summary: The Wetlands Protection Act, G.L. c. 131, 40, requires a conservation commission to issue a decision on a requested order of conditions within 21 days after holding a public hearing on the applicant's notice of intent to…
Date: July 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10918
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with trafficking in cocaine, G.L. c. 94C, 32E (b ) (1), and conspiracy to violate the drug laws, G.L. c. 94C, 40. He filed an affidavit of indigency, G.L. c. 261, 27B, was appointed counsel, and…
Date: July 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10923
Justia Opinion Summary: The trial judge found that defendant was indigent but able to contribute $40,000 to his defense against indictments charging him with the murders of his wife, mother-in-law, and children (S.J.C. Rule 3:10, (1)(g)). In…
Date: July 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10924
Justia Opinion Summary: Following indictment on 93 counts of failure to pay wages timely, (G.L. c. 149, 148), defendant filed an affidavit of indigency and sought appointment of counsel at public expense (G.L. c. 211D, 2 1/2 (a )). After…
Date: July 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11003
Justia Opinion Summary: More than a year after his conviction for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, defendant, moved for postverdict inquiry of the jurors. The trial judge had recused himself and a different judge…
Date: July 12, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10987
Justia Opinion Summary: Before 1997, the authority operated the Massachusetts Turnpike, the Boston extension of the turnpike, and the Sumner and Callahan Tunnels, crossing under Boston Harbor to connect downtown o the East Boston section. In…
Date: July 12, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11060
Justia Opinion Summary: After a storm began, water stopped flowing down the parking lot drain on the property, which had become clogged with debris. Water seeped under the door of the building, flooding its lower level and damaging carpeting,…
Date: July 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10976
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a high school student, was charged with breaking and entering the home of a friend (seeking his girlfiend) with intent to commit a misdemeanor, G.L. c. 266, 16A, and assault, G.L. c. 265, 13A. A jury trial…
Date: July 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11024
Justia Opinion Summary: The Regional School District (Mahar), entered into a price watch agreement with Northeast Energy Partners, a licensed broker of energy services based in Connecticut, pursuant to which Northeast would negotiate and secure…
Date: July 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11132
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender, first offense, G.L. c. 6, 178H (a ) (3). In open court, the defendant was sentenced to incarceration for one year in a house of correction. Thereafter, a…
Date: July 2, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11162
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner's son was charged with assault and battery on a person over 60 years of age and with resisting arrest. The petitioner is the alleged victim. The son unsuccessfully moved to suppress a recording made by a third…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10927
Justia Opinion Summary: Since at least 1986, the town had a deteriorating sewer system. Defects allowed inflow and infiltration (I/I). Wet weather caused overflow, contaminating the ocean, rivers, and wetlands. To avoid overflow into housing,…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10996
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on a tip, surveillance, and controlled drug purchases, Brockton police obtained a warrant to search defendant's apartment. Officers found cocaine, cash, and a digital scale in the apartment. In the locked basement…
Date: June 28, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10792
Justia Opinion Summary: A fist fight broke out at a cookout. Shots hit a bystander, who later died. None of the fight participants had displayed a firearm. The only firearm that was seen was carried by defendant, described as a stocky…
Date: June 26, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10882
Justia Opinion Summary: A taxicab driver was robbed at knifepoint by a passenger wearing a hat that covered most of his face; the driver fired his pistol at the fleeing robber, wounding him in the back. Police located defendant near the scene…
Date: June 25, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11014
Justia Opinion Summary: After being convicted of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition arising out of a shooting, defendant moved for a new trial, claiming ineffective…
Date: June 22, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11041
Justia Opinion Summary: A judge preliminarily enjoined Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) from proceeding to evict plaintiff, Eaton, from her home, following a foreclosure sale by Green Tree Servicing, as mortgagee. The judge…
Date: June 18, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11109
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the proper interpretation of a Massachusetts election law that governed the filing of a vacancy, where a candidate nominated for state, city or town office withdraws, dies, or otherwise becomes…
Date: June 15, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10895
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty of manslaughter for "inflicting fatal injuries on a viable and near full term fetus during the birthing process" in violation of her "legal duty...to refrain from wanton or reckless acts…
Date: June 15, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10907
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 alleging, inter alia, that the city council's vote to remove Charles Turner, an elected Boston city councillor convicted of attempted extortion and other Federal crimes, was…
Date: June 15, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10985
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved a parcel of land on a hill overlooking Cape Code Bay in the town of Truro with no frontage on any street. The parcel, however, had the benefit of an unspecified easement conveyed in an 1899 deed that…
Date: June 14, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10897
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from his convictions of murder in the second degree and related firearms charges. Defendant was convicted on retrial; the jury at his trial was unable to agree on a unanimous verdict. On appeal,…
Date: June 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11064
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted pursuant to the parental kidnapping statute, G.L.c. 265, section 26A, after his five-year-old nonmarital son, G.G., disappeared while in defendant's care. Relying on Commonwealth v. McCarthy,…
Date: June 12, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10989
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation, murder in the second degree, armed assault with intent to murder, and unlawful possession of a firearm. On appeal, defendant…
Date: June 5, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10935
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, an attorney, submitted an affidavit of resignation pursuant to S.J.C. Rule 4:01, section 15, and his resignation was thereafter accepted as a disciplinary sanction. At issue was whether an attorney, whose…
Date: June 4, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10904
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned the mechanics of NSTAR's, an electric distribution company, attempt to shift the recovery of one of it supply-related costs, supply-related bad debt costs, from its distribution rates to its supply…
Date: June 4, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10950
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with committing an assault and battery on a child under fourteen years of age causing substantial bodily injury and wantonly and recklessly permitting an assault and battery on a child that caused…
Date: June 4, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11055
Justia Opinion Summary: A grand jury returned six indictments charging defendant with rape of a child under the age of sixteen by force. At defendant's first trial, the trial judge entered a required finding of not guilty on one of the…
Date: May 31, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10885
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of 23 out of 32 charges stemming from his participation in a string of robberies. On appeal, defendant argued that he was unduly prejudiced by the joinder of the charged offenses in a single…
Date: May 31, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11032
Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from plaintiff's suit against the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) where plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident with a bus operated by a MBTA employee. Effective November 1,…
Date: May 29, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10908
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the dismissal of her complaint against Safety, which alleged that Safety improperly denied coverage under her homeowner's insurance policy for damage to her house. The court concluded that plaintiff…
Date: May 29, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10969
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged in separate complaints with distribution of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Defendant moved to suppress statements to police following his arrest on the drug charges…
Date: May 29, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10982
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commonwealth appealed from an order entered in the Superior Court suppressing drugs seized from between defendant's buttocks pursuant to a search incident to his arrest following a lawful automobile stop. During the…
Date: May 24, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11021
Justia Opinion Summary: The juvenile was charged with delinquency by reason of armed robbery. He was identified as the robber by means of a photograph that the police had obtained from his public high school and claimed to have included in a…
Date: May 23, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-09849
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant was also convicted of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and extortion. On appeal, defendant argued…
Date: May 22, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10919
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a private college, brought suit against a town and a local zoning authority (defendants), seeking, among other things, a declaration that its proposed development of residential and education facilities for…
Date: May 22, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10928
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10939
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was ordered to testify at a murder trial on two separate occasions, May 10 and 12 of 2010, and on both occasions, the judge held him in contempt of court. When the trial was over, defendant was returned to…
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11044
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on multiple felony counts arising out of a series of arson fires. On appeal, defendant contended that incriminatory statements he made in the course of nearly ten hours of police interrogation were…
Date: May 18, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10968
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty from a complaint for criminal harassment issued against him in the district court, alleging that he wilfully and maliciously engaged in a knowing pattern of conduct or series of acts in…
Date: May 17, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11123
Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from the registrar of motor vehicles' suspension of plaintiff's driver's license for three years on his refusal to take a breathalyzer test. At issue was the interpretation of the word "convicted" in…
Date: May 11, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10946
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff commenced an action in the Superior Court, claiming that defendants wrongfully subjected them to a mandatory furlough plan that was ordered by the Governor. A superior Court judge allowed defendants' motion to…
Date: May 10, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10970
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commonwealth appealed from orders of a judge in the Juvenile Court dismissing two youthful offender indictments charging the juvenile with statutory rape. The juvenile has Asperger's Syndrome, as does the…
Date: May 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10921,
Date: May 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10943
Justia Opinion Summary: The court granted the probationer's application for direct appellate review to consider whether his pending appeal from the revocation of his probation was rendered moot when he subsequently pleaded guilty to the crime…
Date: May 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10953
Justia Opinion Summary: The probationer was sentenced to terms of incarceration as a result of the revocation of his probation in the Superior Court. He appealed, arguing that he was denied the right to counsel at his probation violation…
Date: May 8, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10959
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when plaintiff, a Massachusetts resident, entered into an executive employment contract with defendant. A forum selection clause dictated that all disputes arising out of the contract or the employment…
Date: May 7, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10984
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued the city after he was injured by a falling tree during a softball game on a public field owned by the city. The city appealed the denial of its motion for summary judgment based on the ground that it was…
Date: May 7, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11006
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commonwealth filed a petition in the Superior Court for the temporary commitment of David Gangi as a sexually dangerous person. At issue were the consequences of the Commonwealth's failure to meet procedural…
Date: May 4, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10796
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were convicted of murder in the first degree, as well as related crimes. On appeal, Defendant Facey contended that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his murder conviction as a joint venturer; both…
Date: May 4, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10973
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, the city enacted an ordinance that, in essence, proscribed the installation of all but one of the fire protective signaling systems approved by 780 Code Mass. Regs. 907.14.3. At issue was whether the code…
Date: May 3, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10899
Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from the town's solicitation of bids for the construction of a new police station. Barr Inc. submitted the lowest bid but the town determined that Barr was not a "responsible and eligible bidder," and…
Date: May 2, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10967
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, aggravated burglary, and armed assault in a dwelling. Defendant subsequently sought to vacate the conviction of armed assault in a dwelling…
Date: April 27, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10952
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty of disorderly conduct and acquitted of assault as a result of a verbal altercation with her boyfriend. Defendant received two years of straight probation, with conditions, and subsequently…
Date: April 25, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11103
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commonwealth sought relief from an order of a Superior Court judge unsealing affidavits underlying seven search warrants executed against plaintiffs during the course of a Statewide investigation into online gambling…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-07678
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was found guilty of being an accessory before the fact to the murder in the first degree of the victim. Defendant appealed from his conviction and from the denial of his motion for a new trial. The court held…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10884
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and two others were indicted for the crime of aggravated rape, with joint enterprise as the sole aggravating factor. After defendant was convicted, defendant argued that, apart from the court's authority in…
Date: April 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10867
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted by a jury on two indictments charging statutory rape. The alleged victim was his then fifteen year old niece. Defendants subsequently appealed from his convictions. The court reversed defendant's…
Date: April 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10898
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought an action for declaratory relief seeking a determination that, by refusing to give her additional break time and a suitable environment during the medical licensing examination in which to express…
Date: April 11, 2012
Docket Numbers: SJC-11022, SJC-11054
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were convicted of carrying a firearm without a license; possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card; and possession of a loaded firearm. Defendants appealed, challenging, among other issues,…
Date: April 10, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10958
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of assault and battery (with his fists); assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (shod foot); and the unlawful possession of a firearm outside of his residence or place of business, as…
Date: April 10, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11074
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm; unlawful possession of a loaded firearm; and unlawful possession of ammunition without a firearm identification (FID) card. On appeal, defendant challenged his…
Date: April 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10775
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on all three theories of murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping. On appeal, defendant argued (1) error in the denial of his motion to suppress statements and evidence;…
Date: March 28, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10407
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. Defendant's claims on appeal related largely to statements he made to a detective while he…
Date: March 28, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10971
Justia Opinion Summary: After her mother had died and genetic market testing had revealed that R.R. was not her biological father, a judge in the Probate and Family Court allowed Karen's motion to vacate the voluntary acknowledgment of…
Date: March 21, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10822
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed from a superior court judge's order granting defendants' motion for summary judgment on her complaint alleging violations of her state civil rights. Plaintiff contended that she had a right, secured by…
Date: March 20, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10929
Justia Opinion Summary: The Foggs challenged the issuance of a building permit to 81 Spooner Road, LLC (developer), by the building commissioner for the town of Brookline. At issue was whether a judge in the Land Court properly granted summary…
Date: March 19, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11082
Date: March 16, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10909
Justia Opinion Summary: An insurer appealed from a decision related to an employee's injury in a metal rolling machine accident. The court concluded that the board was not arbitrary or capricious in deciding that there was insufficient evidence…
Date: March 15, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10941
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for trafficking in cocaine. On the second day of trial, defense counsel discovered that the Commonwealth had violated a discovery order by failing to copy for the defense at least 500 pages of…
Date: March 14, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11036
Justia Opinion Summary: The court considered three petitions for relief under G.L.c. 211, section 3, that related to the OpenCourt pilot project, which broadcasts live by "streaming" over the Internet video and audio recordings of certain…
Date: March 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10925
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of charges related to an armed robbery and appealed. The court concluded that the motion judge did not err in denying the motion to suppress, but that the trial judge erred in allowing the…
Date: March 9, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10951
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from his conviction of larceny of property over $250 by false pretenses. Defendant's principal argument on appeal was that there was insufficient evidence presented to sustain his conviction. The court…
Date: March 7, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10861
Justia Opinion Summary: In this consolidated appeal, the court construed the payment obligations of municipalities participating in G.L.c. 41, section 108L, (Quinn Bill), a local statute establishing a career incentive pay program for police…
Date: March 5, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10392
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of first degree murder, as well as assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. On appeal defendant argued that the judge failed to conduct an appropriate voir dire of the prospective…
Date: February 24, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10905
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of failing to verify his sex offender registration information by refusing to provide certain secondary addresses, and was sentenced to lifetime parole. On appeal, defendant argued, inter alia,…
Date: February 22, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10852
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed an appeal in the Superior Court from a decision of the defendant board of health of Southbridge (board) approving a "minor modification" to the site assignment for an existing landfill and related…
Date: February 22, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11007
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a petition for examination and discharge under G.L.c. 123A, section 9, the section of the sexually dangerous person statute that entitled someone who was committed as a sexually dangerous person annually…
Date: February 21, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10843
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs originally filed a complaint asserting that defendants were liable on various claims under principles of common-law negligence. After a variety of counts against defendants were dismissed on summary judgment,…
Date: February 16, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10933
Justia Opinion Summary: In a proceeding under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, a question arose concerning the application of the Commonwealth's homestead protection statute, G.L.c. 188, section 1, to a beneficiary of a trust. Finding no…
Date: February 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11019
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with possession of a class D substance (marijuana) with intent to distribute, as a subsequent offense, G.L.c. 94c, section 32C(a) and (b). At issue was whether, in view of the enactment of G.L.C.…
Date: February 10, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10911
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal related to insurance claims settlement practices of a primary and an excess insurance carrier. The underlying lawsuit involved a tort action against, among others, the truck driver who rear ended plaintiff's…
Date: February 7, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10869
Justia Opinion Summary: Wayside, owner of a mobile home park in the town of Shirley, sought a special permit from the town's zoning board of appeals in order to expand its mobile home park, a lawfully nonconforming use, from 65 to 75 units. The…
Date: February 6, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10875
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a juvenile, was charged in a complaint with being a delinquent child for breaking and entering a motor vehicle in the nighttime, with the intent to commit a felony. At issue was whether G.L.c. 119, section 58,…
Date: February 3, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10850
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when the Board issued a statement of allegations against plaintiff, alleging that her ability to practice medicine had become impaired by "mental instability." At issue was whether the order of the Board…
Date: February 1, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10614
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted on two indictments charging murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation with respect to one victim and felony-murder, with armed robbery as the predicate felony, with…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10866
Justia Opinion Summary: After a hearing, a judge of the district court issued a harassment prevention order, under G.L.c. 258E, that directed Robert O'Brien not to, inter alia, abuse or harass Alan Borowski. O'Brien filed a petition to vacate…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10892
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of having a firearm without a license in his control in a motor vehicle, possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, and possession of marijuana. On appeal, defendant argued,…
Date: January 30, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10770
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and felony-murder based on a predicate felony of aggravated rape, as well as aggravated rape. The court held that…
Date: January 30, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10915
Justia Opinion Summary: The child's father, who was indigent and whose parental rights would be terminated if the guardians' petition was granted, filed an objection to the adoption. A judge in the Probate and Family Court appointed counsel for…
Date: January 24, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10704
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murdering his wife and two daughters on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. On appeal, defendant argued that the judge erred in allowed the Commonwealth to…
Date: January 24, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10838
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned the way by which the costs of financing the school district were apportioned among the city of New Bedford, the town of Dartmouth, and the town of Fairhaven, which were municipalities comprising the…
Date: January 19, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10844
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of unlawful distribution of cocaine. The Appeals court affirmed his conviction, holding that the field test and other circumstances rendered the admission of a certificate of drug analysis…
Date: January 19, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10847
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of unlawful distribution of cocaine and of a drug offense in a school zone. The Appeals Court, relying on its decision in Commonwealth v. King, affirmed defendant's convictions, holding that a…
Date: January 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10816
Justia Opinion Summary: While being held for custodial interrogation, and without having first waived the Miranda rights of which he had been advised, defendant shook his head from side to side in response to the question, "So you don't want to…
Date: January 13, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10868
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned a family dispute over ownership of what had been the family home in Woburn. At issue was whether a party could establish that she lacked the capacity to contract, thus making the contract voidable by…
Date: January 12, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10825
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with possession of a Class B substance with intent to distribute and possession of a class D substance with intent to distribute and eventually entered into a plea agreement. At issue was whether a…
Date: January 12, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10860
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged in a criminal complaint with a single count of armed robbery and eventually plead guilty in the District Court to a reduced charge. At issue was whether the Commonwealth had the authority to require…
Date: January 12, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10978
Justia Opinion Summary: Samuel Pietropaolo Sr. (Sam Sr.)directed a substantial portion of his retirement benefits to the upkeep of a life insurance policy that he purchased in 1998 through his nephew, an insurance agent. The nephew assured Sam…
Date: January 10, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10852
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed an appeal from a decision of the board approving a minor modification to the site assignment for an existing landfill and related processing facility pursuant to G.L.c. 30A, section 14. At issue was…
Date: January 10, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10900
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted on two indictments charging statutory rape of his fifteen year old niece. At issue was whether defendant, whose motion to stay the execution of his sentence was denied by a single justice of the…
Date: January 5, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10859
Justia Opinion Summary: Smaland, together with third-party defendants, appealed from a Superior Court judge's order disqualifying their attorney from representing them in a real property dispute against the Genovas. The judge disqualified the…
Date: January 5, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-11025
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved Commonwealth Care, a state-initiated program that provided structured premium assistance for low-income Massachusetts residents. In 2009, the Legislature made certain changes to the eligibility…
Date: January 3, 2012
Docket Number: SJC-10428
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted, among other things, of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. Defendant subsequently appealed his convictions. The court held that the…
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
