Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Decisions 2015
Date: December 31, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11982
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was the defendant in a criminal case in which he was charged with a single count of criminal harassment. Petitioner filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, alleging that the clerk-magistrate issued the…
Date: December 30, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11411
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant appealed, asserting, among other claims, that he was entitled to a new trial because he…
Date: December 30, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11855
Justia Opinion Summary: After learning that two of the guests from a party at Defendant’s house were ill from ingesting tequila and that Defendant might also be ill, the police entered Defendant’s home to perform a well-being check under the…
Date: December 29, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11574
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of armed robbery, two counts of murder in the first degree, and one count each of home invasion, unlawful possession of ammunition, and possessing a firearm…
Date: December 28, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11842
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with malicious destruction of property over $250. The charge was based on the allegation that Defendant caused a security gate at his property to strike and damage the complaining witness’s (CW)…
Date: December 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11800
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff engaged Defendants, a law firm and three individual attorneys, to represent him in connection with the prosecution of patents for Plaintiff’s inventions for a new screwless eyeglasses. After learning that…
Date: December 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11862
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted on four indictments alleging indecent assault and battery on a person with an intellectual disability in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, 13F. The crimes were alleged to have occurred between…
Date: December 18, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11346
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity or cruelty, and felony-murder. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s…
Date: December 11, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11823
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was found guilty of indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen. While Plaintiff was still incarcerated, the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) recommended that Plaintiff be classified as a level…
Date: December 11, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11941
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of four counts of violating an abuse prevention order. Petitioner’s direct appeal was entered in the Appeals Court and was pending there when he filed a pleading in the county court entitled…
Date: December 10, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11860
Justia Opinion Summary: A petition for Defendant’s civil commitment as a sexually dangerous person was pending in the superior court. Defendant assented to a finding of probable cause and was temporarily committed for examination and diagnosis…
Date: December 10, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11868
Justia Opinion Summary: In the course of their divorce proceedings, Husband and Wife signed a stipulation that they would sell the marital home. The parties were unable to agree on the details, and a judge in the Probate and Family Court…
Date: December 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11844
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, Plaintiff filed an action alleging that Defendant had sexually abused her between 1968 and 1977, when she was a child. Until June 2014, civil actions alleging sexual abuse of a minor were governed by a…
Date: December 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11845
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court issued a complaint charging Defendant with distribution of heroin and conspiracy to violate the drug laws. Prior to arraignment, Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint. A district court judge denied…
Date: December 2, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11858
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree on the theory of felony-murder, with armed robbery as the underlying felony. The trial judge allowed Defendant’s motion for a required finding of…
Date: December 1, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11817
Justia Opinion Summary: After a trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree. Defendant appealed. Defendant also filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that she was deprived of the effective assistance of trial counsel.…
Date: November 25, 2015
Docket Numbers: SJC-11511, SJC-11621
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Brad Delp, the lead singer of the rock band “Boston,” committed suicide. The Boston Herald, Inc., published three stories regarding Brad’s suicide. The two authors of the newspaper articles relied on information…
Date: November 25, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11852
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted on three indictments charging armed robbery with a firearm while masked. Defendant used a BB gun to perpetrate each of the robberies. Defendant appealed, arguing that the…
Date: November 24, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-09950
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions and the trial court’s denial of Defendant’s motion for a new trial and declined to reduce…
Date: November 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11687
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction and declined to grant relief pursuant to…
Date: November 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11863
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1995, Randall Trapp and four other inmates, who were adherents of Native American religious practices, filed a complaint asserting that the Department of Correction (DOC) had violated their rights to exercise their…
Date: November 20, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11782
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1983, Petitioner was convicted of murder in the first degree. In 2013, Petitioner filed in the trial court a motion for appointment of counsel to filed for forensic and scientific analysis pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws…
Date: November 18, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10505
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. While his appeal was pending, Defendant filed a motion for a new trial. The motion was denied.…
Date: November 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11856
Justia Opinion Summary: Two weeks before Defendant’s eighteenth birthday, delinquency complaints were filed alleging two counts of rape of a child under sixteen. Defendant appeared in the juvenile court and was duly arraigned. After Defendant…
Date: November 12, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10993
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of deliberately premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions and declined to reduce the degree of guilt or order a…
Date: November 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11444
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of felony-murder, armed home invasion, arson, and violations of an abuse prevention order. The convictions arose from the death of the…
Date: November 5, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11911
Justia Opinion Summary: A district court judge ordered Petitioner committed to the Women’s Addiction Treatment Center pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 123, 35, a statute that authorizes the involuntary civil commitment of a person, for care and…
Date: October 29, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11700
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted on two indictments charging murder in the first degree and one indictment charging unlawful carrying of a firearm. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions. Defendant subsequently filed…
Date: October 28, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11835
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty on two indictments charging rape. During trial, the Commonwealth offered in evidence a laboratory report regarding the presence of seminal residue on the complainant’s…
Date: October 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11838
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether settlement agreements between a public school and the parents of a public school student who requires special education are public records subject to disclosure. Plaintiff requested from…
Date: October 22, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11861
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, 47, which requires a person placed on probation for a sex offense to wear a global positioning system (GPS) device for the length of his probation. Defendant in this…
Date: October 21, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11826
Justia Opinion Summary: Victoria was born in Mexico in 1997 and later moved to Texas. The Office of Refugee Resettlement designated Victoria as an unaccompanied refugee minor and assigned her for placement in Massachusetts. Three weeks after…
Date: October 5, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11792
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a noncitizen, admitted into the United States as a refugee. Defendant entered a guilty plea to a complaint charging him with, among other counts, assault by means of a dangerous weapon. Thereafter, Defendant…
Date: October 1, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10667
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree. The bulk of the evidence at trial derived from the testimony of a single witness, James Jackson. One and one-half years after Defendant’s conviction, another…
Date: September 29, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10018
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty and four related offenses. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions and…
Date: September 29, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11811
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner and two other plaintiffs filed a complaint against the Committee for Public Counsel Services and several associated attorneys alleging violations of their due process rights. The superior court dismissed the…
Date: September 28, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11833
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, Jason Estabrook and Adam Bradley, were indicted for murder and related crimes. At issue in this case was the superior court’s denial of Defendants’ motion to suppress historical cellular site location…
Date: September 24, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11097
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree based on a theory of felony-murder, with armed home invasion as the predicate felony. While Defendant’s appeal was pending, he filed a motion for…
Date: September 24, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11496
Justia Opinion Summary: After a trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, which the trial judge denied. Defendant appealed from his conviction…
Date: September 24, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11711
Justia Opinion Summary: The town of Randolph bypassed Plaintiff, a police officer with the town, and appointed three candidates with lower scores on the police sergeant’s examination to its three open police sergeant positions. Plaintiff…
Date: September 24, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11713
Justia Opinion Summary: The Town of Hanover decided to bypass Plaintiff, a police officer with the town, and appoint two candidates with lower scores on the police sergeant’s examination to its open police sergeant positions. Plaintiff appealed…
Date: September 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11945
Justia Opinion Summary: During the divorce proceedings of Husband and Wife, the trial judge found that Husband’s alleged abuse of one of the parties’ two minor children had not been proved by a preponderance of the evidence. A judgment of…
Date: September 22, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11603
Justia Opinion Summary: The plaintiffs in this case owned beachfront lots in the Town of Dennis, and the defendants owned lots located to the south and west of the plaintiffs’ lots. The parties, who were in the same subdivision, disputed access…
Date: September 22, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11814
Justia Opinion Summary: A police officer stopped a vehicle based on the officer’s detection of an odor of burnt marijuana coming from the vehicle. During the course of the stop, police discovered sixty Percocet pills. Defendant, a passenger in…
Date: September 21, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11775
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of rape and furnishing alcohol to a minor. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant’s convictions and remanded for a new trial, holding (1) the trial judge erred in…
Date: September 18, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11799
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of stalking, criminal harassment, restraining order violations, and perjury charges. At issue on appeal was whether Defendant’s act of posting on his Facebook page a photograph…
Date: September 17, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11535
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment, holding (1) the evidence warranted an instruction on…
Date: September 16, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11706
Justia Opinion Summary: Vittorio and Lydia Gentile were policyholders under a Massachusetts automobile insurance policy issued by Commerce Insurance Company. Their grandson, Vittorio Gentile, Jr. (Junior), an “excluded operator” under the…
Date: September 14, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11791
Justia Opinion Summary: Joseph and Janice Boyle sued C&N Corporation. C&N held an insurance policy issued by Zurich American Insurance Company requiring that C&N provide notice to Zurich of any lawsuit brought against it. C&N did not notify…
Date: September 10, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11827
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Plaintiff commenced this wrongful death action as the administrator of the decedent’s estate alleging that Defendant’s medical care and treatment of the decedent was negligent and grossly negligent and that…
Date: September 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10503
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant was sentenced to the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.…
Date: September 8, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11138
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree and related charges. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions, holding (1) when assessed through the lens of Commonwealth v.…
Date: September 3, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11753
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was sentenced to committed time on a conviction. Defendant successfully moved to vacate community parole supervision for life and was resentenced to a term of probation. Defendant moved to vacate the condition…
Date: September 3, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11776
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff commenced an action alleging various constitutional violations with respect to the presidential ballot. Along with his complaint, Plaintiff filed an affidavit of indigence pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws chapter…
Date: September 2, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11765
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of rape of a child by force and of assault with intent to rape a second child. The Appeals Court affirmed. Defendant appealed, arguing that the admission of evidence…
Date: September 2, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11778
Justia Opinion Summary: The Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAM), the owner of a construction project, entered into a contract with a designer to prepare the project’s designs. DCAM contracted with Gilbane Building…
Date: August 28, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11822
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was an ordinance imposing restrictions on the right of sex offenders to reside in the City of Lynn. Plaintiffs, a class of sex offenders subject to the ordinance, challenged the ordinance's…
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11745
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were indicted on charges of unarmed robbery and assault and battery. Defendants both committed the offenses prior to their eighteenth birthdays. The Governor subsequently signed an “Act expanding juvenile…
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11820
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Defendant was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder but was found not competent to stand trial until 2013. Thereafter, the Commonwealth filed a nolle prosequi with respect to the portion of the indictment…
Date: August 21, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11604
Justia Opinion Summary: John Doe was adjudicated a delinquent juvenile by reason of sex offenses and was committed to the Department of Youth Services. Defendant was later found to be a sexually dangerous person and was civilly committed for a…
Date: August 21, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11806
Justia Opinion Summary: John Doe, Sex Offender Registry Board No. 7083, was serving a criminal sentence and had been civilly committed as a sexually dangerous person when the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) notified him of its recommendation…
Date: August 19, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11813
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of several crimes based on three incidents that occurred in October 2010 when Defendant accosted three different teenage victims as they walked to school. On appeal, Defendant…
Date: August 18, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11803
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for murder. Defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence of his cell site location information (CSLI) relating to his cellular telephone. The Commonwealth had obtained Defendant’s CSLI for a…
Date: August 14, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11737
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant fled when two Boston police officers attempted to stop and question him. When the officers apprehended Defendant, a handgun containing ammunition fell from his pants. Defendant was charged with multiple…
Date: August 14, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11824
Justia Opinion Summary: Boston police officers stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. The officers ordered the two rear seat passengers to get out of the vehicle and pat frisked each for weapons. Defendant, the front seat passenger, got…
Date: August 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11821
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendants - Tyshaun McGhee and Sidney McGhee - were convicted of three counts of trafficking persons for sexual servitude, in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, 50 (the statute), and related…
Date: August 6, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11830
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with violating Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 56, 42, which criminalizes certain false statements about political candidates or questions submitted to voters, after her political action committee published…
Date: August 4, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10405
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction and the orders denying his motion for a…
Date: August 3, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11816
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff injured his knee while warming up in the bullpen of a public park in the Town of Hudson before a varsity game between two high school teams. Plaintiff, a ballplayer with the visiting team, brought this action…
Date: July 31, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11740
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a male, was a candidate for the December, 2010 police academy class. When Plaintiff was not admitted, he brought a claim of sex discrimination against the Boston Police Department and the Commonwealth’s Human…
Date: July 30, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11825
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to several sexual offenses, including forcible rape, committed against three children. Neither Defendant’s defense counsel nor the judge who accepted his guilty pleas informed Defendant that his…
Date: July 29, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-07763
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty, and of unlawful possession of a firearm. The Supreme Judicial Court…
Date: July 28, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11818
Justia Opinion Summary: Each plaintiff in these consolidated appeals was licensed as a commercial driver and was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. Each plaintiff admitted to sufficient…
Date: July 27, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10784
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant’s motion for a new trial was denied. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s…
Date: July 24, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11819
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a loaded firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition. The Supreme Judicial Court…
Date: July 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11513
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of felony-murder. Defendant appealed, arguing, inter alia, that the trial court erred in its partial denial of his motion to…
Date: July 22, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11788
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of seven indictments charging offenses under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, 13J(b), which imposes criminal penalties on a person who wantonly or recklessly permits bodily injury to a…
Date: July 20, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11767
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, acting on behalf of his minor son, commenced this negligence action against the City of Somerville. The City filed a motion to dismiss under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), claiming that Plaintiff failed to meet…
Date: July 17, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11742
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs granted a mortgage on their property to Emigrant Mortgage Company, Inc. Emigrant later foreclosed on the mortgage by exercise of the power of sale contained in the mortgage. Harold Wilion purchased the…
Date: July 17, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11834
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of larceny of a motor vehicle. The Commonwealth nol prossed the portion of the indictment that alleged a second or subsequent offense. Defendant filed motions pursuant to Mass.…
Date: July 15, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11789
Justia Opinion Summary: In the underlying case, certain parties moved for sanctions against Attorney on the grounds that he had violated the rules of professional conduct and interfered with the effective administration of justice. The judge…
Date: July 14, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11627
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and aggravated rape. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) the evidence was insufficient to support…
Date: July 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10342
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, asserting that his trial counsel provided ineffective…
Date: July 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11569
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions, holding that the trial judge did not err in (1)…
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11734
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of trafficking in oxycodone. Defendant’s appeal from his convictions was pending at the time of this opinion. Here, Defendant appealed from two judgments of a…
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11815
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of rape, unarmed robbery, and kidnapping. The appeals court affirmed. Defendant was subsequently paroled, but his parole was revoked when he pleaded guilty to larceny over…
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11828
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of two counts of murder in the first degree. Defendant was sixteen years old at the time of the crimes. Defendant was sentenced in 1994 to two consecutive sentences of life without the possibility…
Date: July 8, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10587
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of deliberately premeditated murder. On appeal, Defendant filed a motion for a new trial and a motion for funds for an investigator. The trial judge denied the motions without…
Date: July 8, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11770
Justia Opinion Summary: The Town of Mendon adopted a bylaw prohibiting the sale or presence of alcohol at adult entertainment establishments. Showtime Entertainment, LLC, which sought to operate an adult entertainment establishment within the…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11790
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with one count of assault and battery on a family member. Prior to Defendant’s release upon arraignment, the Commonwealth submitted a preliminary written statement pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch.…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11807
Justia Opinion Summary: George and Sandra Schussel filed no tax returns between 1989 and 2007. In 2007, George was convicted of federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges. Thereafter, the Commissioner of Revenue issued the Schussels a notice of…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11831
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2002, Defendant was convicted of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen, which qualifies as a “sexual offense” under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 123A, 1. In 2013, Defendant was indicted for failure…
Date: June 30, 2015
Docket Numbers: SJC-11705, SJC-11707
Justia Opinion Summary: A Massachusetts grand jury issued indictments against Defendants, Nickoyan Wallace and Timi Wallace, accusing them of murder. Defendants were in federal custody from 2000 until 2009. Not until 2009 did prosecutors…
Date: June 26, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11749
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on four counts of forcible rape of a child and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen. Defendant filed a motion to suppress statements he made to police…
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11738
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of assault and battery for spanking his daughter, who was then almost three years old. Defendant appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction in light of the…
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11763
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of mayhem and resisting arrest. Defendant appealed, arguing, among other things, that the judge abused her discretion in denying Defendant’s requested cross-racial and cross-ethnic eyewitness…
Date: June 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-08047
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. Defendant appealed. While his appeal was pending, Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, arguing…
Date: June 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11786
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff broke her leg after slipping and falling on a wet dance floor at a nightclub owned by Defendant. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Defendant, concluding that Plaintiff failed as a matter…
Date: June 20, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11092
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of deliberately premeditated murder. Defendant appealed, claiming evidentiary error and prosecutorial misconduct. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction and…
Date: June 17, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11755
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of mayhem and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. The Appeals Court affirmed, concluding that Defendant’s convictions were not…
Date: June 17, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11766
Justia Opinion Summary: Christopher Kostka’s twin brother, Timothy Kostka, was indicted on charges of murder in the first degree and armed home invasion. The Commonwealth filed a motion to compel Christopher to provide a saliva sample from…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11883
Date: June 12, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11774
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor (OUI). Before trial, Defendant, along with sixty-one other defendants in other OUI cases, moved to exclude admission of breath test…
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11096
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of extreme atrocity or cruelty, felony murder, and armed robbery. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions, holding (1) the trial judge did not…
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11796
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence of liquor (OUI), third offense, resisting arrest, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, failure to stop for police, and a marked lanes violation.…
Date: June 10, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11743
Justia Opinion Summary: In reliance on the advice of her investment advisor, Morgan Financial Advisors, Inc. (MFA), Plaintiff invested three-quarters of her retirement savings in a hedge fund that became insolvent, resulting in the loss of her…
Date: June 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11663
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a police officer, was charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery for beating an unarmed civilian after responding to another officer’s request for assistance with a…
Date: June 3, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11661
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants in this case were licensed Massachusetts real estate brokerage firms and some of their members and shareholders. Defendants classified Plaintiffs, licensed real estate salespersons, as independent contractors.…
Date: June 1, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11468
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree, assault with intent to kill, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. Defendant appealed, assigning error to several evidentiary…
Date: June 1, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11714
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant was sixteen years old at the time of the murder. Defendant subsequently filed a motion to…
Date: May 29, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11801
Justia Opinion Summary: The Walter E. Fernald Corporation, a charitable organization, brought this action in the Land Court seeking a declaration that it was the owner of certain parcels of unrecorded land. The Commonwealth had asserted…
Date: May 26, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11644
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a juvenile, was indicted as a youthful offender for possession of heroin with intent to distribute. Under the youthful offender statute, a juvenile may be prosecuted as an adult if the charge involves the…
Date: May 26, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11699
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was charged with unarmed robbery and assault and battery. Notices were sent to Petitioner from three different courts alleging that Petitioner had violated the terms of his probation by committing the new…
Date: May 22, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11701
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of assault and battery against his sister. During trial, Defendant’s principal contention was that his sister and her boyfriend fabricated their allegations…
Date: May 22, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11744
Justia Opinion Summary: A stock transfer restriction required a selling shareholder first to offer his stock to the company at his desired price and then, if the company rejected it, to offer it at a price to be determined by arbitrators.…
Date: May 18, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11764
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners were three individuals who pleaded guilty to various drug offenses in cases where Annie Dookhan, a chemist employed in the forensic drug laboratory of the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute who…
Date: May 15, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11759
Justia Opinion Summary: Property owners sued the City of New Bedford seeking damages arising from soil contamination around a site that the City had operated as an unrestricted ash dump. The City retained a consultant at TRC Environmental…
Date: May 14, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11508
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree based on deliberate premeditation. Defendant was convicted on a theory of joint venture with the shooter, who took the gun from Defendant’s hand…
Date: May 14, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11741
Justia Opinion Summary: When a fire caused by NSTAR Electric and Gas Company employees damaged a building owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), two insurers paid the claims of the building’s tenants. The insurers then…
Date: May 12, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-08400
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree. Defendant filed a direct appeal and also appealed the denial of his motion for a new trial. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction…
Date: May 8, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10686
Justia Opinion Summary: At Defendant’s trial for murder and conspiracy, the prosecution’s theory was that Defendant had hired an assassin to kill the victim. Defendant testified on his own behalf, refuting the allegations. After the jury was…
Date: May 7, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11797
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, J.S. and V.K., a married same-sex couple, filed a joint petition for adoption seeking to adopt their son Nicholas. Nicholas was conceived through in vitro fertilization using a known sperm donor and was born…
Date: May 6, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11758
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were creditors of Plaintiff who obtained final judgments against Plaintiff. A levy of execution was made on Plaintiff’s real property. Plaintiff subsequently received a discharge under Chapter 7 of the…
Date: April 30, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11686
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of killing his wife with deliberate premeditation. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction and declined to exercise its powers under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E,…
Date: April 29, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11735
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, disturbing the peace, and disorderly conduct. More than twenty months after he was sentenced, Petitioner filed a motion…
Date: April 29, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11750
Justia Opinion Summary: Jay Simkin filed complaints with the Board of Bar Overseers (Board) alleging that certain attorneys committed breaches of the rules of professional conduct in connection with proceedings involving the revocation and…
Date: April 28, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11746
Justia Opinion Summary: David Forlizzi and Fred Battista (together, Petitioners) were indicted on similar charges arising out of Petitioners’ alleged misconduct in connection with a prior trial involving alleged insurance fraud. Petitioners…
Date: April 27, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11773
Justia Opinion Summary: In November 2012, voters approved the Commonwealth’s new medical marijuana law. In May 2013, Defendant was charged with possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, distribution of marijuana, and conspiracy to…
Date: April 21, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11757
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs in these consolidated cases leased taxicabs and licenses, called “medallions,” for each taxicab. Plaintiffs claimed that they were employees of certain taxicab owners, radio associations, and a taxicab garage…
Date: April 17, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11677
Justia Opinion Summary: When Samantha Reckis was seven years old, she developed toxic epidermal necrolysis, a life-threatening skin disorder, after receiving multiple doses of Children’s Motrin, an over-the-counter medication with ibuprofen as…
Date: April 17, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11762
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Plaintiff was found guilty of malicious destruction of property, breaking and entering in daytime, and larceny over $250. The Appeals Court reversed Plaintiff’s convictions, concluding that the…
Date: April 17, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11772
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a former school principal of six years in the Town of Erving, sought contribution by the Town to the cost of her group health insurance premiums. The Town had adopted Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 32B, 9E (“the…
Date: April 16, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10398
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree, the unlawful possession of a firearm, and the unlawful possession of ammunition. Defendant was sentenced to a mandatory sentence of life…
Date: April 15, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11596
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree, on theories of deliberate premeditation and felony-murder, and armed robbery. The motion judge dismissed the armed robbery conviction as…
Date: April 15, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11756
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was a 2006 amendment to the “obsolete mortgage” statute, under which a mortgage becomes unenforceable after a certain number of years. A mortgage in which the term or maturity date is stated becomes…
Date: April 14, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11471
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty and possessing a firearm without a license. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions,…
Date: April 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11681
Justia Opinion Summary: A franchisee janitorial worker, on behalf of himself and other similarly situated individuals, filed a complaint against System4 LLC, a master franchisor, and NECCS, Inc., a regional subfranchisor, alleging, among other…
Date: April 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11725
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of trafficking in heroin and cocaine and of unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Defendant appealed the denial of his motion to suppress evidence…
Date: April 10, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11571
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon on a person sixty years of age or older. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s…
Date: April 10, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11618
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, current and former employees at Dunkin’ Donuts stores, brought suit against Defendants, a Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee and the entity that performed management functions for those stores, alleging that…
Date: April 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11624
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree for the shooting of a fourteen-year-old. Defendant was seventeen years and five months old at the time of his arrest for the shooting. Defendant appealed the…
Date: April 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11704
Justia Opinion Summary: K.I. was committed to Walden Behavioral Care (Walden), a facility for the treatment of mentally ill patients, for a three-day period, during which a psychiatrist provided diagnosis of and treatment to K.I. Walden then…
Date: April 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11717
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted on two indictments charging indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen, in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, 13B, and one indictment charging dissemination of…
Date: April 8, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11376
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of felony-murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of a loaded firearm. The Supreme Judicial Court…
Date: April 8, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11709
Justia Opinion Summary: Between 2004 and 2013, Defendant was indicted on drug charges in three separate cases. Also during that time, Sonja Farak was a chemist at the Department of Public Health’s State Laboratory Institute in Amherst. Farak…
Date: April 8, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11761
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to trafficking in cocaine and unlawful possession of ammunition. Two years later, Sonja Farak, a chemist at the Department of Public Health’s State Laboratory Institute in Amherst during the time…
Date: April 7, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11625
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, the Governor nominated Michael McCarthy for a Massachusetts judgeship. The nomination failed to garner the necessary votes for confirmation. Nearly one month later, Mary-Ellen Manning, a former member of the…
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11458
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was a participant in a drive-by shooting against a group of young men that killed one member of the group and wounded two others. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions and declined Defendant’s…
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11840
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was on trial on indictments charging murder in the first degree and various firearm offenses. Before trial, the Commonwealth filed a motion in limine seeking to establish the admissibility of testimony from a…
Date: March 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11659
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree and received a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with eligibility for parole after fifteen years. Defendant was fifteen years old at the time of the offense.…
Date: March 23, 2015
Docket Numbers: SJC-11688, SJC-11689
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, Gregory Diatchenko filed the present action seeking a declaration that, because he was seventeen at the time he committed the offense leading to his conviction of murder in the first degree, his mandatory…
Date: March 16, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11754
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were convicted of possession of heroin and possession of firearms and ammunition. Defendants appealed, arguing, inter alia, that there was insufficient evidence to support their convictions. The Supreme…
Date: March 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11648
Justia Opinion Summary: Steven Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to certain criminal offenses. Fitzgerald subsequently filed a petition for relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 seeking to vacate his pleas, arguing that he was forcibly medicated when…
Date: March 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11712
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Defendant was indicted on a charge of violating Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, 32E(b)(2) for trafficking in cocaine with a total weight of 28.14 grams. In 2012, St. 2012, ch. 192 (Crime Bill) was enacted, which…
Date: March 11, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11482
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for murder. Defendant moved to suppress certain evidence that the Commonwealth had obtained without a warrant. The superior court allowed Defendant’s motion. The Commonwealth appealed. The Supreme…
Date: March 11, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11682
Justia Opinion Summary: The chief of police of the city of Worcester determined that Appellant was not a “suitable person” under Mass. Gen. Laws. ch. 140, 131(d) and (f) to hold a license to carry firearms. The chief first suspended Appellant’s…
Date: March 9, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11638
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was whether a respondent in a try title action may test the substantive merits of a petition’s claims in the first step of such an action, where the first step requires that the petition satisfy…
Date: March 4, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11679
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery. Defendant appealed, arguing that the motion judge erred in denying a motion to suppress the…
Date: March 3, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11584
Justia Opinion Summary: The personal injury protection (PIP) statute provides that an injured person claiming PIP benefits shall submit to physical examinations by “physicians” selected by the insurer as required to assist in determining…
Date: March 3, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11678
Justia Opinion Summary: The owner of a tract of land divided the land into three lots, such that a single dwelling would stand on each lot, in conformance with the the subdivision control law’s existing structures exemption, Mass. Gen. Laws ch.…
Date: March 2, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11643
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree and of possession of a firearm without a license. Defendant appealed, arguing that his attorney’s concession in opening statement and closing…
Date: March 2, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11676
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Defendant pleaded guilty to certain offenses in the superior court in Norfolk County. In 2008, Defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of unarmed robbery in the superior court in Plymouth County. Defendant was…
Date: March 2, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11718
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with possession of a stun gun in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, 131J, which bans the possession of an electrical weapon with some exceptions. Defendant filed a pretrial motion to dismiss the…
Date: February 27, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11543
Justia Opinion Summary: Police officers stopped Defendant for driving with an unilluminated headlight. During the stop, the officers saw in the vehicle a one-ounce bag of marijuana. The officers ordered Defendant out of the vehicle and…
Date: February 26, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11672
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1984, Defendant was convicted of aggravated rape. In 2006, Defendant filed a series of motions to test the victim’s clothing for DNA. The motions were granted. The State police crime laboratory and…
Date: February 26, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11680
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on a charge of receiving a stolen motor vehicle. Defendant moved to suppress evidence seized as a result of a warrantless search of his garage. A superior court judge denied the motion. After a…
Date: February 24, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11728
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of possession of a class B substance. The Appeals Court reversed and directed the entry of judgment for Defendant, concluding that the evidence on the record was…
Date: February 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11594
Justia Opinion Summary: After the parties in this case separated, a California court entered a judgment establishing monthly child and spousal support payments payable by Father to Mother. Father subsequently moved to Massachusetts, and the…
Date: February 23, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11771
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Defendant pleaded guilty to distribution of a class B substance and was sentenced to serve one year in a house of correction. In 2013, because of the problems that arose at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory…
Date: February 20, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11616
Justia Opinion Summary: During a house party in 2008, multiple guests, who were Caucasion, committed acts of physical violence against an African-American. Amanda Kelly was convicted of a violation of civil rights with bodily injury.…
Date: February 19, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11617
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of intimidating a witness, carrying a firearm without a license, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, and assault by means of a dangerous weapon. The Supreme…
Date: February 18, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11658
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs in this case were two companies subject to the five percent excise tax on video programming delivered by direct broadcast satellite. Plaintiffs brought a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11637
Justia Opinion Summary: A juvenile was charged with possession of a class D substance with the intent to distribute marijuana after a street encounter during which a police officer arrested the juvenile. A judge in the juvenile court allowed…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11637
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11716
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted on two counts of confining or putting any person in fear for the purpose of stealing from a building, bank, safe, vault or other depository of money in violation of Mass. Gen.…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11716
Date: February 12, 2015
Docket Numbers: SJC-11631, SJC-11630
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1994, Defendants were convicted of murder in the first degree. At trial, the Commonwealth presented evidence of two bloody towels that testimony suggested Defendants had used to clean themselves…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11570
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were indicted on charges of murder, among other charges. The jury foreman initially announced not guilty verdicts as to each of the murder indictments but later amended the previously announced not guilty…
Date: February 10, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11739
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, the probate and family court appointed Mother’s grandmother (“Great-Grandmother”) as the permanent guardian of Mother’s minor child. Mother subsequently filed a motion for relief from judgment pursuant to Mass.…
Date: February 5, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11516
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent, an attorney licensed to practice in both Maine and Massachusetts, was suspended from the practice of law in Maine based on a finding of incapacity by reason of mental infirmity or addiction to drugs or…
Date: February 4, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11619
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was stopped and arrested by law enforcement officers at the same time and in the same location as another man, Edwin Ramos, from whose person the officers recovered a packet of cocaine. Ramos was charged with…
Date: February 3, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11620
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, the City of Somerville unilaterally reduced its percentage contribution to retired employees’ health insurance premiums. Neither the city nor the school committee of Somerville, the collective bargaining agent…
Date: February 2, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11607
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was convicted by general court martial of three specifications in violation of art. 134, 10 U.S.C. 934, the “general” provision of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Plaintiff pleaded guilty to the article…
Date: January 30, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11715
Justia Opinion Summary: Chester Chin and Edith Merriot were divorced in 2011. Pursuant to a merged provision of the parties’ separation agreement, Chin was obligated to pay alimony until the death of either party or Edith’s remarriage. In 2013,…
Date: January 30, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11726
Justia Opinion Summary: George Rodman and Roberta Rodman were divorced in 2008. The parties entered into a separation agreement that was incorporated into and merged with a judgment of divorce nisi. The separation agreement obligated George to…
Date: January 30, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11727
Justia Opinion Summary: Joseph Doktor and Dorothy Doktor were divorced by a judgment nisi entered in January 1992. The judgment incorporated a separation agreement that obligated Joseph to pay alimony to Dorothy until the death or remarriage of…
Date: January 29, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11608
Justia Opinion Summary: The town of Yarmouth entered into a transportation contract with the Bay Colony Railroad Corporation whereby Bay Colony was to transport solid waste from the town’s waste transfer station to a facility in Rochester. The…
Date: January 28, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11609
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the financial institution excise tax (FIET) liability of GATE Holdings, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The First Marblehead Corporation (FMC). The Appellate Tax Board concluded (1) Gate…
Date: January 27, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11578
Justia Opinion Summary: A Newspaper sought postverdict access to the list containing the names and addresses of the jurors who served at the criminal trial of a defendant on charges of murder in the first degree and assault and battery. The…
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11602
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was acquitted on eighteen counts of statutory rape but convicted on seven counts of the lesser-included offense of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen. On appeal, Defendant argued,…
Date: January 21, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11601
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on charges of murder, armed assault with intent to murder, accessory after the fact to murder, and unlawful possession of firearms. After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of accessory after…
Date: January 20, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11523
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theories of deliberate premeditation and felony-murder, among other crimes. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions and…
Date: January 16, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-10837
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on charges of murder in the first degree under theories of premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. Defendant moved to suppress the eyewitness identifications of him as the shooter and the…
Date: January 12, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11537
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of mayhem and breaking and entering. Before trial, Defendant moved to suppress certain pretrial identifications. The trial judge denied the motion. Defendant appealed,…
Date: January 12, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11567
Justia Opinion Summary: After a retrial before a jury, Defendant was convicted of assault by means of a dangerous weapon and other offenses. Before trial, two eyewitnesses described Defendant’s gender and race and the color of his clothing.…
Date: January 12, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11697
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commonwealth moved for judicial approval of a grand jury subpoena compelling a law firm representing John Doe, who was the target of a grand jury investigation, to produce a telephone Doe transferred to the law firm…
Date: January 2, 2015
Docket Number: SJC-11566
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was found guilty of larceny from a person sixty years of age or older. The victim in this case was an eighty-six-year-old nursing home resident who sold her property to Defendant. The…
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