Monteiro v. Commonwealth
Annotate this CaseIn 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 278A, 5. The judge denied Petitioner’s motion. Petitioner then filed in the county court a petition seeking relief pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E to pursue issues related to chapter 278A. A single justice denied the petition, and Petitioner appealed. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) to the extent that Petitioner sought relief pursuant to chapter 211, section 3, his petition was properly denied on the basis that he had an adequate alternative remedy; but (2) Petitioner properly sought leave to appeal from the denial of his motion for appointment of counsel pursuant to the gatekeeper provision of chapter 278, 33E. Remanded.
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.