Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Decisions 2017
Date: December 28, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12291
Justia Opinion Summary: After the dissolution of Gentix, a biotech research company established as a Delaware LLC with headquarters in Boston, Johnson and Rose, former Gentix board members and investors were found personally liable under G. L.…
Date: December 18, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11802
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty and declined to exercise its authority to order a new…
Date: December 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12130
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions of defendants Reginald Holley and Oasis Pritchett for felony-murder in the first degree, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm without a license, as joint…
Date: December 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-10709
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction of Defendant for murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation and declined to grant extraordinary relief pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E.…
Date: December 8, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11774
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the denial of Defendant’s motion to exclude the results of a breathalyzer test taken by the Alcotest 7110 MK III-C at his trial for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence…
Date: December 8, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11812
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction for murder in the first degree and aggravated rape and declined to exercise its extraordinary power under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E to reduce the verdict in…
Date: December 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12282
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the Sex Offender Registry Board to deny Plaintiff’s petition to reopen his classification hearing where the petition, filed six years after the Board’s final decision,…
Date: November 29, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11695
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction for murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation and declined to exercise its extraordinary power under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E. On…
Date: November 29, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12281
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order denying the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss the civil complaint filed by Plaintiff seeking compensation under the erroneous convictions statute, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 258D.…
Date: November 22, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12250
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of a single justice of the court dismissing as moot Petitioner’s petition filed pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3. Petitioner, an inmate, filed a complaint claiming…
Date: November 21, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-10339
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity and cruelty, denied Defendant’s motion for a new trial, and declined…
Date: November 21, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11591
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated and set aside Defendant’s conviction for murder in the first degree on the theory of felony-murder, with unarmed robbery as the predicate felony, and remanded the matter to the superior…
Date: November 20, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12277
Justia Opinion Summary: The phrase “serious bodily harm” in the youthful offender statute, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 119, 54 contemplates harm to human beings, not animals. A grand jury returned two youthful offender indictments against Juvenile,…
Date: November 16, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11808
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court convicting Defendant of felony murder, with the predicate felony of armed home invasion and declined to exercise its extraordinary authority to grant…
Date: November 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12284
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of a single justice of the county court denying Petitioner’s petition for relief from the trial judge’s denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment against him for…
Date: November 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12253
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was the Zoning Board of Appeals’ (ZBA) denial of Plaintiff’s application for a comprehensive permit to develop a mixed-income project. Plaintiff owned parcel of land in an area zoned for limited manufacturing…
Date: November 9, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12246
Justia Opinion Summary: One year ago, in Deal v. Commissioner of Correction, 475 Mass. 307 (2016) (Deal I), the Supreme Judicial Court concluded that the procedure used by the Department of Correction to determine the security classification of…
Date: November 9, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12341
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the county court denying, without a hearing, a juvenile’s petition for relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3. The juvenile was charged with making a bomb threat. A…
Date: November 8, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12297
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case filed by a Massachusetts-based company (“LevelUp”) against a California-based company (“Punchh”), alleging defamation and related causes of action connected with Punchh’s allegedly false statements about…
Date: November 7, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12143
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of a single justice of the court denying Petitioner’s petition pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 asking the court to stay an order of the probate and family court…
Date: November 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-08733
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the trial judge’s denial of Defendant’s motion for postconviction testing of evidence, holding that thad Defendant failed to establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that his…
Date: November 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12225
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions of masked armed robbery and of being a subsequent offender, holding (1) Defendant failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that a showup…
Date: November 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12379
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the county court dismissing as moot the petition filed by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice seeking declaratory and injunctive relief…
Date: November 2, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-10572
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty and the denial of Defendant’s motion for a new trial,…
Date: November 1, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12164
Justia Opinion Summary: Here the Supreme Court answered a certified question from the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts concerning the priority of coverage of two automobile insurance policies that both covered a…
Date: October 26, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12185
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court reversed Defendant’s convictions of involuntary manslaughter and assault and battery and remanded the case for a new trial. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial judge committed…
Date: October 25, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12247
Justia Opinion Summary: Under the Security Deposit Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, 15B, the treble damages provision in section 15B(7) does not apply to a landlord’s violation of the requirements for an itemized list set out in section…
Date: October 23, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-10593
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction for murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation and declined to grant relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E. On direct appeal, the…
Date: October 20, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12295
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court in this case resolved three legal issues regarding the “reasonable efforts” determination that a juvenile court judge must make under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 119, 29C before certifying that the…
Date: October 18, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-08047
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. The court also denied Defendant’s motion for a reduced verdict and declined to grant…
Date: October 16, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12237
Justia Opinion Summary: The Stored Communications Act (SCA) does not prohibit Yahoo from voluntarily disclosing the contents of a decedent’s e-mail account to the personal representatives of the decedent’s estate. Rather, the SCA permits Yahoo…
Date: October 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12257
Justia Opinion Summary: In a jury trial of an operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (OUI) case, a trial judge should not give a jury instruction that specifically mentions the absence of breathalyzer or other alcohol-test evidence…
Date: October 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12259
Justia Opinion Summary: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, 32A(b) and (d) both punish possession with intent to distribute a class B substance, but 32A(b) carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years while 32A(d) carries a mandatory minimum sentence…
Date: October 12, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11502
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty and armed assault with the intent to murder, among other crimes. The court held (1)…
Date: October 11, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12287
Justia Opinion Summary: Under the circumstances of this legal malpractice action, a court’s error of law was a concurrent, not a superseding, proximate cause, and therefore, recovery was not barred to the plaintiff client even where the…
Date: October 10, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12152
Justia Opinion Summary: A juvenile, who has been indicted as a youthful offender, is not entitled as of right to interlocutory review of a denial of a motion to dismiss that indictment. The grand jury returned a youthful offender indictment…
Date: October 10, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12256
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court remanded this case to the superior court for a determination as to whether a search exceeded the permissible scope of a warrant authorizing a search of Defendant’s apartment for certain…
Date: October 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12090
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation and of unlawful possession of a firearm and declined to exercise its authority under…
Date: October 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12269
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was a purely legal question concerning the correct interpretation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 218, 26. The Supreme Judicial Court held that the plain language of the statute confers jurisdiction in the Boston…
Date: October 4, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12255
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the superior court’s judgment convicting Defendant of five charges stemming from the sexual abuse his two daughters. Specifically, the court held (1) the superior court judge did not…
Date: October 2, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12243
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether municipal parkland may be protected by Article 97 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution where the land was not taken by eminent domain and where there is no restriction recorded in the…
Date: September 29, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-10046
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Appellant’s convictions for two counts of murder in the first degree on the theories of felony murder, deliberate premeditation, and extreme atrocity or cruelty and the order denying…
Date: September 27, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12160
Justia Opinion Summary: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 100A(6), the provision of a statute that retroactively prohibits Plaintiff from sealing the record of her sex offenses because she was once classified as a level two sex offender, as applied to…
Date: September 25, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12240
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court remanded this divorce action to the probate and family court with instructions to reevaluate the alimony judgment in light of this opinion and enter a new judgment accordingly. The court held…
Date: September 20, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11669
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Judicial Court addressed the scope of criminal liability under the common-law felony-murder rule. A unanimous court concluded that the felony-murder rule is constitutional, but a majority of…
Date: September 19, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11967
Justia Opinion Summary: To the extent that field sobriety tests (FSTs) are relevant to establish a driver’s balance, coordination, mental acuity, and other skills required to operate a motor vehicle safely, FSTs are admissible at trial as…
Date: September 19, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12258
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant’s convictions of two charges of possession of the ingredients to make an incendiary device or substance with the intent to do so, in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266,…
Date: September 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12222
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the construction of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 156D, 14.30, the corporate dissolution statute, which allows a shareholder to petition a judge of the superior court to dissolve a corporation in the…
Date: September 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12265
Justia Opinion Summary: A mother may intervene both on her own behalf and on behalf of her children in an eviction action brought by a landlord against the mother’s husband and their young children where the mother has lived with her family in…
Date: September 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-10975
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendants’ convictions of murder in the first degree and other offenses related to the home invasion but remanded for resentencing Swinkles Laporte’s convictions of home invasion and…
Date: August 29, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12239
Justia Opinion Summary: A police officer, responding to a report of an unauthorized person at Milton High School, searched the defendant's backpack and discovered a firearm, money, and marijuana. The defendant unsuccessfully moved to suppress…
Date: August 25, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11720
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of murder in the first degree and declined to grant relief pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E. The court held (1) the…
Date: August 25, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12232
Justia Opinion Summary: In setting the amount of bail for a defendant, a judge must consider the defendant’s financial resources but is not required to set bail in an amount the defendant can afford if other relevant considerations weigh more…
Date: August 25, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12251
Justia Opinion Summary: Where a juvenile is sentenced for nonmurder offenses and the aggregate time to be served prior to parole eligibility exceeds that applicable to a juvenile convicted of murder, the sentence cannot be reconciled with…
Date: August 24, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12209
Justia Opinion Summary: A defendant charged with murder is not entitled to a lesser included offense instruction when the defendant cannot be convicted of the offense of manslaughter due to the statute of limitations. The defendant, however,…
Date: August 18, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12267
Date: August 18, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12288
Date: August 17, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12039
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for murder in the first degree on the theories of extreme atrocity or cruelty and felony murder with home invasion and armed burglary, assault on occupant as…
Date: August 17, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12302
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the superior court’s denial of Defendant’s motion for a new trial. Following a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of rape, subsequent offense, and indecent assault and battery…
Date: August 15, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12227
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court reversed Defendant’s convictions for three counts of aggravated rape of a child. Among the issues raised on appeal, Defendant argued that the trial judge erred in interpreting the first…
Date: August 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12254
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant’s convictions for carrying firearm without a license and receiving stolen property valued over $250. The convictions arose from a search of Defendant’s backpack after he was…
Date: August 11, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12118
Justia Opinion Summary: An order granting the specific performance of a plea agreement constituted error. Pursuant to a plea agreement reached in 1994, Defendant pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree in exchange for the opportunity to…
Date: August 3, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12262
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning the distribution of natural gas to consumers, the Supreme Judicial Court accepted the conclusion of the Department of Public Utilities that only an end consumer, and not a marketer - or a private…
Date: August 2, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12231
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court reversed the judgment of the superior court finding that Defendant, an attorney, was negligent for his part in financing a real estate loan to Plaintiff. The judge found that Defendant had…
Date: August 1, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11403
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction, rendered after a jury verdict, of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. On appeal, Defendant…
Date: August 1, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12196
Justia Opinion Summary: A juvenile who has been convicted of murder in the first degree, and whose conviction has been affirmed by the Supreme Judicial Court after plenary review, is thereafter subject to the gatekeeper provision of Mass. Gen.…
Date: July 31, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12260
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the Appellate Tax Board, which concluded that, under a provision of the Massachusetts sales tax statute known as the “drop shipment rule,” Taxpayer was responsible for…
Date: July 24, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12276
Justia Opinion Summary: Holding someone in a holding cell at the request of federal immigration officers, pursuant to a federal civil immigration detainer, constitutes an arrest under Massachusetts law. Furthermore, Massachusetts court officers…
Date: July 21, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12096
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for raping a fourteen-year-old boy and two thirteen-year-old boys. The court held (1) the trial judge did not err in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress…
Date: July 19, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12017
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for the first-degree murders of three victims and concluded that Defendant was not entitled to relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E. The court held (1) the…
Date: July 17, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12226
Justia Opinion Summary: A patient who qualifies for the medical use of marijuana and has been terminated from her employment because she tested positive for marijuana as a result of her lawful medical use of marijuana may seek a civil remedy…
Date: July 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11691
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for murder in the first degree on a theory of felony-murder, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm and willful interference with a criminal investigation,…
Date: July 12, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12077
Justia Opinion Summary: It was not appropriate to vacate the arbitration award in this case concerning the termination of a police officer. The City of Boston terminated David Williams, a Boston police officer, for using a choke hold in…
Date: July 11, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11176
Justia Opinion Summary: During an armed home invasion at a Dudley apartment, Muller and an accomplice, who subsequently pleaded guilty, shot and killed two occupants and critically wounded a third. Muller was convicted of two counts of murder…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12158
Justia Opinion Summary: Double jeopardy principles did not preclude the Commonwealth from retrying Defendant on a complaint charging a violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90, 24(1)(a)(1) on the theory of operation of a motor vehicle with a…
Date: June 29, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12170
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court reversed the denial of Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence recovered pursuant to a search warrant, holding that the search warrant lacked probable cause. Defendant was indicted on various…
Date: June 29, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12202
Justia Opinion Summary: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 209A requires law enforcement to take reasonable measures to serve abuse prevention orders, and in order for the service of the orders to be reasonable, the manner of service must comply with the…
Date: June 28, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12238
Justia Opinion Summary: The designation of prima facie evidence in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, 37 - pursuant to which an individual commits larceny if, with the intent to defraud, he obtains goods or services in exchange for a check that the…
Date: June 27, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12119
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of a single justice of the county court dismissing Petitioner’s petition for relief in the nature of certiorari pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 249, 4. After Petitioner, a…
Date: June 26, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12191
Justia Opinion Summary: Under Massachusetts law, statutory prejudgment interest pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 231, 6H shall be added to the amount of lost wages and other benefits awarded as damages pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, 150…
Date: June 23, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12182
Justia Opinion Summary: In these two cases, the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) contended that when it unsuccessfully seeks after July 23, 2013 to reclassify a level two sex offender as a level three sex offender, that individual is…
Date: June 22, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12142
Justia Opinion Summary: Where an insurance policy provides that the insurer has the “duty to defend any claim” initiated against the insured, the insurer’s duty to defend does not require it to prosecute affirmative counterclaims on behalf of…
Date: June 21, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12173
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was determined to be a sexually dangerous person (SDP) pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 123A and was committed to the Massachusetts Treatment Center for an indeterminate period of from one day to life. Defendant…
Date: June 20, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12027
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant’s conviction of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. The court held (1) while not overwhelming, the evidence…
Date: June 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12207
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the superior court’s determination that information such as names, addresses and telephone numbers contained on animal health certificates in the custody of the Department of…
Date: June 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12224
Justia Opinion Summary: Since 2009, AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Inc. (ASGCC) has been operating a free hypodermic needle access program in a village in Barnstable. The Town of Barnstable ordered the cessation of the program, asserting that…
Date: June 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12242
Justia Opinion Summary: Michael Langan, a physician certified by the Board of Registration in Medicine, entered into a letter of agreement with the Board under which Langan agreed to certain conditions in order to continue practicing medicine.…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12138
Justia Opinion Summary: On a motion for special findings for Special immigrant juvenile status (SIJ), the judge shall make such findings without regard to the ultimate merits or purpose of the juvenile’s application. The issue presented in…
Date: June 8, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12175
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff's complaint against Governor Deval Patrick did not allege sufficient facts to establish actual malice, and therefore, Plaintiff failed to state a cognizable claim for defamation. After Governor Deval Patrick…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12129
Justia Opinion Summary: A district court judge is not required, pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 218, 19 and 19A, to grant a plaintiff’s motion to dismiss a compulsory counterclaim under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(10) because the counterclaim is…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12210
Justia Opinion Summary: Once a police officer has completed the investigation of a defendant’s civil traffic violations and the facts do not give rise to reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, the officer is required to permit the defendant…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12213
Justia Opinion Summary: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 58A requires three convictions of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol (OUI) before a defendant can be held without bail pending trial, and therefore, the statute does…
Date: June 1, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12272
Justia Opinion Summary: The trial judge erred by permitting the Commonwealth to respond to Defendant’s affirmative defense of entrapment by introducing evidence of three prior convictions despite Defendant’s objection that they were too stale…
Date: May 31, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12223
Justia Opinion Summary: The application of the durational limits of the Alimony Reform Act of 2011 to certain alimony agreements that predate the Act is not unconstitutionally retroactive. Here, William Van Arsdale filed a complaint for…
Date: May 31, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12228
Justia Opinion Summary: For reasons set forth in its decision issued today in Van Arsdale v. Van Arsdale, 477 Mass. __ (2017), the Supreme Judicial Court held that the durational limits of the Alimony Reform Act of 2011 are constitutional. In…
Date: May 30, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12200
Justia Opinion Summary: Neither the grant in an irrevocable trust of a right of occupancy and use in a primary residence to an applicant nor the retention of a life estate by the applicant in the applicant’s primary residence makes the equity…
Date: May 30, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12212
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held in this case that the principles of double jeopardy bar the imposition of a consecutive sentence of eight years’ probation, imposed in 2015 by a judge who was not the plea judge, where…
Date: May 26, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12289
Justia Opinion Summary: In appropriate circumstances a judge has discretion to impose a concurrent State prison sentence nunc pro tunc to the commencement of a house of correction sentence then being served. Defendant appealed from an order…
Date: May 25, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11907
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1969, Defendant was convicted of two counts of murder in the first degree and two counts of assault with intent to rob. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed. After the denial of Defendant’s seventh motion for a new…
Date: May 25, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12062
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Boston police officer, filed an application for a criminal complaint alleging that Respondent, her supervisor, committed an assault and battery against her. Two clerk-magistrates denied the application for…
Date: May 24, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12121
Justia Opinion Summary: The Deputy Chief Counsel for the Public Defender Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services and the Deputy Chief Counsel for the Private Counsel Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services…
Date: May 23, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12141
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court took this opportunity to augment the framework set forth in Duracraft v. Holmes Products Corp., 427 Mass. 156 (1998), regarding anti-SLAPP suits. Plaintiffs, nine registered nurses who…
Date: May 23, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12150
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff and Defendants owned abutting parcels of property. After several years of Defendants opposing Plaintiff’s redevelopment plans, Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging abuse of process and a violation of Mass. Gen.…
Date: May 17, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-10834
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation and declined to exercise its extraordinary power under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E to…
Date: May 16, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12204
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against the City, seeking enforcement of the Department of Industrial Accidents' (DIA) order to restore plaintiff's workers' compensation payments. The City suspended plaintiff's payments under the…
Date: May 15, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12201
Justia Opinion Summary: The term “bodily injury” as used in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 126, 18A and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 30, 58 is that which results in physical injury. Through these two statutes, correction officers are granted additional…
Date: May 15, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12203
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, who pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree and was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, filed a petition for parole, which the Parole Board denied. Plaintiff filed a complaint…
Date: May 12, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12026
Justia Opinion Summary: Washington commenced a medical malpractice action in a federal district court against Maryjo Gagliani. A medical malpractice tribunal reviewed the case and found for Gagliani. Washington then moved the superior court to…
Date: May 12, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12208
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, the Secretary of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance submitted to the legislature a request for an appropriation to fund collective bargaining agreements between the Commonwealth and two public…
Date: May 11, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12115
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1983, Defendant was convicted of one count of arson in a dwelling house and eight counts of murder in the second degree. In 2012, Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, asserting newly discovered evidence regarding…
Date: May 11, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12139
Justia Opinion Summary: The decision in Pinti v. Emigrant Mortgage Co. applies in any case where the issue was timely and fairly asserted in the trial court or on appeal before July 17, 2015. In Pinti, the Supreme Judicial Court held that a…
Date: May 9, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12110
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court interpreted one provision in the habitual criminal statute, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 279, 25(a), which provides for an enhanced penalty where a defendant has two prior convictions resulting in…
Date: May 9, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12176
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court clarified the application of the Florida v. Jardines warrant requirement to a search in a multifamily home. The Court held (1) the side yard of Defendant’s multifamily home in this case was a…
Date: May 5, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11674
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found Earl T. Fulgiam and Michael T. Corbin guilty as joint venturers of murder in the first degree of Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Billie Marie Kee. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions and declined to…
Date: May 4, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-08772
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction for murder in the first degree on theories of extreme atrocity or cruelty and deliberate premeditation, holding that there was no error in this case warranting…
Date: May 3, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12146
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant appealed the denial of two Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 petitions he filed related to ongoing trial court proceedings. The subject petitions were the fourth and fifth such petitions Appellant had filed in the…
Date: May 3, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12169
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed from the denial of his petition filed pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 after the Housing Court entered judgment in Respondent’s favor in a summary process action. Petitioner filed a motion to…
Date: May 3, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12217
Date: May 3, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12248
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant filed a Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 petition seeking interlocutory relief from an order of the superior court temporarily committing him to the Massachusetts Treatment Center pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch.…
Date: April 24, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12095
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a series of disciplinary reprimands and suspensions for misconduct, Plaintiff was removed from her positions as an assistant clerk-magistrate of the Salem Division of the District Court Department. Plaintiff…
Date: April 21, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12125
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of raping his nineteen-year-old stepdaughter, Sally. Defendant and Sally’s mother were married. The Appeals Court reversed, concluding that Sally was precluded from testifying…
Date: April 21, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12188
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with offenses arising from alleged domestic violence. The Commonwealth and Defendant filed motions in limine regarding the admissibility of a record of a 911 call placed by the son of Defendant and…
Date: April 21, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-16-P-927
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that Zurich American Insurance Co. committed unfair claim settlement practices in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 176D, 3(9)(f) and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A, 2. Specifically,…
Date: April 20, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12187
Justia Opinion Summary: A complaint issued charging Defendant with misleading a police officer. The charge arose from Defendant’s act of picking up a small bag of what was believed to be heroin and swallowing it in full view of a police…
Date: April 19, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-08737
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 armed home invasion. After filing a notice of appeal, Defendant…
Date: April 18, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12114
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a veteran of the United States Army, was arraigned in the district court on charges of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs (OUI), second offense; possession of heroin;…
Date: April 18, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12136
Justia Opinion Summary: For the first decade of his employment with the Boston police department, Plaintiff was a patrol officer performing the full range of patrol officer duties. The department later placed Plaintiff on administrative duty…
Date: April 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12195
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, a few weeks after Child was born, Child's Grandmother was appointed as Child’s permanent guardian and has remained so ever since. Mother filed this removal proceeding challenging the guardianship arrangement. In…
Date: April 12, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11692
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed…
Date: April 5, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11360
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty, arson of a dwelling house, and violating an abuse prevention order. The…
Date: April 5, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11361
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions and the trial court’s denial…
Date: April 5, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11983
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with operating while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, second offense, and a marked lanes violation. The charges stemmed from a single vehicle accident in which the vehicle Defendant was…
Date: April 5, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12069
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Thomas Finneran, former Speaker of the House, pleaded guilty in federal district court to one count of obstruction of justice. The conviction stemmed from false testimony that Finneran had provided in relation…
Date: March 27, 2017
Docket Numbers: SJC-12086, SJC-12087
Justia Opinion Summary: After a joint jury trial, Defendants - John Squires and Steven Angier - were convicted of walking on a railroad track and possession of burglarious instruments. Defendants separately appealed, arguing, inter alia, that…
Date: March 22, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12021
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, the assessor for the city of Attleboro determined that Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette Inc. (Shrine) owed property taxes in the amount of $92,292.98. The Shrine filed an application for abatement, which the…
Date: March 21, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12186
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of wantonly or recklessly permitting another person to commit an assault and battery that resulted in bodily injury to her infant daughter. The injury was recklessly…
Date: March 20, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12070
Justia Opinion Summary: This certified questions in this case arose out of divorce proceedings pending in Connecticut between Wife and Husband, who was the beneficiary of a Massachusetts irrevocable trust. The Connecticut Supreme Court…
Date: March 20, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12101
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a shareholder of a Corporation, made a demand for corporate records pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 156D. 16.02(b), claiming that he needed to inspect the records in order to investigate his allegation that…
Date: March 16, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12094
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and felony-murder. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction and declined to grant relief under…
Date: March 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12183
Justia Opinion Summary: After N.L. was admitted to a mental health facility (hospital) the hospital filed a petition for commitment pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 123, 7 and 8 and for authorization for medical treatment for mental illness…
Date: March 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11794
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendants were each found guilty of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation and related offenses. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendants’ convictions and declined…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12111; SJC 12177
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2014, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission awarded a gaming license to Wynn MA, LLC. An unsuccessful applicant for the license (the company), the city that would have hosted the unsuccessful applicant, a labor union,…
Date: March 9, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12128
Justia Opinion Summary: Police officers recovered a loaded firearm from a motor vehicle after impounding and conducting an inventory search of the vehicle. Defendant was subsequently charged with carrying a firearm without a license and…
Date: March 8, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12151
Justia Opinion Summary: Police made two warrantless entries into Defendant’s apartment after receiving reports that it smelled like drugs. Based on observations of drug activity, the policy obtained a warrant. Thereafter, Defendant was arrested…
Date: March 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12112
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the meaning and application of the stockholders’ agreement between Babcock Power Inc. and its former executive, Eric Balles. Babcock terminated Balles’ employment after discovering that he was…
Date: March 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12137
Justia Opinion Summary: In these consolidated cases, shareholders of a publicly traded corporation (Plaintiffs) filed a complaint claiming that a merger transaction proposed by the board of directors would result in the effective sale of the…
Date: February 28, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12149
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of three counts of assault and battery and one count of kidnapping. The conviction arose out of an incident of domestic violence. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding…
Date: February 27, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12041
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree and carrying a firearm without a license. On appeal, Defendant argued, in part, that the trial judge erred in denying his motion for a mistrial…
Date: February 24, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11253
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant appealed from his convictions and from the trial court’s denial of his motion for a new…
Date: February 22, 2017
Docket Numbers: SJC-11869, SJC-11870
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, Charles Mendez and Tacuma Massie, were convicted of murder in the first degree, armed robbery, and other offenses. Both defendants were charged on a theory of felony murder. Each defendant filed a timely…
Date: February 17, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12135
Justia Opinion Summary: Samuel S., a juvenile, was adjudicated a youthful offender and a delinquent juvenile as the result of a single sexual offense. As part of his sentence, Samuel was committed to the Department of Youth Services. The…
Date: February 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12012
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was found guilty of breaking and entering in the daytime with the intent to commit a felony and larceny of property over $250. Defendant’s fingerprint at the crime scene constituted…
Date: February 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12082
Justia Opinion Summary: This lawsuit arose from the explosion on the oil rig Deepwater Horizon that caused 4.9 million barrels of oil to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. Defendants, environmental activists, contributed an article appearing in an…
Date: February 14, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12113
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned the arrival in Massachusetts of four minor siblings from a Nepalese refugee camp through a minor refugee program. The children’s parents subsequently arrived, but had very limited contact with the…
Date: February 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12055
Justia Opinion Summary: A grand jury returned indictments against Defendant on various charges, including three counts of armed assault with intent to murder and murder in the second degree. Defendant moved to suppress the identification of him…
Date: February 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12081
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with disorderly conduct. The charge arose from Defendant’s behavior as a patient in the psychiatric area of the emergency department at a Boston hospital. Defendant appealed, arguing that there was…
Date: February 9, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11955
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions and declined to grant relief under Mass.…
Date: February 9, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12074
Justia Opinion Summary: Alexander Soto was a juvenile when he was indicted for murder in the first degree and related offenses. The superior court dismissed the non-murder indictments, concluding that the nonmurder charges must first be brought…
Date: February 9, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12102
Justia Opinion Summary: During the divorce proceedings of Husband and Wife, Wife did not pursue her claim for alimony. Four years after the divorce judgment, Wife sought and obtained an alimony award. Both parties appealed. On appeal, both…
Date: February 7, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12022
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of possession of child pornography with the intent to disseminate, one count of dissemination of child pornography, and three counts of possession of child…
Date: February 7, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12076
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possessing child pornography. Defendant appealed, arguing that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress computer evidence obtained pursuant to a search…
Date: February 2, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12108
Justia Opinion Summary: Odin Anderson, his wife, and his daughter (collectively, Plaintiffs) filed personal injury action for injuries Odin suffered after being struck by a bus owned by Partners Healthcare Systems that was being driven by one…
Date: February 1, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12093
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was acquitted on a charge of receipt of stolen property and then prosecuted for larceny of the same property. Defendant argues that the subsequent larceny complaint was properly dismissed on the ground of…
Date: January 30, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12075
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against Deutsche Bank, seeking a declaratory judgment that the bank's foreclosure of the mortgage on plaintiff's home was invalid and seeking to quiet title to the property. The superior court…
Date: January 24, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12181
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed an action alleging claims of Medicare or Medicaid fraud and retaliation by his employer when he spoke up about the purported fraud. A federal district court judge allowed a motion to dismiss certain…
Date: January 23, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12134
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of two counts of unlawful possession of a loaded firearm and one count of possession of a firearm without a license. Appellant appealed, arguing that the Commonwealth failed to…
Date: January 23, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12153
Justia Opinion Summary: Bahig Bishay brought an action bringing various claims arising from Plaintiff’s eviction from his home. Bishay named as defendants National Investigations, Inc. and its principals (collectively, National), Harvard 45…
Date: January 20, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11989
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for multiple firearms offenses, among other offenses. Defendant moved to suppress evidence seized during the search of a motor vehicle he had been driving. A superior court judge allowed the…
Date: January 20, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12140
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was one of three occupants of a vehicle that was stopped for a traffic violation. When Defendant, the rear seat passenger, exited the vehicle based on an exit order, a police officer observed a handgun…
Date: January 18, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12157
Justia Opinion Summary: In Bridgeman v. District Attorney for the Suffolk District (Bridgeman I), the Supreme Judicial Court declined to accept a proposed “global remedy” of vacating the thousands of drug convictions affected by the misconduct…
Date: January 13, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-09656
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity and cruelty. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the jury’s verdict, holding (1)…
Date: January 12, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12078
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, an inmate, was charged with falsely reporting a sexual assault to a deputy sheriff employed at the corrections facility. After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of making a false report of a crime…
Date: January 12, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12083
Justia Opinion Summary: Under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 63, corporations that generate business income in the Commonwealth and other states must pay taxes on that income according to an apportionment formula that seeks to tax the corporation’s income…
Date: January 11, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12084
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, the Boston Municipal Court issued a criminal complaint charging Defendant, who was mentally ill, with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. Defendant has been in custody ever since, but each time…
Date: January 11, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12105
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of various firearm charges. On appeal, Defendant challenged the denial of his motion to suppress the firearm, asserting that police officers lacked reasonable suspicion…
Date: January 10, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12068
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. The Appeals Court affirmed. Defendant appealed, arguing that the admission into evidence of expert testimony opining as to…
Date: January 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12061
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. Defendant appealed, arguing that, based on the evidence presented at trial and the…
Date: January 6, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12120
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1993, Joan Oggiani, a judicial secretary, was designated as the deputy assistant register when that position was created. In 2015, the register requested approval to remove Aggiani’s designation. The Chief Justice of…
Date: January 5, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11657
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was watching a feature in an “unsolved crime” series news broadcast with his girl friend’s mother when he told her he had been the shooter in the surveillance footage showing the suspect that was aired in the…
Date: January 4, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11939
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with murder in the first degree. Defendant filed a motion to suppress statements he made at two police stations, arguing that he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his Miranda rights and that…
Date: January 3, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-11997
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, and armed assault with intent to rob. Defendant filed a motion for a new trial on the ground…
Date: January 3, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12013
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior and resisting arrest. The Appeals Court affirmed. The Supreme Judicial Court (1) affirmed the judgment of conviction of…
Date: January 3, 2017
Docket Number: SJC-12097
Justia Opinion Summary: The school zone statute punishes individuals who commit certain enumerated drug offenses within 300 feet of a school or 100 feet of a public park or playground. Defendant was a passenger in a motor vehicle that was…
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