Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Decisions 2023
Date: December 14, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13437
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case at hand, the plaintiff, a civilly committed sexually dangerous person, petitioned the Department of Correction (DOC) for medical parole due to his deteriorating health conditions. The DOC denied his petition…
Date: December 13, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13439
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case concerning the estate of Frances R. Mason, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled on two key issues. First, it considered whether the Massachusetts Medicaid program, MassHealth, could enforce a…
Date: December 12, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13387
Justia Opinion Summary: The case pertains to an appeal by plaintiff William J. Papp, III, against the decision of a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court denying his request for declaratory relief, a stay of eviction, and relief in the…
Date: December 8, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13217
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case at hand, the defendant, Joshua Hart, and his girlfriend, Brittany Smith, entered the home of an elderly couple, Thomas Harty and his wife, Joanna Fisher, intending to steal their car and money. The couple…
Date: December 6, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13438
Justia Opinion Summary: In a case before the Supreme Judicial Court, the Attorney General of Massachusetts initiated a civil action in the Superior Court alleging housing discrimination by the defendant, Mark Davidson, on behalf of two…
Date: November 30, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-12166
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, defendant Amadi Sosa was convicted of murder in the first degree, armed assault with the intent to rob, and unlawful possession of ammunition in connection…
Date: November 30, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-12898
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case of Commonwealth vs. William Omari Shakespeare, the defendant, Shakespeare, was convicted of murder in the first degree and related firearms offenses for the shooting death of Marcus Hall. Following the…
Date: November 21, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13429
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the trial judge finding Jane Furnas in contempt for failing either to refinance or to list property for sale according to an agreement, holding that there was no…
Date: November 21, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13431
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of a single justice of the court denying Petitioner's petition filed pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 seeking relief from the denial of his application for a…
Date: November 16, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-12984
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant's convictions for murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation, argued assault with intent to murder, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous…
Date: November 7, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13481
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the single justice denying Petitioner's petition for relief citing Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, Mass. Gen. Laws ch, 249, 5, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 28E, 28 U.S.C.…
Date: November 6, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13412
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the superior court judge dismissing the underlying declaratory judgment complaint in this declaratory judgment action regarding the scope of the Department of Housing…
Date: November 6, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13424
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the county court denying, without a hearing, Petitioners' petition for extraordinary relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, holding that the single justice did not…
Date: November 3, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13416
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held that an agreement entered into between Plaintiff Anthony Gattineri and Defendants Wynn MA, LLC and Wynn Resorts, Limited (collectively, Wynn) in San Diego California (the San Diego…
Date: October 26, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13315
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated a portion of its prior order remanding this case to the superior court for entry of judgments of not guilty on indictments charging unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession…
Date: October 24, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13362
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed this appeal of the judgment of a single justice of the court denying Petitioner's petition for extraordinary relief pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, holding that the appeal was…
Date: October 13, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13452
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the county court denying Petitioner's petition for relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 from an order of the housing court requiring him to make use and occupancy…
Date: October 11, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13373
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the county court denying, without a hearing, Petitioner's petition for relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, holding that Petitioner had no standing to obtain…
Date: September 28, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13337
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, holding that the single justice did not err or abuse his discretion…
Date: September 25, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13406
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court in favor of Cummings Properties, LLC in this suit brought to enforce Darryl Hines's obligations as guarantor of a commercial lease, holding that…
Date: September 21, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13417
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the county court dismissing Petitioner's complaint seeking an order holding the Board of Registration in Medicine in contempt of an order of the Supreme Court, holding that the…
Date: September 20, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13340
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for murder in the first degree based on a theory of felony-murder, among other charges, holding that a police officer's identification testimony was admitted…
Date: September 7, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13298
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving a facility that operated under the protection of a thirty-six-year-old consent decree the Supreme Judicial Court held that the trial judge did not abuse her discretion in concluding that the…
Date: August 25, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13381
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held that the Secretary of the Commonwealth did not overstep the bounds of the authority granted to him under the Massachusetts Uniform Securities Act (MUSA), Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 110A, by…
Date: August 24, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13397
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the decree and order of the superior court in this probate action, holding that there existed a genuine issue of material fact precluding the grant of partial summary judgment. The…
Date: August 21, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13407
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court judge granting summary judgment in favor of BSC Companies, Inc., BSC Group, Inc., and the companies' president (collectively, BSC) in this action…
Date: August 16, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13380
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order of the superior court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant in this negligence action brought by Plaintiff seeking damages for wrongful death and loss of…
Date: August 14, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13357
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of murder in the second degree and assault and battery by discharge of a firearm but vacated his convictions for carrying a firearm without a license and…
Date: August 14, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13366
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendants' motion to dismiss Plaintiff's action alleging that defendant Massachusetts Coastal Railroad LLC (MCR) paid him less than the…
Date: August 10, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-12649
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant's firearm-related convictions but affirmed his convictions for murder in the first degree based on a theory of felony-murder, home invasion and armed assault with intent to…
Date: August 10, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13231
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of two counts of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity or cruelty, and felony-murder on a theory of joint venture…
Date: August 10, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13383
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, holding that portions of the victim's then-girlfriend's grand jury testimony were properly admitted in…
Date: August 8, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13368
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of a single justice of the court denying Petitioner's petitions filed pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 and associated motions, holding that Petitioner was not…
Date: August 8, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13427
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action arising from litigation between Petitioner and the mothers of his children the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the single justice treating the underlying petition seeking relief in the…
Date: July 31, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13309
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order of a single justice of the court denying the Commonwealth's petition asking that the single justice reverse a superior court judge's order granting Defendant limited access…
Date: July 31, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13393
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court reversed the judgment of the probate and family court dismissing a petition for formal probate seeking appointment as personal representative, holding that the position of voluntary personal…
Date: July 28, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13312
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court denying Defendant's motion for a new trial following his successful motion for postconviction forensic and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis…
Date: July 25, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-12835
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's convictions other than his unlawful possession conviction, which the Court vacated in light of its recent opinion in Commonwealth v. Guardado, 491 Mass. 666 (2023), holding…
Date: July 21, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-11668
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed in part and vacated in part Defendant's convictions, holding that Defendant's convictions on three charges of assault by means of a dangerous weapon were duplicative. Specifically,…
Date: July 19, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13295
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order of the probate and family court judge denying M.H.'s motion to intervene in an action brought by J.M. against C.G. seeking custody and expanded parenting time and affirmed…
Date: July 17, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-10079
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for murder in the first degree for the killing of Brandy Waryasz on theories of premeditation and felony-murder and murder in the first degree for the killing…
Date: July 17, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13355
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order of the trial judge reducing Defendant's conviction of murder in the first degree to involuntary manslaughter pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 25(b)(2), as amended, holding that…
Date: July 12, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13131
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of deliberately premeditated murder in the first degree and unlawful possession of a firearm and declined to exercise its extraordinary authority pursuant to…
Date: July 12, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13132
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for deliberately premeditated murder in the first degree and unlawful possession of a firearm and declined to exercise its authority to grant extraordinary…
Date: July 11, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13364
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court dismissing Plaintiff's Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B claims, holding that tolling does not apply to the time limits established in Mass. Gen. Laws ch.…
Date: July 6, 2023
Docket Numbers: SJC-13282, SJC-13346
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held that in the instant cases, where the decedents had no right to bring a cause of action for the injuries that caused their deaths at the time that they died as a result of the running of…
Date: June 30, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13134
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for murder in the first degree on the theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty and sentence of life without parole, holding that…
Date: June 28, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13379
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court answered a reported question in the affirmative and held that a "guilty-filed" disposition constitutes a predicate "offense" under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, 30A. Defendant was charged with…
Date: June 27, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13378
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held that, under the circumstances of the underlying case, the Graves Amendment, 49 U.S.C. 30106, protected an automobile dealership from being held vicariously liable for the tortious conduct…
Date: June 26, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13225
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant's conviction of murder in the first degree and remanded this case for further proceedings, holding that the trial justice erred when he failed to instruct the jury on the…
Date: June 23, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13271
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the juvenile court denying the Commonwealth's motion to revise Juvenile's sentence in this case, holding that a juvenile court judge may commit a youthful offender to…
Date: June 21, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13352
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court reversed the decision of the superior court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant in this age discrimination action, holding that Plaintiff produced sufficient evidence to create a…
Date: June 15, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13356
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant's convictions for five counts of trafficking a person for sexual servitude and a second and subsequent offense of possession of a class A substance with intent to distribute,…
Date: June 13, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13351
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant's conviction of carrying a firearm without a license and his sentence of eighteen months in a house of correction, holding that the Commonwealth did not demonstrate beyond a…
Date: June 12, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13223
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of voluntary manslaughter and his sentence of ten to twelve years in prison, holding that the trial errors detected in the underlying proceedings did not, either…
Date: June 8, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13354
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the trial court dismissing FCA US LLC from the underlying tort lawsuit, holding that Massachusetts had personal jurisdiction over FCA US under the Commonwealth's…
Date: June 7, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13365
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court remanded this matter involving the decision of the Planning Board of Monterey to deny Appellant's application to build an RV camp on the grounds of its Monterey property on the basis that the…
Date: June 5, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13239
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of murder in the first degree on theories of both deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty, holding that there was no error in the underlying…
Date: June 1, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-12023
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation but vacated his conviction of murder in the first degree on a theory of felony-murder,…
Date: May 26, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13305
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the county court denying the Commonwealth's petition filed under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3 seeking relief from a superior court judge's denial of the Commonwealth's…
Date: May 26, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13400
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the county court denying Petitioner's petition for relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, holding that the single justice did not err or abuse his discretion in…
Date: May 25, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13158
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of one count of murder in the first degree on the theories of deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity or cruelty, and felony murder, holding that there was no…
Date: May 25, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13401
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order of a single justice of the court denying Petitioner's petition filed pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, holding that nothing in Petitioner's petition required exercise…
Date: May 23, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13300
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case considering whether an easement (2018 easement) taken by eminent domain by the Department of Transportation (MassDOT) exceeded the scope of an easement taken in 1991 by the Department of Public Works (DPW),…
Date: May 22, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13294
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held that a defendant who has been serving the incarcerated portion of an illegal sentence imposed by the appellate division of the superior court has the same double jeopardy protections as a…
Date: May 19, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13323
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court remanded this case to the county court for entry of a judgment reversing the order of the motion judge allowing Defendant's motion for discovery and requiring the Commonwealth to disclose…
Date: May 19, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13341
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action brought by the Commonwealth seeking relief from a trial court order requiring it to disclose information regarding a confidential informant the Supreme Judicial Court held that the motion judge in this…
Date: May 16, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13067
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, holding that the single justice did not err or abuse her discretion…
Date: May 16, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13353
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order of the motion judgment dismissing indictments against Derrick Gentry-Mitchell and Joseph Sullivan, Springfield police department officers, charging them with misleading…
Date: May 16, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13361
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court declined to address the merits of these appeals challenging the Attorney General's (AG) decision denying Plaintiffs' initiative petition that would have instituted limits on contributions to…
Date: May 16, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13392
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the county court denying, without a hearing, Petitioner's petition for relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, holding that the single justice did not err or abuse his…
Date: May 15, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13329
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the denial of Defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized from his person during a stop and pat-frisk, holding that the new standard adopted in Commonwealth v. Long, 485 Mass. 711,…
Date: May 15, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13333
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of unlawful possession of a firearm, holding that the did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant's motion for discovery, and there was no error in the…
Date: May 9, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13022
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court convicting Defendant of murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty and declined to grant relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch.…
Date: May 9, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13330
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court in this personal injury action against Philip Morris USA Inc., holding that Philip Morris was not entitled to relief on its allegations of…
Date: May 5, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13334
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held that a closed case that ends in an acquittal, a no bill from a grand jury, or a finding of no probable cause by the court is not a record subject to a presumption of access under the First…
Date: May 4, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13338
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court reduced Defendant's convictions of armed robbery while masked to unarmed robbery and vacated the judgment on the conviction of armed home invasion and set aside the verdict, holding that an…
Date: May 2, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13112
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of two counts of two counts of murder in the first degree on the theory of premeditation as to Mark Greenlaw and Jennifer O'Connor…
Date: April 27, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13335
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court reversed the judgment of the superior court judge dismissing indictments against Defendants - the superintendent and medical director of the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke - for elder neglect in…
Date: April 26, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13301
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court remanded this case to the district court, holding that the district court erred in denying Defendant's motion to withdraw her admission to sufficient facts. Defendant admitted to facts…
Date: April 18, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13318
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of being an accessory before the fact to kidnapping and the order denying his motion for postconviction relief, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief…
Date: April 14, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13385
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of a single justice of the court dismissing as moot Father's petition pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, holding that there was no abuse of discretion. The…
Date: April 13, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13315
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed in part and reversed in part Defendant's firearm-related convictions, holding that there was probable cause to search the glove department of Defendant's car but that the judge erred…
Date: April 6, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13285
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the trial judge revoking Defendant's probation and sentencing him to two years in a house of correction followed by one year of probation, holding that the wiretap…
Date: April 6, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13317
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the juvenile court adjudicating Appellant delinquent on two charges of attempting to burn a public building, holding that that Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, 5A, the…
Date: April 3, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13247
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgments of probation entered in separate superior court cases stemming from the same adjudication, holding that the State proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Defendant…
Date: April 3, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13296
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court remanded this matter to the Commissioner of Correction in this appeal from the denial of medical parole, holding that the Commissioner's decision was arbitrary and capricious because it was…
Date: March 30, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13347
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the order of the single justice of the appeals court reversing the denial of Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction and vacated the injunction, holding that the single justice abused…
Date: March 28, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13248
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order of the superior court denying Defendant's motion to suppress, holding that the articulable facts combined to establish reasonable suspicion that Defendant had committed armed…
Date: March 17, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13358
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of a single justice of the court denying Petitioner's petition filed under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 249, 5 seeking relief in the nature of mandamus, holding that the single…
Date: March 16, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13245
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order of the superior court judge allowing the State police's motion for summary judgment and denying Plaintiff's request for back pay under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 30, 59 (the Perry…
Date: March 16, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13308
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning the term "physical abuse" as used in an "abuse and molestation" policy exclusion the Supreme Judicial Court reversed the order of the superior court granting summary judgment in favor of Insurer…
Date: March 14, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13326
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning the scope of rights conveyed by a set of burial certificates, as sold by a church to its parishioners, the Supreme Judicial Court held that the burial certificates' unambiguous language permitted…
Date: March 10, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13243
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order finding Probationer in violation of his probation, revoking his probation and imposing the remainder of his suspended sentence, holding that the evidence was sufficient to…
Date: March 10, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13287
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held that when an otherwise qualifying entity sells an urban redevelopment project during the forty-year tax window set forth in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 121A, 18C, the tax concession extends to the…
Date: March 8, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13331
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the order of the trial judge granting the motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by the New England Police Benevolent Association, Inc., Local 192 (NEPBA), denying the city of…
Date: March 7, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13284
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court reversed the judgment of the superior court against Plaintiffs and directed the court to enter a judgment declaring the "public comment policy" of the town of Southborough…
Date: March 7, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13327
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held that the single justice of the county court neither erred nor abused his discretion by denying, without a hearing, Petitioner's petition for relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3,…
Date: February 28, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13253
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court judge denying Defendant's motion to enforce a plea bargain, holding that the plea offer did not violate Defendant's rights to due process. Defendant…
Date: February 28, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13254
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court remanded this matter to the county court for entry of an order dismissing the Commonwealth's gatekeeper petition filed under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E challenging the decision of the…
Date: February 24, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-11375
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the motion judge allowing Defendant's motion for a new trial after the trial court convicted him of murder in the first degree, holding that the motion judge did not…
Date: February 24, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13277
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order of the trial judge granting Defendant's motion to dismiss his criminal case for lack of prosecution and requiring the Commonwealth to file a motion to vacate it if decided to…
Date: February 22, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-11667
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for murder in the first degree on the theory of deliberate premeditation and related charges, holding that there was no reversible error in this Court's review of…
Date: February 22, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-12758
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, holding that the single justice did not err or abuse her discretion…
Date: February 17, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-12751
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty and his sentence of life without the possibility of parole, holding that Defendant's…
Date: February 16, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13286
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the housing court's entry of judgment in favor of Landlord in this landlord-tenant dispute and the denial of Tenant's motion to revise, revoke, or vacate that judgment, holding that…
Date: February 14, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13043
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of two counts of murder in the first degree, holding that this Court's precedent on reasonable provocation based on sudden oral revelations of infidelity, and,…
Date: February 14, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13372
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed Appellant's appeal from a judgment of the county court denying, without a hearing, Appellant's petition for extraordinary relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, holding that the…
Date: February 9, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13345
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held that the presumptive ninety-day time limit on pretrial detention set forth in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 58B begins to run at the time an individual is detained, regardless of whether a…
Date: February 8, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-10476
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation and declined to exercise its authority under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 33E either to reduce the verdict or…
Date: February 2, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13325
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning the law involving breach of an exclusive real estate broker agreement, the Supreme Judicial Court held that an enforceable contract was created in this case, Defendants committed a breach of that…
Date: January 27, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13179
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court remanded these consolidated cases seeking a judgment declaring the parties' respective rights to each of the remainder proceeds of two annuity contracts, holding that the cases were governed in…
Date: January 27, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13199
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court reversed the order of the superior court allowing Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment in this lawsuit brought against the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and Nationwide Life…
Date: January 24, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13215
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's motion for a new trial following his conviction for murder in the first degree by means of extreme atrocity or cruelty and on the…
Date: January 12, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13281
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of a single justice of the court denying Petitioner's petition for extraordinary relief pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211, 3, holding that the trial justice did not…
Date: January 6, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13303
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court held that there is no common-law duty for insurers to cover costs incurred by an insured to prevent imminent covered loss when the plain, unambiguous terms of the insurance policy speak…
Date: January 5, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13071
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving Salvatore F. DiMasi's attempt to register as a lobbyist with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Supreme Judicial Court held that Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 3, 45 (m) ("the disqualification provision")…
Date: January 4, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13170
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the juvenile court judge denying Juvenile's motion to suppress evidence of a seized firearm on the grounds that police did not have reasonable suspicion to stop her,…
Date: January 3, 2023
Docket Number: SJC-13269
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Seller in this case stemming from the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, holding that there…
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