Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Decisions 2024

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a group of petitioners who challenged a trial court's decision to establish a 200-foot buffer zone around the Norfolk County Superior Court House during the trial of a high-profile murder case. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around a public records request made by Eric Mack, whose brother, Anthony Harden, was fatally shot by police. Mack sought records related to the shooting under Massachusetts public records law. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a professional photographer who sexually exploited a minor. The defendant initially contacted the victim through a social networking site and began communicating with her through various means,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around Outfront Media LLC (Outfront), a company that entered into a contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to advertise on outdoor signs owned by the MBTA. The city of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a nonmarital child who was removed from the mother's custody due to neglect. The Department of Children and Families filed a care and protection petition in the Juvenile Court. The father, who had…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, Leon Robinson was convicted of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm for the 2001 shooting death of Recardo Robinson. The incident occurred in a barbershop after an argument between the two…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around the interpretation of a will and the application of the anti-lapse statute. Heather W. Hossack, the testator, had devised certain assets to her mother, Ethel Wyman, "if she survives me." However,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Terrence Tyler, who was convicted of felony-murder in the first degree with the predicate felony of attempted unarmed robbery and assault with intent to rob. The incident occurred during a planned…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts heard an appeal involving Bradley Zucchino, who was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, causing serious bodily injury and death. Zucchino…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed the lower court's summary judgment ruling against Jordan's Furniture, Inc. The company had implemented a commissions-based compensation scheme for its…

Justia Opinion Summary: Charles Robinson, the defendant, was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Edward Figueroa. Following his conviction, Robinson appealed and also filed a motion for a new trial citing…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the defendant, Rigoberto Escobar, was found guilty of first-degree murder for the shooting death of Magno Sosa after a heated argument that escalated into a fistfight. The defendant appealed, arguing that…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved defendant Julie A. Corey who was convicted of first-degree murder on the grounds of deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity or cruelty, and felony-murder with the underlying felony of aggravated…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a dispute between tenured faculty members and Tufts University, the faculty members alleged that the university's policies requiring them to cover half of their salary with external research funding and reducing their…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around a defendant convicted of severe, racially motivated violence, who sought to stay the execution of his sentence pending appeal. The defendant, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Morocco, with frequent…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2018, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted the "Tobacco Act," which prohibited the sale of tobacco products to anyone under 21 years old. The town of Brookline later passed an ordinance that divided potential tobacco…

Justia Opinion Summary: The court examined a case involving a divorcing couple, Amy Sue Openshaw and Glen Romney Openshaw, who had a custom of regularly saving a portion of their income throughout their marriage. The husband contested the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the plaintiff, Fallon Community Health Plan, Inc., adopted a policy requiring its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The defendant, Shanika Jefferson, a home health aide employed by Fallon, sought…

Justia Opinion Summary: The dispute arose from an agreement between Columbia Plaza Associates (CPA) and Northeastern University regarding the development of a parcel of land in Boston. The contract stipulated that the developer for each phase…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a complex commercial dispute with a series of administrative and legal challenges, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts found that the defendants did not meet the criteria to dismiss the case under the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case of Commonwealth v. Rashad Shepherd, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed the defendant’s conviction of murder in the first degree on the theory of felony-murder, with attempted unarmed robbery…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the defendant, William J. Camuti, was convicted of murder in the first degree for poisoning his friend and business associate, Stephen Rakes, with potassium…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves the Commonwealth's appeal against the trial judge's denial of its motion to admit expert testimony on Frequent Location History (FLH) data retrieved from the defendant's cell phone in a murder case. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts was called upon to determine which law applied to the sealing of records from youthful offender proceedings - G. L. c. 276, § 100A, the adult criminal record…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves an appeal from a wrongful death action brought by Joni Babaletos, the personal representative of her late husband Thomas Babaletos, against Demoulas Super Markets, Inc., Philip Morris USA Inc., and R.J.…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1995, the bodies of a woman and her daughter were found in separate locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut. More than two decades later, the woman's husband was convicted for her murder. On appeal, he asserted…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1982, William F. McDermott was convicted of first-degree murder. On direct review, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts found that the trial judge had erred in failing to instruct the jury that evidence of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case concerns the constitutional rights of a criminal defendant, A.Z., who was involuntarily hospitalized for a competency determination under Massachusetts law, G. L. c. 123, § 15 (b). The Supreme Judicial Court of…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, six plaintiffs -- two criminal defense organizations, two defense attorneys, and two former criminal defendants -- filed a petition against the District Attorney's Office for the Hampden District in…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a case before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the defendant, Denzel McFarlane, convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm and other related charges, appealed for a new trial. He based his appeal on the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves the Commonwealth's appeal of a judgment by a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, which upheld a lower court judge's decision to disqualify a prosecutor, Matthew Green, from a…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, a Superior Court judge in Massachusetts sought guidance from the Supreme Judicial Court on three questions involving the pretrial confinement of a juvenile charged with murder. The juvenile, who was sixteen…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a case before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the defendant, Elvio Marrero, was convicted of the murder of Pernell Kimplin based on evidence that included bloodstains on Marrero's leather jacket. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the defendant, Jason Robinson, was convicted of first-degree murder on a joint venture theory of felony-murder, with armed robbery as the predicate offence, in connection with the shooting death of Inaam…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the defendant, Sheldon Mattis, was convicted of first degree murder among other charges, and was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison without the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this Massachusetts case, the defendant, Nyasani Watt, was convicted of first-degree murder and related offenses. After his conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, he filed a motion for…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, several residents of the town of Norwell, Massachusetts filed a lawsuit to compel the town's select board to transfer municipal land to the town's conservation commission. The select board had previously…