Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Decisions 2016
Date: December 22, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12042
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought this action against Nationstar Mortgage, LLC and Fremont Investment and Loan (collectively, Defendants) alleging that Defendants violated his rights under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A. The Appeals Court…
Date: December 22, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12098
Justia Opinion Summary: Christine DeFelice, a part-time employee for the Stoneham school department, sought retroactive membership in the Stoneham retirement system based on a nine-week period during which she worked over thirty hours per week.…
Date: December 19, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11385
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed and declined to grant extraordinary relief pursuant to Mass. Gen.…
Date: December 16, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12080
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs contracted with Defendants through small corporations that Plaintiffs apparently formed for this purpose. Plaintiffs, who performed services in Massachusetts as furniture delivery drivers, brought a putative…
Date: December 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12126
Justia Opinion Summary: The Department of Mental Health (DMH) submitted a proposal to the Auditor of the Commonwealth that would privatize certain of its state-run mental health services. The Auditor issued a written decision approving the…
Date: December 6, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12067
Justia Opinion Summary: In a four-count complaint, Defendant was charged with several criminal offenses. Defendant pleaded guilty as to counts one and four. The municipal court judge dismissed counts two and three for lack of probable cause.…
Date: November 25, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12056
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Defendant pleaded guilty to possession of a class B substance. Defendant was sentenced to a one-year term of probation and the probation supervision fees and the victim-witness assessment. The Commonwealth…
Date: November 23, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12036
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of assault and battery on a family or household member in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, 13M(a). On appellate review, Defendant argued that the evidence was insufficient…
Date: November 23, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12059
Justia Opinion Summary: Clifford George and Jacquelyn George divorced in 2002. In 2013, Clifford filed a complaint seeking to modify his alimony obligation based on Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 208, 49(b), part of the Alimony Reform Act, which became…
Date: November 22, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12035
Justia Opinion Summary: Service Employees International Union, Local 509 (Union) brought a declaratory judgment action against the Department of Mental Health (DMH) maintaining that certain contracts DMH made with private vendors were…
Date: November 15, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11940
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1971, the City of Quincy, as trustee of the Adams Temple and School Fund (Adams Fund), sought a decree authorizing it to execute a proposed fifty-year lease of a building and parking lot of the Adams Academy that it…
Date: November 10, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-10725
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of extreme atrocity or cruelty and felony-murder. Defendant was also convicted of nine other charges, including home invasion while…
Date: November 10, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11829
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was charged in three different indictments with three criminal offenses. Each of the cases were pending in the superior court where the court imposed a unified bail. The total bail in the three cases was…
Date: November 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11966
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2002, Defendant pleaded guilty to indecent assault and battery. In 2013, Defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea or for a new trial, arguing that his plea counsel was constitutionally ineffective by…
Date: November 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11524
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on the theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty and of home invasion. Defendant appealed, arguing, inter alia, that…
Date: November 3, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12019
Justia Opinion Summary: The Massachusetts Insurers Insolvency Fund (Fund) is statutorily authorized to recover from “high net worth insureds” certain amounts paid by the Fund “on behalf of” such insureds. There was no dispute that defendant…
Date: November 2, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12034
Justia Opinion Summary: Two telephone companies (collectively, Taxpayers) paid personal property taxes assessed by the board of assessors of Boston for fiscal year 2012 on certain personal property each company owned. Taxpayers subsequently…
Date: October 28, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11996
Justia Opinion Summary: After a trial, Defendant was found guilty of two counts of assault and battery on a public employee, and one count each of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, and…
Date: October 28, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12066
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was found guilty of knowingly causing damage to another automobile in a private driveway and leaving without identifying himself to the owner in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90,…
Date: October 27, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12028
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted on two indictments charging violations of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 268, 13B, the witness intimidation statute, which prohibits “willfully…mislead[ing]…[a] police officer.”…
Date: October 26, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11427
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and related offenses. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's convictions and declined to grant relief pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch.…
Date: October 21, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12015
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs in this putative class action were inmates serving criminal sentences in various Massachusetts prison facilities who had, for varying lengths of time, been placed in a special management unit (SMU) in…
Date: October 21, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12016
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a Massachusetts prison inmate, brought civil rights action claiming that Defendants violated his constitutional right to due process by holding him in a special management unit (SMU) - or solitary confinement…
Date: October 19, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11919
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of rape of a child. The underlying indictment alleged that Defendant raped his daughter on diverse dates between 1979 and 1981. Defendant appealed, raising statute…
Date: October 17, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11656
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted as a joint venturer of murder in the first degree, armed robbery, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions and discerned to…
Date: October 14, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11970
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of possession with intent to distribute heroin and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Defendant pleaded guilty to the subsequent offense portion of each of these…
Date: October 11, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11963
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant owned and managed a nature preserve on Martha’s Vineyard compromised of parcels of land owned by Defendant. In 2010, Defendant created a hiking trail through the preserve that crossed over Plaintiffs’ property…
Date: October 11, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11987
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued her employer for sex discrimination, race discrimination, and retaliation under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B, 9. The jury found in favor of Plaintiff on her retaliation claim and awarded her both compensatory…
Date: October 7, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11221
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The Supreme Judicial Court reversed the convictions and remanded the case for a new trial due to…
Date: October 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11999
Justia Opinion Summary: Prior to his scheduled release, the Commonwealth filed a petition to commit James Green as a sexually dangerous predator (SDP). Green was found sexually dangerous after a jury trial. Two months later, Green filed a…
Date: October 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12018
Justia Opinion Summary: Karen Partanen and Julie Gallagher were in a committed, nonmarital relationship for twelve years. Using in vitro fertilization and with Partanen’s full participation and consent, Gallagher fave birth the two children.…
Date: October 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12054
Justia Opinion Summary: This interlocutory review arose out of a discovery dispute in an action brought by Plaintiff, a union member, alleging claims of employment discrimination and retaliation against Defendants. Plaintiff objected to certain…
Date: September 30, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11980
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was stopped for failing to stop at a stop sign. The officer concluded that Defendant was using the vehicle without authority and decided to impound the vehicle. During an inventory search in preparation for…
Date: September 29, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11579
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation, and of unlawful possession of a firearm for the shooting death of a fifteen year old boy. Defendant…
Date: September 28, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11917
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with murder in the first degree. A superior court judge allowed Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence recovered from his cellular telephone, concluding that the seizure of the telephone was not…
Date: September 27, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11974
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of criminal harassment. The convictions were based on five letters that Defendant wrote and sent to Michael and Susan Costello after a local election in which…
Date: September 21, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11957
Justia Opinion Summary: A landlord (Defendant) was convicted of assault and battery for pushing a Muslim tenant down a flight of stairs. Defendant was sentenced to a two-year term of incarceration, six months to serve, with the balance…
Date: September 20, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11956
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm. Defendant appealed the denial of his motion to suppress a firearm and statements he made after his arrest, arguing that the police…
Date: September 19, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11525
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of, among other crimes, murder in the first degree on a theory of felony murder, based on the predicate felony of armed robbery. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant’s…
Date: September 16, 2016
Docket Numbers: SJC-11929, SJC 11944
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants in these two criminal cases were charged in the Boston Municipal Court (BMC) with a number of felonies. The BMC judges scheduled probable cause hearings for Defendants to determine whether there was sufficient…
Date: September 16, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11978
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction, holding (1) the trial court did not err in…
Date: September 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12006
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was the defendant in a summary process action in the Housing Court. In 1993, the Appeals Court affirmed. In the years since then, Petitioner repeatedly sought to challenge the foreclosure that led to the…
Date: September 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12011
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1993, Defendant was convicted of first degree murder. Defendant’s convictions were affirmed on appeal. After unsuccessfully filing numerous postconviction petitions, Defendant filed in the county court a petition in…
Date: September 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12065
Justia Opinion Summary: Two individuals (“the Sureties”) acted as sureties for Defendant and posted bail on his behalf. The Sureties filed a motion for return of bail on the basis that Defendant could not appear for a hearing because he was in…
Date: September 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11993
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree and armed robbery. The Supreme Court affirmed. This appeal concerned Defendant’s second motion for a new trial based on newly discovered…
Date: September 8, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-09203
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation. Defendant appealed his conviction and also sought relief under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, 33E asking that…
Date: September 8, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-10658
Justia Opinion Summary: After a second trial, a jury found Defendant guilty of two counts of murder in the first degree. Defendant later filed a motion for a new trial on the basis of new DNA evidence. The motion judge denied the motion without…
Date: September 7, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12033
Justia Opinion Summary: Limoliner Inc., which owned and operated a fleet of luxury motor coaches, hired Dattco, Inc. to perform repair work on one of those vehicles. While Dattco recorded most of those requests in writing, Dattco neglected to…
Date: September 6, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11731
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted as a joint venturer of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation. The conviction was based on evidence that Defendant had been the driver of the…
Date: September 2, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12014
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case the Supreme Judicial Court recognized the “continuing treatment doctrine” under Massachusetts law, which provides that a medical malpractice cause of action does not accrue while a patient is continuing to…
Date: August 30, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-10075
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity and cruelty. Defendant appealed. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant’s conviction of murder in the first…
Date: August 26, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11702
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found defendant Frankie Herndon guilty of the first degree murder of Derrick Barnes on the theory of deliberate premeditation and of possession of a firearm without a license. On appeal, defendant challenged: (1)…
Date: August 25, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12053
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, Timothy Deal, Siegfried Golston, and Jeffrey Roberio, were juvenile homicide offenders serving mandatory indeterminate life sentences, and who had a constitutional right to a "meaningful opportunity to…
Date: August 24, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11959
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against against her employers (Defendants), alleging that she had been subject to a sexually hostile or offensive work environment. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of Plaintiff, finding that…
Date: August 23, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11977
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a high school student, was suspended from school for conduct that took place outside of school grounds. The suspension - which was mistakenly ordered on the ground that Plaintiff had been charged with a felony…
Date: August 19, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11894
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of rape of a child, incest, and related sex offenses. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Defendant’s conviction for reckless endangerment and otherwise affirmed, holding (1)…
Date: August 19, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12089
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, Defendant delivered his cellular telephone to his attorney for the purpose of seeking legal advice on several matters. In 2014, the Commonwealth filed a second motion for judicial approval of a grand jury…
Date: August 18, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11865
Justia Opinion Summary: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 148, 26I, the residential sprinkler provision, mandates the installation of automatic sprinklers in certain buildings. Plaintiff, the owner of two vacant apartment buildings that he intended to return…
Date: August 17, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-10640
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation and of the unlawful possession of a firearm. Defendant appealed, alleging error in (1) the denial of…
Date: August 17, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12040
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, who was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident alien, pleaded guilty to an indictment alleging larceny of a motor vehicle. Defendant later moved to withdraw the guilty plea and vacate the…
Date: August 17, 2016
Docket Numbers: SJC-12051, SJC-12052
Justia Opinion Summary: The Department of Public Utilities issued an order determining that the plain language of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 164, 94A provides the Department with the statutory authority to review and approve ratepayer-backed,…
Date: August 15, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12057
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested for operating while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. Defendant was not given an opportunity to consult with counsel before being required to decide whether to submit to a breathalyzer…
Date: August 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12020
Justia Opinion Summary: In Suffolk I, the Supreme Judicial Court held that Reading Co-Operative Bank (Bank) was allowed to require Suffolk Construction Company, Inc. (Suffolk) to perform fully Suffolk’s obligations pursuant to a collateral…
Date: August 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12032
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of murder in the first degree. Petitioner was a juvenile when the crime was committed. Thirty years later, the Supreme Judicial Court determined that any juvenile offender who had been convicted…
Date: August 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12037
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of armed robbery while masked. The trial judge granted Defendant’s motion for a mistrial, determining that a series of the prosecutor’s statements made during closing argument…
Date: August 11, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11949
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sustained a knee injury while working for the Department of Correction. Plaintiff initially received workers’ compensation benefits, as well as assault pay, but after Plaintiff was separated from employment due…
Date: August 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12044
Justia Opinion Summary: This matter stemmed between a billing dispute between Petitioner, an attorney, and Respondent, the Committee for Public Counsel Services. Certain administrative proceedings culminated in a hearing, and the hearing…
Date: August 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12079
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of cocaine. The substances were subsequently tested at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute, and Annie Dookhan was one of two assistant analysts who…
Date: August 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12127
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of criminal offenses in 2008. The Appeals Court affirmed. In 2012, the trial judge granted Defendant’s second motion for a new trial. The Appeals Court reversed, effectively reinstating…
Date: August 8, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11965
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant admitted to facts sufficient to warrant a finding of guilty to stealing the property of Walmart having a value of more than $250 pursuant to a single larcenous scheme. At a restitution hearing, the judge…
Date: August 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12002
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed an action to quiet title, alleging that a railroad easement formerly owned by the Pennsylvania Central Transportation Co. across portions of their lands was abandoned by the United States Railway…
Date: August 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12031
Justia Opinion Summary: As part of a judgment of divorce, the probate and family court judge awarded Wife sixty percent of Husband’s interest in the present value of a discretionary spendthrift trust. Husband appealed, arguing that the judge…
Date: August 3, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11895
Justia Opinion Summary: In a probation surrender proceeding based on the use of marijuana, purportedly for medical purposes, the judge found Defendant in violation of probation for the use of marijuana, terminated his probation, and imposed a…
Date: July 29, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11913
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1997, Petitioner was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of felony murder. Petitioner later filed a motion in the superior court seeking postconviction testing of biological material…
Date: July 29, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11979
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs lost electric power during a major winter ice storm in 2008. Plaintiffs sued Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company (FG&E) and sought class certification for themselves and other residential and business…
Date: July 29, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12009
Justia Opinion Summary: District court judges ordered the two defendants in these consolidated cases to pretrial detention under the dangerousness statute, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 58A, under which a person “held under arrest” on charges of one…
Date: July 28, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11615
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation in the shooting death of his former wife. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions, holding (1) the trial judge did…
Date: July 28, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11923
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was injured after slipping and falling on a walkway leading into a garden store owned by Defendant. Plaintiff filed a complaint asserting that she tripped on a stone that had traveled from a gravel area near…
Date: July 28, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12001
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on several drug-related charges. Defendant filed a motion to suppress items found during a search of his bag following his arrest on an outstanding warrant. The superior court allowed Defendant’s…
Date: July 26, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12071
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for several drug offenses. Defendant filed a motion for issuance of a subpoena seeking certain data he claimed would be relevant to support his claim that he was subjected to selective enforcement…
Date: July 25, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11981
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Defendant pleaded guilty on indictments charging several drug-related offenses. In 2012, Defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas based on the misconduct of Annie Dookhan, a chemist who was employed…
Date: July 20, 2016
Citations: 54 N.E.3d 495, 474 Mass. 787
Docket Number: SJC-10932
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was sixteen years old at the time he admitted to committing murder. Defendant made his confession after prolonged questioning by the police and by his mother. Defendant filed a motion to suppress his statements…
Date: July 20, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11988
Justia Opinion Summary: After a trial, Defendant was found guilty of the trafficking and distribution of cocaine. During trial, drug certificates were admitted into evidence that were signed by Annie Dookhan declaring that the substances in…
Date: July 15, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11614
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and assault and battery. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions and discerned no basis to exercise its authority pursuant to…
Date: July 14, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11921
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of assault and battery on a child causing substantial bodily injury. The prosecution argued that Defendant violently shook a toddler in his care based on medical testimony that…
Date: July 13, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11990
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen. Defendant was later found to be in violation of his probation. The judge revoked the probation and imposed a term of…
Date: July 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11915
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possession of a class B controlled substance and possession of class B and C controlled substances with intent to distribute. On appeal, Defendant argued that the…
Date: July 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11968
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor (OUI), possession with intent to distribute a class B substance, and possession with intent to distribute a…
Date: July 11, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11995
Justia Opinion Summary: Bank of America, N.A., in its capacity as a corporate trustee of several inter vivos trusts, applied for abatement of fiduciary income taxes paid by thirty-four inter vivos trusts. The Commissioner of Revenue denied the…
Date: July 8, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11551
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the conviction and declined to exercise its powers under…
Date: July 6, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12106; 12117
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in these two consolidated appeals was an initiative petition that proposed to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana and products that contain marijuana concentrate. In the first case (Hensley case) Plaintiffs…
Date: July 1, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12043
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted as a youthful offender on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Defendant moved in the juvenile court to dismiss the youthful offender indictment, asserting that the evidence was insufficient to…
Date: July 1, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12064
Justia Opinion Summary: On August 5, 2015, sixteen voters submitted Initiative Petition 15-12 to the Attorney General. The petition (1) sought to end the use of the Common Core State Standards in defining the educational curriculum of publicly…
Date: June 28, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12063
Justia Opinion Summary: Eugene McCain filed an initiative petition that sought to amend Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 23K to authorize the Gaming Commission to award one additional license for a slot machine parlor. The Attorney General certified the…
Date: June 23, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11874
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of seven counts of criminal trespass. Before trial, Defendant requested a jury instruction on the defense of necessity, arguing that his conduct of being present in…
Date: June 21, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11992
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated rape and abuse of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen years of age. The Appeals Court affirmed on appeal. Defendant appealed,…
Date: June 20, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12010
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was a passenger in a vehicle that was pursued and stopped for traveling at a "speed greater than is reasonable," G. L. c. 90, 17.1 While the vehicle was still in motion, the defendant got out, looked…
Date: June 17, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11671
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and declined to exercise its powers under Mass.…
Date: June 17, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11991
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was the owner and occupant of certain property. Defendant, the owner of a parcel of land abutting Plaintiff’s property, planned to build a residence on the property and applied for a building permit. The town…
Date: June 16, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11582
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was tried for first degree murder, home invasion, armed robbery, aggravated assault and battery (by means of a dangerous weapon), carrying an unlicensed firearm and trafficking in cocaine. The jury deadlocked…
Date: June 16, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11943
Justia Opinion Summary: The United States Court of Appeal for the First Circuit certified two questions of state law to the Massachusetts Supreme Court. The questions arose in the context of a bankruptcy proceeding, and concerned the power and…
Date: June 15, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11975
Justia Opinion Summary: Ellen Duff-Kareores and Christopher Kareores were married in 1995 and divorced in 2004. The divorce judgment obligated Christopher to pay Ellen alimony every month. In 2004, Christopher resumed living with Ellen and the…
Date: June 14, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12003
Justia Opinion Summary: Bryan Corporation (the company) commenced an action against Bryan Abrano (Bryan), who was a shareholder of the company, for breach of fiduciary duty. The company moved to disqualify Bryan’s attorneys, members of the firm…
Date: June 14, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12005
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of murder in the second degree. The Appeals Court affirmed the judgment. The Supreme Judicial Court granted Defendant’s application for further review to address…
Date: June 13, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11729
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of extreme atrocity or cruelty and felony-murder with aggravated rape as the predicate felony. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed on appeal, holding (1)…
Date: June 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11849
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of several firearms offenses, each of which had associated with it an armed criminal sentence enhancement charge under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 269, 10G, which provides sentence enhancements for…
Date: June 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11948
Justia Opinion Summary: Probationer was placed on probation supervision after pleading guilty to one count of possession of a class D substance with intent to distribute. A notice of probation violation later issued alleging that Probationer…
Date: June 6, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11851
Justia Opinion Summary: Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations require that those deemed to be liable after a spill of hazardous materials within a specified radius of a public water supply undertake cleanup and monitoring to…
Date: June 3, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11928
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant's six-month-old daughter, Jahanna, was rushed to the emergency room, unconscious and unresponsive. She was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. Brain scans showed retinal hemorrhages, subdural hematoma, and…
Date: May 31, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11901
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an attorney who worked for the defendant Boston law firm, 2004-2008, complained to her superiors and, later, to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, that she was being subjected to…
Date: May 25, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11173
Justia Opinion Summary: The defendant was convicted on a theory of felony-murder in the 2008 shooting death of a Brockton taxicab driver. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, agreeing that the defendant voluntarily waived his…
Date: May 25, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11962
Justia Opinion Summary: Stevenson moved to dismiss indictments charging aggravated rape of a child with force, G. L. 265, 22B; and five counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, G. L. 265, 13B.1, arguing that the…
Date: May 24, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11927
Justia Opinion Summary: The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) filed a complaint for summary process in the Housing Court to establish its right to possession of the Rego house, which Fannie Mae purchased at a foreclosure sale.…
Date: May 24, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11938
Justia Opinion Summary: The defendant was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm, G. L. c. 269, sect. 10(a); unlawful possession of ammunition, G. L. c. 269, sect. 10(h); carrying a loaded firearm, G. L. c. 269, sect. 10(n); assault and…
Date: May 23, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11925
Justia Opinion Summary: B.V.G., a young woman with intellectual disabilities, has been in the sole custody of her father for many years. He was named her temporary guardian when B.V.G. reached age 18. Her maternal grandfather sought to…
Date: May 20, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11448
Justia Opinion Summary: The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree in two shooting deaths on theories of premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, rejecting challenges to…
Date: May 17, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11961
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 21N, 3(d), the Department of Environmental Protection was required to promulgate regulations “establishing a desired level of declining annual aggregate emission limits for sources or…
Date: May 13, 2016
Docket Numbers: SJC-11924, SJC-11960
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendants Branden Mattier and Domunique Grice were convicted on indictments charging one count each of conspiracy to commit larceny and attempted larceny. Mattier was also convicted on an indictment…
Date: May 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12058
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of murder in the second degree and other offenses. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed on appeal. Thereafter, Appellant filed a motion for relief from unlawful restraint pursuant to Mass. R. Crim.…
Date: May 5, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11780
Justia Opinion Summary: Justice Ainooson commenced an action in the superior court against several individual defendants. After an extension of time to effect service was allowed, Ainooson moved to waive service or to deem the defendants…
Date: May 5, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11878
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted on thirty indictments, ten each charging armed robbery while masked, home invasion, and kidnapping. The Appeals Court affirmed. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial judge…
Date: May 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11892
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether a parent whose minor child is the subject of a guardianship petition has a right to counsel when and if the parent petitions to have the guardian removed or to have the terms of the…
Date: May 2, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11946
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted on three indictments charging conspiracy, attempted larceny, and identity fraud. Defendant appealed his convictions and filed a motion for stay of the execution of his sentence…
Date: April 28, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11958
Justia Opinion Summary: The decedent in this case was killed in a one-car accident when he drove in an intoxicated state after leaving a restaurant owned by Defendants. Plaintiff filed a complaint under the Commonwealth’s wrongful death…
Date: April 27, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11859
Justia Opinion Summary: Landlord brought a summary process action against Tenant for possession of the premises. Tenant counterclaimed, alleging violations of the security deposit statute and other causes of action. The Housing Court found in…
Date: April 21, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11898
Justia Opinion Summary: In the late 1990s, Robert James, acting on behalf of the Robert and Ardis James Foundation, agreed to advance more than $650,000 to Daniel Meyers to purchase shares of stock in a fledgling, privately held company that…
Date: April 21, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11971
Justia Opinion Summary: DiMasi, a former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, resigned from his position in 2009 and began receiving retirement benefits from the State Board of Retirement (board). A federal grand jury…
Date: April 20, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11850
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree and multiple firearms-related offenses. Defendant appealed, raising several claims. The Supreme Judicial Court reversed Defendant’s conviction of…
Date: April 19, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11885
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was a 1878 partition of Native American common land in the town of Gay Head, which is located on the western coast of Martha’s Vineyard and is connected to the rest of the island by an isthmus. Two…
Date: April 19, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11914
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of trafficking in fourteen grams or more of cocaine. Defendant sought further review, arguing that the search of his genital area during a patfrisk for weapons was an unlawful…
Date: April 13, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11872
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, the principals and owners of Burbank Apartments (Burbank), decided not to renew Burbank’s project-based Section 8 housing assistance payments contract (HAP) with the United States Department of Housing and…
Date: April 8, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11684
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. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions and discerned…
Date: April 8, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11998
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted on counts of an indictment charging two sentencing enhancements - one as a second-time offender and one under the Massachusetts armed career criminal (ACC) statute. Both enhancements were premised…
Date: April 6, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11906
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was found guilty of twenty-one counts of unauthorized access to a computer system. That same day Appellant filed an application for voluntary superannuation retirement. The public employment retirement…
Date: April 6, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11964
Justia Opinion Summary: In Commonwealth v. Sylvain, the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed its decision in Commonwealth v. Clarke that defense counsel’s duty to provide noncitizen defendants with accurate advice regarding the deportation…
Date: April 1, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-12024
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of forcible rape of a child and other offenses. Petitioner’s convictions were affirmed on appeal. Petitioner later filed a motion for a new trial, which a motion judge denied. Petitioner later…
Date: March 31, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11719
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of felony-murder, based on the predicate felony of aggravated rape, and aggravated rape. Defendant was sentenced to concurrent terms of life in prison.…
Date: March 30, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11905
Justia Opinion Summary: Stansfield sought a harassment prevention order against Van Liew alleging four incidents of harassment. The alleged harassment concerned a local municipal election and general issues of local public concern. The District…
Date: March 29, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11969
Justia Opinion Summary: The Drummer Boy Homes Association, Inc. filed suit against Carolyn and Randy Britton, who owned a unit in the Drummer Boy Condomininum II, seeking to recover unpaid common expenses and to enforce a priority lien. When…
Date: March 28, 2016
Docket Numbers: SJC-11972, SJC-11973
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were charged with shoplifting by concealing merchandise and unlawfully carrying a firearm. Defendants moved to suppress the firearm discovered during the inventory search of the vehicle that they used to…
Date: March 23, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11605
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on a theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty and other crimes. Defendant appealed, arguing that the judge’s instruction on diminished capacity…
Date: March 22, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11954
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was divorced from Respondent pursuant to a judgment of divorce nidi in 2014. In 2015, Petitioner filed a motion for relief from judgment. A judge of the probate and family court denied the motion. Petitioner…
Date: March 16, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-08921
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of murder in the first degree. During the pendency of his appeal, Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, alleging that he had not been competent to stand trial. The…
Date: March 15, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11976
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant filed a complaint against Harvard University alleging employment discrimination. The superior court granted Harvard’s motion to dismiss the complaint and denied Appellant’s subsequent attempts to reinstate the…
Date: March 14, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11841
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner pleaded guilty in a Connecticut court to a sex crime. As conditions of his probation, Petitioner was ordered not to leave Connecticut and to submit to electronic monitoring. Petitioner’s supervision was later…
Date: March 14, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11896
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, who is not a citizen of the United States, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of cocaine. Defendant was subsequently placed in a removal proceeding. Defendant filed a motion to vacate his guilty plea,…
Date: March 11, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11723
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of attempted armed robbery and murder in the first degree on theories of extreme atrocity or cruelty and felony murder. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment on the…
Date: March 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11836
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with attempted murder and related assault and battery and child endangerment crimes for not giving prescribed chemotherapy and other medications designed to treat the cancer from which her son…
Date: March 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11899
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed an eight-count complaint against her former employer (Hospital) and former supervisor (collectively, Defendants). One count of Plaintiff’s complaint survived for purposes of trial. The jury returned a…
Date: March 9, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11902
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs and Defendant, members of an accounting firm (Firm), were parties to a stockholder agreement (Agreement) that contained an arbitration clause. The parties’ agreement to arbitrate was governed by the…
Date: March 7, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11897
Justia Opinion Summary: Employee was severely injured while traveling abroad on a business trip. Employer had purchased two workers’ compensation policies from two different insurers, the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania (ISOP)…
Date: March 4, 2016
Docket Numbers: SJC-11903, SJC-11903
Justia Opinion Summary: When Plaintiff retired in 2004 from his position as a sergeant with the Cambridge police department, he was issued a retired officer identification card that had no expiration date. In 2011, Plaintiff applied for the…
Date: March 3, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-09926
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. Defendant subsequently filed a motion for a new trial based on alleged…
Date: March 2, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11752
Justia Opinion Summary: After Petitioner’s condominium unit was foreclosed upon, Respondent became the new owner. Respondent commenced a summary process action against Petitioner, and the court ruled in Respondent’s favor. The Appellate…
Date: February 29, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11875
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a black male of African descent who had a medical degree from the University of the West Indies, was terminated from his employment with Mount Auburn Hospital while completing the first year of his residency.…
Date: February 24, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11904
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with reckless endangerment of a child by walking on railroad tracks with a child. The trial judge dismissed the count of reckless endangerment, concluding (1) the Commonwealth was required to…
Date: February 19, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11877
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of armed robbery while masked, kidnapping for purposes of extortion, and armed assault with intent to murder. The Appeals Court affirmed the convictions. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial…
Date: February 17, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11879
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to several crimes in connection with an arrest for attempted burglary and other offenses. Appellant moved to vacate two of his convictions of attempted armed burglary and his conviction of…
Date: February 17, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11918
Justia Opinion Summary: These cases were appeals of consolidated care and protection petitions concerning six children. The biological mother of the six children, the biological father of the two oldest children, and four of the children…
Date: February 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11853
Justia Opinion Summary: Two employees were injured in the course of their employment, collected workers’ compensation benefits and then reached settlement agreements with third parties including damages for their pain and suffering. The same…
Date: February 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11876
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on seven charges, including armed assault in a dwelling and breaking and entering in the daytime. Defendant moved to suppress the victim’s out-of-court and in-court identifications of Defendant as…
Date: February 12, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11900
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of robbery while armed and masked and attempted robbery. On appeal, Defendant argued, inter alia, that the judge erred in denying his motion for a new trial, which alleged that trial counsel had…
Date: February 11, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11926
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, who owned property abutting a proposed development, filed an appeal in the Housing Court from the decision of the planning board of Greenfield granting a special permit in favor of the developer to construct…
Date: February 10, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-07874
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 and of armed assault with intent to murder. The Supreme Judicial court…
Date: February 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11920
Justia Opinion Summary: EventMonitor, Inc. terminated the employment of Anthony Leness, characterizing the termination as “without cause.” After discovering that Leness had copies the data on a company laptop computer EventMonitor retroactively…
Date: February 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11953
Justia Opinion Summary: Abinel Zenon was charged with assault and battery, among other offenses. Zenon sought certain third-party records to support his claim that the alleged victim was, in fact, the first aggressor. A judge of the district…
Date: February 3, 2016
Docket Numbers: SJC-11683, SJC-11937
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was investigated for, but not indicted for, a 1974 murder. More than twenty-five years later, DNA analysis of tissue taken from under the fingernails of the victim led to Defendant’s indictment for the murder.…
Date: February 3, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11867
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arraigned in the municipal court on a larceny charge. The court gave defendant the bail revocation warning pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 58 and released him on personal recognizance. Defendant failed…
Date: February 3, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11887
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arraigned in the district court on criminal charges in four separate matters. The court gave defendant the bail revocation warning pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 58 and released him on personal…
Date: February 3, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11888
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arraigned in the municipal court on drug-related and firearm-related charges. The court gave Defendant the bail revocation warning pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 58 and released him on personal…
Date: January 22, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11908
Justia Opinion Summary: Joshua Charbonneau was charged with larceny over $250. The Holyoke District Court issued an amended standing order on March 31, 2015 providing that a defendant was to tender a defendant-capped plea no later than 2 p.m.…
Date: January 14, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11793
Justia Opinion Summary: Police officers applied for and obtained a warrant to search Defendant’s iPhone. The warrant authorized a search of Defendant’s iPhone for evidence of communications that would link him and another suspect to a shooting.…
Date: January 11, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11857
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was on parole when his parole officer and others searched his apartment without a warrant and seized cocaine from his bedroom door. Defendant was indicted for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.…
Date: January 7, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11880
Justia Opinion Summary: After a fire broke out at the Beacon Towers Condominium, the board of trustees for the Beacon Towers Condominium Trust, the unit owners’ organization for the condominium, assessed George Alex $62,995 for the two units…
Date: January 6, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11873
Justia Opinion Summary: Regency Transportation, Inc. is a Massachusetts S corporation that carries and delivers goods throughout the eastern United States. In 2010, the Commissioner of Revenue imposed a use tax on the full purchase price of…
Date: January 5, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11747
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant sought an order requiring the Commonwealth to disclose whether a witness cooperating against him had previously served as a confidential informant or cooperating witness. The superior court judge granted…
Date: January 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11864
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, a married couple, filed an application with the Department of Children and Families for a license that would enable them to become foster and preadoptive parents. The Department denied the application because…
Date: January 4, 2016
Docket Number: SJC-11893
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was stopped by a state police trooper, who was prompted by the receipt of an anonymous 911 call concerning an apparent drunk driver. After a bench trial, Defendant was convicted of operating a motor vehicle…
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