Commonwealth v. Fontanez
Annotate this CaseDefendant 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 recognizance. Defendant failed to appear at a subsequent hearing and was found in default. Thereafter, Defendant was arraigned on a new charge. At his arraignment, the Commonwealth moved to revoke Defendant’s bail in the four criminal matters. The district court denied the motion, concluding that Defendant was no longer subject to bail revocation because he had defaulted in the prior matters, was thus no longer “on release,” and therefore did not commit the new crime during the period of release. The Supreme Judicial Court remanded the case with directions to vacate the lower court’s ruling for the reasons set forth in Commonwealth v. Morales, also decided today, which held that a defendant on release pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 58, who defaults for failing to appear and is subsequently charged with committing a new crime, is subject to having his bail revoked.
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