In Commonwealth v. Abubardar, the Supreme Judicial Court reversed the defendant’s conviction of assault and battery (as a lesser included offense of attempted murder), because the judge failed to instruct the jury on the use of non-deadly force in self-defense. The background was as follows. On the basis of an…
The United State Supreme Court issued a recent decision – Stokeling v. United States – weighing in on predicate offenses under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U. S. C. §924(e)(2)(B)(i). In its decision, the Court ruled that that even if Stokeling’s prior robbery conviction in Florida involved…
In Commonwealth v. Rosa (http://www.socialaw.com/services/slip-opinions/slip-opinion-details/commonwealth-vs.-michael-c.-rosa), the Appeals Court ruled that the evidence at the defendant’s bench trial — on a criminal complaint charging him with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (shod foot) –“was sufficient to support the judge’s finding that at least one of the parental…
The Appeals Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Sudler that the evidence was insufficient to support the defendant’s conviction of battery with intent to intimidate causing bodily injury, pursuant to G.L. c.265, §39(b) on the ground that the victim’s injury, “two cut fingers,” did not constitute “‘substantial impairment of the [victim’s] physical…
In Commonwealth v. O’Neal, the Appeals Court reversed the denial of the defendant’s motion for a new trial on an indictment charging him with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, because the Commonwealth failed to preserve a videotape of the incident. The background was as follows. Police officers…
In Commonwealth v. Manha, the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the defendant’s conviction of assault with a dangerous weapon. The SJC specifically ruled that the judge properly denied the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence seized by the police after stopping the defendant’s vehicle pursuant to a 911 call from a motorist…
In a recent decision, Commonwealth v. Connolly, the Appeals Court ruled that testimony from a police officer describing a video that he watched, but that the Commonwealth failed to produce in discovery, should not have been admitted. In reversing the defendant’s conviction of assault and battery under G. L. c.…
According to an article in the MetroWest Daily News, a Framingham man was recently arrested in relation to an alleged road rage incident. The article states that the defendant believed that the alleged victim cut him off on Route 9 and that the defendant then began to follow the alleged…
According to an article in the MetroWest Daily News, a man broke into an apartment in Marlborough this past week and reportedly assaulted one of the residents. The article states that the alleged victim was in his bedroom with headphones on when he heard a loud noise at the front door…
According to an article in the MetroWest Daily News, a thirty-seven year old woman was arrested after a knife fight in Framingham. The article states that the police went to Phelps Road and found “a small child walking around holding a large kitchen knife.” It is unclear what led the…