The Appeals Court affirmed the dismissal of the complaint charging the defendant with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor (OUI-liquor) in Commonwealth v. Werra. The Court’s decision rested on the fact that the police citation for that offense “was not issued contemporaneously with the incident…
In Commonwealth v. Zagwyn, the Supreme Judicial Court reversed the defendant’s conviction of negligent operation of a motor vehicle under G.L. c.90, §24(2)(a), on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction. The background was as follows. A police “officer stopped the defendant’s motor vehicle after observing…
In Commonwealth v. Cueva, the Appeals Court (1) reversed the defendant’s conviction of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, third offense, because the judge erroneously admitted unredacted Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) records “contain[ing] multiple references to [the defendant’s] refusal to submit to a chemical test,”…
In Commonwealth v. O’Leary, the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the dismissal of the indictments charging the defendant with various motor vehicle offenses because the police did not comply with the requirements for issuance of citations set forth in the so-called “no-fix” statute (G.L. c.90C, §2). The background was as follows.…
In Commonwealth v. Nascimento, the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the dismissal of a complaint charging the defendant with operating a motor vehicle after his license had been administratively suspended for OUI on the ground that the statute under which the defendant was charged (G.L. c.90, §23, third par.) did not…
In a disappointing decision – Commonwealth v. Faherty – the Appeals Court affirmed the defendant’s conviction of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol (OUI), fourth offense. In the decision, the Appeals Court specifically ruled that a defendant’s conviction as “a subsequent offen[der] may be based on a…
In Commonwealth v. Camblin, the SJC affirmed the denial of the defendant’s “motion to exclude [breathalyzer] evidence as scientifically unreliable” in the defendant’s trial for operating under the influence of alcohol. The background was as follows. The defendant was charged “with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of…
In a recent Appeals Court decision, Commonwealth v. Ross, the Appeals Court ruled that the evidence was sufficient to support the defendant’s conviction of negligent operation of a motor vehicle. The background was as follows. At 9:50 p.m., a police officer observed the defendant driving his vehicle at a high rate…
The Supreme Judicial Court recently issued a decision – Commonwealth v. Wolfe – which vacated a defendant’s conviction of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol because the judge erroneously instructed that the jury “should disregard the lack of evidence of a breathalyzer test, blood test, or field…
In Commonwealth v. O’Leary, a divided panel of the Appeals Court reversed the trial court judge’s order “dismissing a multiple-count indictment [which charged the defendant with various motor vehicle offenses] on the ground that the police failed to make a timely delivery of the citation pursuant to G.L. c.90C, §2.”…