The Appeals Court issued a decision – Commonwealth v. Johnson – affirming the revocation of the defendant’s probation and the denial of his motion to withdraw his stipulation to probation violations. In its decision, the Court ruled “that the defendant’s admission [to probation violations] and his waiver of the right to…
In Commonweath v. Dirico, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial under Mass. R. Crim. 36(b) was properly denied. The background was as follows. “The defendant contend[ed] that the Commonwealth was responsible for the delay in providing him with the results…
In Commonwealth v. Jeannis, the Appeals Court reversed the denial of the defendant’s motion to suppress a bag of drugs seized from his rectum, because the police did not have a warrant to conduct the seizure. The basic facts were as follows. In the booking area of a police station…
In a recent case – Commonwealth v. Robertson – the SJC reversed the defendant’s convictions of first-degree murder and related offenses because “the Commonwealth improperly excluded black men from the jury [by means of peremptory challenges] in violation of Batsonv. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), and Commonwealthv. Soares, 377 Mass.…
The Supreme Judicial Court recently came to a disappointing conclusion in Commonwealth v. Baez. In the case, the SJC ruled that juvenile delinquency adjudications for violent offenses may serve as predicate offenses for enhanced penalties for adults convicted under G.L. c.269, §10G, the armed career criminal act (ACCA). The background…
In Commonwealth v. Santiago, the Appeals Court reversed the denial of the defendant’s motion to suppress items seized from the vehicle in which he was a passenger, because the show of force by the police during the stop of the vehicle “was sufficiently significant to convert the stop to an…
In Commonwealth v. Gomez, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that conditional guilty pleas are permissible. The background was as follows. Two police officers observed the defendant hand an object to another man (Zimmerman) in exchange for cash. When Zimmerman drove away from the site of the exchange, the officers followed…
In Commonwealth v. Woods, the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the denial of the defendant’s motion for a new trial. The Court ruled that even if the defendant was a target of the grand jury investigation in this case, the Commonwealth was not obligated to warn him as to that status…
In a recent decision – Noe v. Sex Offender Registry Board – the Supreme Judicial Court ruled (1) that in sex offender registry reclassification proceedings initiated by an offender, the Sex Offender Registry Board (board) bears the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence; and (2) that “indigent sex offenders…
In Commonwealth v. Bones (http://www.socialaw.com/services/slip-opinions/slip-opinion-details/commonwealth-vs.-leonides-bones), the Appeals Court affirmed the defendant’s conviction of possession of a class A controlled substance with intent to distribute, ruling that the judge properly denied the defendant’s motion to suppress. The basic facts were as follows. Chelsea police sergeant Dunn “responded to a call from…