Up until this week, Massachusetts law allowed for the imposition of community lifetime parole (CPSL) under G. L. c. 127 § 133D. CPSL is intensive parole supervision by the parole board. It may only be imposed after a defendant is convicted of a sex offense. A CPSL sentence begins after…
This past Tuesday, the Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision in Commonwealth v. Watts. The decision held that the Raise the Age legislation, which raised the age of defendants who could be charged in adult court from seventeen to eighteen, is not retroactive, and therefore does not apply to cases…
A new bill – S 853 – was unveiled at the statehouse last Tuesday. The bill establishes new crimes related to domestic violence, new legal provisions to protect alleged victims, and new training for judges in relation to domestic violence cases. Specifically, the bill creates a new charge for a first…
This past week, the Massachusetts’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued its long-awaited report on the Hinton drug lab scandal. The purpose of the OIG’s investigation was to look at how the Hinton lab was run for the 10 years before it was shut down in 2012, identify deficiencies in…
Earlier this week, the Supreme Judicial Court issued its decision in Commonwealth v. Scott. In the decision, the SJC made it easier for defendants who were convicted of drug offenses involving Dookhan drug certificates, and who are now seeking to vacate their pleas. In April 2011, Scott was arrested. Following…
On February 18, 2013, the Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision in Commonwealth v. Augustine. In the decision, the court ruled that the Commonwealth must obtain a warrant supported by probable cause before getting cell site location information (CSLI) associated with a particular cellular telephone from cellular telephone providers. CSLI…
On December 24, 2013, in Commonwealth v. Diatchenko, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that all life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders, whether mandatory or discretionary, violate the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment under Article 26 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. This decision went beyond current federal law, laid out…
On December 24, 2013, in Diatchenko v. District Attorney for the Suffolk District, the Supreme Judicial Court held that the imposition of life without parole sentences on juveniles is unconstitutional. Diatchenko was convicted of first-degree murder for killing a man in 1981, when Diatchenko was just seventeen. At that time,…
For a criminal charge to issue against an individual, a police officer must submit an application to the court for a criminal complaint. The application includes the alleged facts and the charges sought. A clerk magistrate then reviews the application to determine whether there is a sufficient basis for the…
On August 2, 2012, the Massachusetts legislature passed the 2012 crime bill. Part of this bill reduced the minimum mandatory sentences associated with various drug crimes. This included a reduction of the size of “school zone” violations, which carry enhanced penalties for drug crimes committed near a school. The bill…