124 results for 'court:"Massachusetts Supreme Court"'.
J. Georges affirms defendant’s convictions for murder and armed assault with the intent to rob because no judicial error was made that would make those convictions reversible. However, the defendants conviction of unlawful possession of ammunition is vacated because the jury was not instructed that licensure is an essential element of the crime.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Georges, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: SJC-12166, Categories: Firearms, Murder, Assault
J. Wendlandt vacates the defendant's convictions for first-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon after he allegedly killed a man in a drive-by shooting where he shot the man 11 times, and shot but did not kill the man's associate. There were no witnesses to the shooting who were able to identify defendant and the judge denied his request to conduct a voir dire examination of a witness who claimed to have seen him in a bluish-silver Nissan sedan near the crime scene 20-30 minutes before the shooting. Vacated.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: November 16, 2023, Case #: SJC-12984, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Witnesses
Per curiam, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirms the disbarment of James Hayes and partially denies his motion to supplement the record. Substantial evidence regarding his misconduct, including assisting clients to engage in fraudulent conduct and misusing client funds, supports the disbarment, and Hayes failed to offer most of the documents at the hearing. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: November 10, 2023, Case #: SJC-13388, Categories: Fraud, Attorney Fees, Attorney Discipline
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J. Wendlandt affirms the dismissal of local housing authorities’ motion for a declaratory judgment based on the local housing authorities’ belief that their state government exceeds its authority by refusing to approve employment contracts between local housing authorities and their executive directors if they don’t adhere to Department of Housing and Community Development guidelines. Guidelines are not by definition necessarily optional. Guidelines can be mandatory and the use of the term guidelines in a statute rather than mandates does not imply that the statute carries less authority than if it did use the term mandates.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: November 6, 2023, Case #: SJC-13412, Categories: Administrative Law, Government, Housing
Per curiam, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirms the denial, without a hearing, of two trustees’ petition for extraordinary relief. They were previously told by a judge that in order to have a criminal warrant made against a man, who sued the trustees in a land court case and then refused to identify all real estate in which he holds an interest, the trustees need to provide a memorandum detailing the grounds and authority the court has to issue such a warrant, which the trustees have not done.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: November 6, 2023, Case #: SJC-13424, Categories: Real Estate, Trusts, Due Process
J. Kafker finds unenforceable a disputed agreement between a minority owner of a real estate company, which was purchasing a parcel of land to be used for a casino with a resort, and a representative of the resort. The agreement said the minority owner would be paid his percentage of the price reduction of said parcel of land, but the agreement was hidden from the commission empowered to review and approve casino licenses.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Kafker, Filed On: November 3, 2023, Case #: SJC-13416, Categories: Administrative Law, Real Estate, Contract
J. Gaziano determines Massachusetts is correct that it should be able to retry a defendant for unlawfully carrying a firearm, unlawfully
carrying a loaded firearm and unlawfully carrying ammunition. Defendant was convicted of those charges previously, but the convictions were later vacated because the jury was not informed that convicting the defendant for those crimes required finding that he hadn’t had a firearms license when committing them. The constitutional rule establishing that lack of licensure is an essential part of those crimes wasn’t established until after the defendant was convicted.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Gaziano, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: SJC-13315, Categories: Firearms, Double Jeopardy, Jury Instructions
Per curiam, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirms the denial of an application to vacate an involuntary commitment order. The applicant fails to give a reasonable explanation of why he hasn’t filed his appeal with the appellate division of the district courts. His rationale is that it would take too long, but he fails to acknowledge that he has the option to request an expedited review of his appeal.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: SJC-13337, Categories: Administrative Law, Commitment, Jurisdiction
Per curiam, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirms the dismissal of a doctor's complaints for immediate reinstatement of his medical license, instead of requiring him to go through the process of reviving a lapsed license, after his license expired during the course of disciplinary proceedings against him which resulted in a reprimand and a fine. He fails to identify any judicial command that the board disobeyed by not immediately reinstating his license.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: SJC-13417, Categories: Licensing, Medical Malpractice
J. Kafker affirms the denial of a government commissioner’s motion to terminate a consent decree which allows some mental health facilities to use electric skin shock as a treatment on developmentally disabled individuals with severe behavioral issues. While such a treatment sounds archaic, according to some patients’ family members it can be helpful as a last resort option for patients who might otherwise engage in severe self-harming behavior, like attempting to gauge their own eyes.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Kafker, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: SJC-13298, Categories: Health Care, Commitment
J. Gaziano partially affirms disciplinary sanctions imposed on three prosecutors for withholding evidence that could be used to prove the chemist they were prosecuting was not guilty. One of the lawyers was not aware of the withheld evidence and was only guilty of relying on one of the other lawyers telling him that she had turned over such evidence, so he should not be subject to anything more severe than a public reprimand, but the lawyer who actually withheld the evidence did so knowingly and showed a lack of remorse or candor, so it is appropriate for her to be disbarred. The other lawyer was reckless and incompetent and should be suspended for one year plus one day.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Gaziano, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: SJC-13360, Categories: Evidence, Legal Malpractice, Attorney Discipline
J. Wendlandt reverses and remands a judgment against the Secretary of the Commonwealth for exceeding his authority by accusing a stock brokerage firm of not living up to its fiduciary duty by encouraging inexperienced investors to make risky investments. Rules in place to prevent the government from exceeding its authority through requiring firms to abide by standards as fiduciaries do not take priority over protecting investors. Reversed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: SJC-13381, Categories: Government, Fiduciary Duty, Banking / Lending
J. Cypher finds that the lower court improperly awarded partial summary judgment to the niece in a case where decedent left funds to be used to care for her cocker spaniel, Licorice, but the dog died before her, making the correct way to distribute the funds unclear. While the trust is meant to take care of Licorice and any other pets following her death, with the remaining funds to be donated to charity, that does not necessarily mean decedent intended for the funds to be donated to charity if her pets died before her. Vacated.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Cypher, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: SJC-13397, Categories: Trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Georges affirms a real estate company’s motion for summary judgment against a bereaved mother suing it for wrongful death and loss of consortium after her son was shot and killed outside property with a nightclub on it that the real estate company purchased. It is unreasonable to expect the company to have foreseen the shooting and to have protected the decedent from the shooter.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Georges, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: SJC-13380, Categories: Real Estate, Premises Liability, Firearms
J. Wendlandt affirms the denial of a railroad company’s motion to dismiss prevailing wage claims brought against it by one of its employees. The company claims that the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act preempts the Prevailing Wage Act and that contractors who win bids to complete projects for Massachusetts don’t have to pay their employees prevailing wages if they are railroad companies, but this is not accurate.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: SJC-13366, Categories: Employment, Preemption, Workers' Compensation
J. Lowy affirms the defendant’s convictions for murder and assault and battery by means of discharging a firearm. While the judge erred in failing to present examination of numerous witnesses to instances where the victim initiated violence, not including this additional evidence is unlikely to have prejudiced the jury in this case.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Lowy, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: SJC-13357, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Self Defense
J. Georges affirms the defendant’s conviction for assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. While the victim’s girlfriend wished to recant her statements to police, which she claimed the victim pressured her to make, and her grand jury testimony, the admitted parts of her testimony qualify as hearsay exemptions to inconsistent statements previously made under oath.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Georges, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: SJC-13383, Categories: Assault, Battery, Witnesses
J. Kafker affirms the defendant’s convictions for murder. The defendant argues that her trial should have been held at a different venue because media coverage and publicity could influence the jury against her but a jury having prior knowledge of the crime doesn’t automatically prevent it from being fair and impartial.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Kafker, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: SJC-13231, Categories: Fair Trial, Murder, Assault
J. Gaziano affirms the defendant’s convictions for murder, home invasion and armed assault with intent to rob, as well as the denial of his motion for a new trial, but vacates his firearms-related convictions. The firearms convictions are vacated because the jury was not told that Massachusetts bears the burden of proving that the defendant didn’t have the required firearm licenses, and there is no evidence on record that he didn’t have the required licenses.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Gaziano, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: SJC-12649, Categories: Firearms, Murder, Due Process
J. Lowy reverses a judgment denying an estate representative appointment proceedings because they fall outside the three-year limit from the decedent’s death that they are supposed to be filed within. However, the position of voluntary personal representative is a prior appointment, and is an exception to the time limit as a result. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Lowy, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: SJC-13393, Categories: Administrative Law, Wrongful Death