124 results for 'court:"Massachusetts Supreme Court"'.
J. Budd denies the Massachusetts’ appeal to reverse a justice’s decision to allow the defendant limited access to the apartment of the alleged victim to prepare for trial. The Commonwealth fails to demonstrate that the defendant being allowed to reenter the apartment with a police escort for an hour for discovery purposes is an exceptional circumstance warranting the Supreme Court’s power of superintendence. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Budd, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: SJC-13309, Categories: Assault, Battery, Discovery
J. Cypher affirms the denial of the defendant’s motion for a new trial, which the defendant requested based on blood and DNA trial evidence that he argues is unreliable. The blood and DNA evidence was only part of the evidence used, and other evidence included numerous statements by the defendant, including threatening statements to the victim and his loved ones and telling police he expected them when they showed up to arrest him.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Cypher, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: SJC-13312, Categories: Dna, Evidence, Murder
J. Wendlandt finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder and unlawful discharge of a firearm. While defendant was not properly notified that his interrogation would be recorded, it does not mean it should have been suppressed during his trial because he was advised that anything he said could and would be used against him in court. However, his conviction for unlawful possession is vacated. Affirmed in part.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: SJC-12835, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Self Defense
J. Georges denies defendant's motion for a new trial, motion for an evidentiary hearing and motion for further discovery following his murder conviction. Defendant argues that his acquaintance's secret recordings should not have been presented to the jury, but warrantless secret recordings are allowed under certain conditions, which were present in this case. However, three of defendant's convictions of assault by means of a dangerous weapon must be vacated as duplicative. Affirmed in part.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Georges, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: SJC-11668, Categories: Evidence, Fair Trial, Murder
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J. Georges affirms Massachusetts’ conviction of the defendant for murder. The inclusion of testimony of other inmates who were persuaded to share what the defendant told them about the murder he was convicted of does not constitute a violation of his right to counsel because these inmates weren’t offered cooperation agreements until after they’d conversed with the defendant of their own volition.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Georges, Filed On: July 17, 2023, Case #: SJC-10079, Categories: Evidence, Fair Trial, Murder
J. Gaziano finds that no errors were made in convicting defendant of premeditated murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. The victim’s drug possession and dealing was properly excluded from the defendant’s prior trial because being a drug dealer on its own doesn’t provide a third-party culprit defense, and it was also not an error to include that the defendant’s codefendant was in possession of a firearm eight months before he and defendant participated in the murder because the specific firearm hadn’t been ruled out as the murder weapon.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Gaziano, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: SJC-13131, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Murder
J. Gaziano finds that no errors were made in convicting the defendant of premeditated murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. It was correct for the victim’s drug possession and dealing to be excluded from the defendant’s prior trial because being a drug dealer on its own doesn’t provide a third-party culprit defense, and it was also correct to include that the defendant was in possession of a firearm eight months before he and his codefendant participated in the murder because the specific firearm he was in possession of hadn't been ruled out as the murder weapon. Also, while the jury had not been informed that prosecutors were required to prove an absence of a firearm license, but the weight of the evidence against the defendant far outweighs this single omission.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Gaziano, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: SJC-13132, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Murder
J. Kafker dismisses a former employee’s claims against his former employer for sexually harassing the former employee and his girlfriend, because the claim was brought outside of the 300-day statute of limitations. This particular statute was not one of those covered by a toll on statutes of limitations initiated as a response to Covid-19, which applied to lower courts, not the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, which is an executive branch agency.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Kafker, Filed On: July 11, 2023, Case #: SJC-13364, Categories: Administrative Law, Jurisdiction, Employment Discrimination
J. Wendlandt finds the lower court properly refused to suppress evidence during defendant's trial for the murder of his 83-year-old father, whom he beat and suffocated. The arresting officers who approached defendant were acting within a community caretaking function, as defendant appeared to be stranded and suffering from a mental health crisis, and the officers were not aware at the time he was wanted in connection with the murder. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: June 30, 2023, Case #: SJC-13134 , Categories: Constitution, Evidence, Murder
J. Lowy finds a guilty-filed disposition is considered a predicate offense in a case where defendant argues his prior guilty plea to shoplifting cannot be used as a predicate offense to his third and most recent shoplifting charge. The term "offense" for sentencing purposes is synonymous with conviction.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Lowy, Filed On: June 28, 2023, Case #: SJC-13379 , Categories: Sentencing, Theft
J. Wendlandt upholds the lower court's grant of summary judgment to a dealership on a pedestrian's negligence claims, which arose after she was struck by a car the dealership had provided as a courtesy to a customer while his vehicle was being repaired. The Graves Amendment, which protects rental car companies from being held vicariously liable for a driver's actions, protects the dealership, as the vehicle it loaned to the customer is considered a rental under the circumstances.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: SJC-13378 , Categories: Vehicle, Negligence
J. Kafker vacates defendant's conviction for the murder of his girlfriend, whom he chopped to death with a machete. The trial court improperly failed to instruct the jury on the impact of mental impairment or intoxication to determine whether defendant acted in a cruel and atrocious manner. Vacated.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Kafker, Filed On: June 26, 2023, Case #: SJC-13225 , Categories: Murder, Jury Instructions
J. Budd upholds defendant's voluntary manslaughter conviction for his fatal stabbing of the victim. Although the trial court failed to instruct the jury on how it could consider certain lyrics written by defendant, the error did not prejudice him, as the prosecution did not mention them in the opening and closing statements, and the commonwealth's case as strong. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Budd, Filed On: June 12, 2023, Case #: SJC-13223 , Categories: Evidence, Manslaughter, Jury Instructions
J. Kafker finds the trial court improperly dismissed a car manufacturer from a products liability case arising from traumatic brain injuries a passenger received in a car collision. Personal jurisdiction exists in Massachusetts under the commonwealth's long-arm statute and the due process clause. Vacated.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Kafker, Filed On: June 8, 2023, Case #: SJC-13354 , Categories: Product Liability, Jurisdiction
J. Cypher upholds the lower court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence discovered in his vehicle during his trial for the lethal shooting and stabbing of a man who had an affair with defendant's wife. The vehicle, which was parked in defendant's driveway, was not within the curtilage of the home. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Cypher, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: SJC-13239, Categories: Murder, Search
J. Lowy upholds defendant's first-degree murder conviction and refuses to reduce the verdict. The theory of deliberate premeditation is supported by evidence, and defendant fails to show he received ineffective assistance of counsel or that a certain portion of the prosecutor's closing argument was improper. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Lowy, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: SJC-12023 , Categories: Evidence, Ineffective Assistance, Murder
Per curiam, the Massachusetts Supreme Court upholds a single justice's denial of a company's petition seeking relief from the lower court's ruling tolling the accrual of post-judgment interest on its $65,000 judgment award against an individual. The company fails to show it could not have simply appealed the ruling. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 26, 2023, Case #: SJC-13400 , Categories: Civil Procedure, Damages
Per curiam, the Massachusetts Supreme Court upholds the single justice's refusal to grant relief to the commonwealth, which had unsuccessfully sought to disqualify a defendant's appellate counsel on the basis of a conflict of interest due to her presentation of another individual. The commonwealth can appeal the decision following entry of a final judgment, and the single justice was not required to reach the merits of the petition due, in part, to the commonwealth's 2-month delay in filing it. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 26, 2023, Case #: SJC-13305 , Categories: Criminal Procedure, Murder
Per curiam, the Massachusetts Supreme Court upholds a single justice's denial of an attorney's motion to stay an order temporarily suspending him pending further disciplinary proceedings pertaining to his alleged gambling problem and misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars in client funds. Evidence supports the justice's decision that a temporary suspension is warranted. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: SJC-13370, Categories: Attorney Discipline
J. Wendlandt upholds defendant's conviction of first-degree murder and felony murder for strangling and smothering his girlfriend. The trial court thoroughly addressed defense counsel's concerns about defendant's ability to stand trial and found him competent, and also properly instructed the jury. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: SJC-13158, Categories: Competence, Murder