Commonwealth v. Thompson

Following a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of distributing cocaine and doing so in a school zone. Defendant appealed. While the appeal was pending, the school zone statute was amended to reduce the radius of the school zone. The appeals court affirmed Defendant’s convictions, concluding that the amendment did not have retroactive effect. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the Legislature did not intend to grant new trials to defendants who already had been convicted after the effective date of the amendment, and therefore, the amendment did not entitle Defendant to a new trial on his conviction of a school zone violation. View "Commonwealth v. Thompson" on Justia Law