Commonwealth v. Teixeira

Defendants in these two criminal cases were charged in the Boston Municipal Court (BMC) with a number of felonies. The BMC judges scheduled probable cause hearings for Defendants to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to bind them over to the Superior Court for trial and ordered the Commonwealth to provide Defendants with discovery in advance of those hearings. The Commonwealth objected to the discovery orders, arguing that the BMC and the District Court Department are not explicitly authorized to order discovery in preparation for probable cause hearings. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) judges of the BMC may, in their discretion, order preheating discovery; and (2) the judges in this case did not abuse their discretion by issuing the discovery orders. View "Commonwealth v. Teixeira" on Justia Law