Commonwealth v. Diggs

District court judges ordered the two defendants in these consolidated cases to pretrial detention under the dangerousness statute, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 58A, under which a person “held under arrest” on charges of one of an enumerated list of offenses may be subject to a pretrial detention hearing. Defendants both argued that they were not “held under arrest” within the meaning of the statute when they appeared in court to be arraigned and, therefore, could not lawfully be subjected to a pretrial detention hearing. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the orders of pretrial detention, holding that where a criminal defendant has been arrested or is subject to an outstanding arrest warrant for an enumerated offense, he or she may be subject to pretrial detention under the dangerousness statute, even if the defendant is not held in custody following the arrest, so long as the dangerousness hearing takes place immediately upon the defendant’s first appearance before the court. View "Commonwealth v. Diggs" on Justia Law