Commonwealth v. Gernrich

Defendant, an inmate, was charged with falsely reporting a sexual assault to a deputy sheriff employed at the corrections facility. After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of making a false report of a crime to a police officer. Defendant appealed, arguing that a deputy sheriff is not a police officer within the meaning of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 269, 13A, and therefore, the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction. The Supreme Judicial Court reversed, holding that a deputy sheriff is not a “police officer” within the meaning of the statute. View "Commonwealth v. Gernrich" on Justia Law