Justia Massachusetts Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Based on an assault that occurred on June 6, 2007, a jury convicted Defendant of attempted murder, armed home invasion, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery. The appeals court affirmed. Defendant appealed, contending, inter alia, that the assault constituted a consensual sexual encounter, and thus, in light of Lawrence v. Texas, the trial judge committed constitutional error by not instructing the jury that consent is a defense to the crimes of armed home invasion and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) there was no conflict between the reasoning of Lawrence and the Court's prior decisions holding that consent is not a defense to the crimes charged, and the judge appropriately instructed the jury on consent; (2) although the admission of materials retrieved on Defendant's home computer were proper, the judge's failure to view a video clip depicting a nude woman being strangled seemingly to death prior to ruling that its probative value outweighed its prejudicial effect was an abuse of discretion; but (3) upon independent review, the evidence was highly probative of Defendant's motive and intent, outweighing its plainly prejudicial effect. View "Commonwealth v. Carey" on Justia Law

Defendant was false accused of assaulting with a gun Ramon Benzan, a person who was performing work for Defendant. After the criminal complaint issued, it became apparent that Benzan had lied to a Boston police detective about the alleged assault in an attempt to extort money. The prosecutor filed a nolle prosequi. Defendant later moved to expunge his criminal records, arguing that the judge had the equitable authority to do so because Defendant had committed fraud on the court. A Boston municipal court judge deneid the motion, concluding that the case was controlled by the Supreme Court's decision in Commonwealth v. Boe and that under Mass. Gen. Laws 276, 100C, the judge had no power to issue an order of expungement. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) there was no fraud on the court; and (2) accordingly, the judge correctly determined that he lacked the equitable authority to grant the relief requested. View "Commonwealth v. Moe" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendants, two brothers, were convicted of several violations of the controlled substances laws, including the possession of class B and class D substances with intent to distribute. On appeal, Defendants primarily claimed that the admission of certificates of drug analysis to prove the chemical composition of the drugs seized in their shared apartment was constitutional error. The appeals court reversed based on improperly admitted drug certificates, even though Defendants both testified at trial and admitted that they possessed the drugs but for personal use. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, holding (1) the submission in evidence of the drug certificates without the testimony of the analyst that prepared them violated Defendants' right of confrontation; but (2) when considering Defendants' testimony along with the totality of the record, the admission of the drug certificates was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. View "Commonwealth v. Mendes " on Justia Law

In 1941, Anna Child Bird executed a will with a testamentary trust that benefitted her sons, her grandsons, and their issue. At the time the will was executed, the law provided that an adopted child was excluded from the definition of "child." In 1958, the statute was amended to redefine the term "child" to include an adopted child. By its terms, however, the 1958 amendment applied only to testamentary instruments executed after 1958. In 2009, another amendment made the 1958 amendment applicable to all testamentary instruments regardless of when executed. Plaintiff was the biological great-grandchild of Anna, and Plaintiff had two adopted brothers. Plaintiff's father was a biological grandson of Anna. Plaintiff had been receiving income distribution from the testamentary trust established by Anna in her will. The Supreme Court concluded that the retroactive application of the 2009 amendment to Anna's trust, with the effect that Plaintiff's interest in the trust would be divided into three parts to cover her and her two adopted brothers, was unconstitutional. Remanded. View "Anderson v. BNY Mellon, N.A." on Justia Law

A superior court jury convicted Defendant William Santos of armed robbery and murder in the first degree on a theory of felony-murder fin the shooting death of Luis Rodriguez. The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's convictions and remanded the case for a new trial, holding (1) the trial court erred in admitting many portions of Defendant's statement given to the police following the shooing, and the admission was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; and (2) the trial court err in admitting statements made by the codefendant to his sister shortly after the shooting, and the error was not harmless. View "Commonwealth v. Santos" on Justia Law

The Commonwealth and William O'Connell (collectively, Petitioners) filed a petition in the county court seeking relief from a district court judge's order releasing from impoundment a redacted version of a search warrant affidavit. The affidavit contained a recitation of allegations made against O'Connell, a prominent real estate developer, that were the subject of criminal charges of, inter alia, statutory rape. George W. Prescott Publishing Company sought access to the impounded affidavit on the grounds that the document was presumptively public. The district court judge vacated his earlier order impounding the affidavit but further ordered that the affidavit be redacted before it was made available to the public. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Mass. Gen. Laws 41, 97D, which bars from disclosure affidavits containing reports of rape, does not apply to search warrant affidavits; and (2) the judge did not err in vacating the order of impoundment. View "Commonwealth v. George W. Prescott Publ'g Co., LLC" on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree for the death of Lourdes Hernandez. Defendant appealed, claiming that inappropriate statements made in the prosecutor's closing argument and a defective jury instruction on reasonable doubt constituted error requiring that his conviction be reversed. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding (1) the prosecutor did not commit prejudicial error in his closing remarks; (2) the jury instruction was an accurate statement of the law, the instruction did not denigrate the Commonwealth's burden of proof, and Defendant was not prejudiced by the instruction; and (3) cumulative error did not warrant a new trial. View "Commonwealth v. Mejia" on Justia Law

In 2006, defendant's wife and their nine-month-old daughter were found dead in a bed in the master bedroom of their home in Hopkinton. His wife had been shot once in the forehead; his daughter had been shot in the abdomen from close range while cradled in her mother's arms. Defendant, a British citizen, was charged with their murders and extradited from the United Kingdom, where he had traveled. He was convicted of counts of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation, G.L. c. 265, sect. 1. The Massachusetts Supreme Court affirmed, rejecting an argument that the motion judge (who was also the trial judge) erred in denying his motion to suppress the fruits of the warrantless searches of his home by officers attempting to find his missing family. The court also rejected defendant’s claim that he was denied his right to a fair and impartial jury because the jury pool was tainted by "saturating and inflammatory" media coverage and because the judge refused during jury selection to probe more deeply into whether prospective jurors had already concluded from the pretrial publicity that the defendant was guilty of the crimes charged. View "Commonwealth v. Entwistle" on Justia Law

On November 19, 1985, Patricia Clark was discovered stabbed to death in her Lowell home. At the time, the investigation focused on the defendant, a former boyfriend; Clark had ended their relationship earlier that year. Investigators interviewed defendant and searched his automobile, but the case proceeded no further. In 2005, after reviewing photographs of items that had been found in the defendant's vehicle 20 years earlier, Clark's daughter provided "cold case" detectives with new information linking the defendant to the crime. He was indicted, and in 2007 a jury convicted him of murder in the first degree on a theory of deliberate premeditation. The Massachusetts Supreme Court affirmed, rejecting challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence, to admission of testimony by certain witnesses, and to a jury instruction on consciousness of guilt. View "Commonwealth v. Emeny" on Justia Law

Three witnesses identified defendant as the shooter. He was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of both premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty, G.L. c. 265, s 1; carrying a firearm without a license, G.L. c. 269l s 10 (a); carrying a loaded firearm, G.L. c. 269, s 10; possession of ammunition without a FID card, G.L. c. 269, s 10 (b ); and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, G.L. c. 269, s 12E. The Massachusetts Supreme Court affirmed, finding that evidentiary errors were not prejudicial in light of the strong case against defendant. The court had allowed the prosecution to introduce a round of ammunition found in defendant's apartment, with an instruction that these items could be considered only to show defendant's familiarity with or access to firearms, The court permitted the prosecution to introduce evidence of security measures in defendant's apartment: pit bull dogs, a security camera trained on the front door, and a police scanner. The court permitted a state trooper to testify to a conversation between defendant and the key identifying witness, DeMiranda, in which defendant offered to pay DeMiranda to leave the country. View "Commonwealth v. Barbosa" on Justia Law