In Commonwealth v. Camacho, in  affirming the defendant’s convictions of first-degree murder and related offenses (as well as the denial of his postconviction motions for discovery and for a new trial), the Supreme Judicial Court SJC ruled that the judge properly “excluded … so-called Adjutant Commonwealth v. Adjutant) evidence of prior violent acts of the … Read more

In Commonwealth v. Canning,the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed the allowance of the defendant’s motion to suppress marijuana plants and related evidence seized by the police from his property pursuant to a warrant, because the affidavit in support of the warrant application failed to establish probable cause that the defendant was not authorized to … Read more

In Montgomery v. Louisiana (January 25, 2016) the United States Supreme Court ruled that its holding in Miller v. Alabama,  “that a juvenile convicted of a homicide offense could not be sentenced to life in prison without parole absent consideration of the juvenile’s special circumstances” — “is retroactive to juvenile offenders whose convictions and sentences … Read more

In Commonwealth v. Scott, (September 24, 2015) the SJC affirmed the judge’s rejection of the defendant’s argument in a motion for new  trial, that the evidence at the trial was insufficient to support the defendant’s conviction of first-degree murder on a theory of felony‑murder, with armed home invasion as the predicate felony. The relevant evidence was … Read more

In Commonwealth v. Roman in affirming the defendant’s conviction of first-degree murder and a related offense, the SJC rejected his request that the Court invoke its  statutory powers and conclude that the trial judge should have declared a mistrial sua sponte with respect to alleged jury tampering.  During the trial, it  was  revealed that on the … Read more

In Commonwealth v. Gaston the Court of Appeals  reversed the denial of a motion for new trial in regard to a charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The reversal was based on two grounds: (1) newly discovered evidence, acquired by the defendant after his trial, revealed the flagrant misconduct of state laboratory chemist … Read more

In Commonwealth v. Gaston, the Court of Appeals  affirmed the denial of the defendant’s motion for a new trial in regard to firearms and ammunition charges, but reversed the denial of the motion in regard to a charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The reversal was based on two grounds: (1) newly discovered evidence, … Read more

In Commonwealth v. Rollins, the Supreme Judicial Court reversed the defendant’s convictions on six counts of possession of child pornography, there were four trial errors created a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice. The Court made a significant ruling on the proper unit of prosecution in such cases. The case arose from a computer repair person’s … Read more

In Commonwealth v. Estabrook (September 2015), the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC)affirmed the judge’s denial of the motions of defendants Estabrook and Bradley seeking suppression of historical cellular site location information (CSLI) regarding Bradley’s telephone; and (2) vacated the judge’s denial of the defendants’ motions to suppress all of their statements to the police. … Read more

In Commonwealth v. Hatzigiannis(September, 2015), the Court of Appeals reversed a conviction of indecent assault and battery because of the judge’s erroneous admission of a witness’s prior consistent statements. The allegation was that the defendant, an oral surgeon, had touched the breast of a sixteen year old patient who was under sedation following a surgical … Read more