The Massachusetts SJC held that corruption in an overlapping police investigation did not justify plea withdrawal without a concrete nexus to the defendant’s own case.
The Massachusetts SJC held that docketing and notice problems did not support mandamus because Housing Court motions and ordinary appellate review remained available.
The Massachusetts SJC affirmed a first-degree murder conviction, holding that counsel reasonably avoided first-aggressor evidence and that a planned fight did not warrant a sudden-combat instruction.
The Massachusetts SJC ordered a new murder trial because excluding postarrest psychiatric records stripped the defendant’s criminal-responsibility defense of its medical foundation.
The Massachusetts SJC held that conviction-based constitutional claims must proceed under Rule 30 and remain subject to the § 33E gatekeeper process.
The Massachusetts SJC held that a court seal and clerk’s stamped signature do not replace a written attestation that a docket copy is accurate.
The Massachusetts SJC affirmed a new trial where witness records, third-party-culprit evidence, and modern DNA results collectively cast real doubt on a murder conviction.