The Massachusetts Appeals Court vacated a mutual abuse prevention order under G.L. c. 209A, holding that the trial judge failed to make the required written findings of fact, failed to consider evidence regarding the existing reciprocal order, and failed to preserve sufficient evidence in the record to support the order.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed a contempt finding against a mother who withheld parenting time and upheld modifications to a custody schedule, holding that self-help remedies are not permitted even when the other parent has also violated court orders.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court reversed summary judgment for retired Boston firefighters who sought cash payouts for unused compensatory time, holding that derivative leave categories created through a vacation-redemption formula are neither contractually required nor ‘wages earned’ under the Wage Act.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed a larceny-from-a-building conviction, rejecting claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and improper authentication of Facebook Marketplace photographs used as evidence against the defendant.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court reversed OUI convictions where the trial judge erroneously excluded third-party culprit evidence and defense counsel provided ineffective assistance by introducing a police report identifying the defendant as the operator while failing to object to foundationless opinion testimony.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the denial of additur and a new trial in a negligence and loss-of-consortium action arising from a highway rear-end collision. Even assuming the trial judge erred in excluding a neuroradiology report under G. L. c. 233, § 79G, the court found no prejudice because the jury heard the report’s substance through expert testimony.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed a corrected supplemental judgment of divorce, upholding a $62,900 lump-sum payment as part of the equitable division of the marital home and the trial judge’s order requiring both parties to share religious education expenses for their children.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court vacated convictions for aggravated rape of a child and indecent assault, finding that a detective’s testimony about the defendant’s postarrest silence constituted a Doyle violation that was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The case is remanded for a new trial.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed a one-year abuse prevention order under G.L. c. 209A, holding that credited testimony of escalating threats, physical intimidation, and volatile behavior established a reasonable fear of imminent serious physical harm — without needing to reach the new coercive control provision added by the 2024 amendment to the Abuse Prevention Act.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the denial of a motion to suppress in a drug case, holding that a girlfriend’s agreement to police accompaniment during a domestic dispute constituted voluntary consent rather than mere acquiescence, and that drugs observed in the shared bedroom satisfied the plain view doctrine despite the officer’s imprecise recollection of their exact location.