The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today enacted a new rule related to the situation in which a witness identifies the defendant as the perpetrator of a crime for the first time in open court in front of the jury.  The name of the case is Commonwealth v. Crayton. (more…)

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today affirmed the murder conviction of a defendant who shot and killed a man in Lowell in 2010.  The defendant was looking for his sister's ex-boyfriend, who had allegedly kidnapped his sister the previous day.  While searching for his sister's ex-boyfriend, the defendant came upon the victim and shot...

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today reversed the larceny conviction of a Pittsfield man, because the defendant may have honestly, but incorrectly, believed that the property he took was abandoned.  The name of the case is Commonwealth v. Liebenow. (more…)

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today reversed the murder conviction of a man who was found guilty of shooting to death a rival gang member in New Bedford in 2005.  The Court ruled that a state trooper improperly obtained a warrant to record the defendant's jailhouse confession to another inmate, in violation of the...

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today refused to dismiss a Cambridge drug dealer's conviction for a school zone violation, despite the Legislature's recent decision to reduce school zones to a distance that would not have applied to the defendant's crime.  The name of the case is Commonwealth v. Walter Thompson. (more…)