Sabree v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-037-18)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-12300 SAIF SABREE[1] vs. COMMONWEALTH. March 5, 2018. Supreme Judicial Court, Superintendence of inferior courts. Practice, Criminal, Sentence. Saif Sabree appeals from the judgment of a single justice of this court, pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3, denying him relief from State prison sentences that he claims were illegal. We affirm. The procedural history of Sabree’s case is extensive, and our summary is abbreviated. On February 12, 1974, he was indicted on charges of rape, armed robbery, and armed assault in a dwelling. See Commonwealth v. Nicholson, 4 Mass. App. Ct. 87, 88 (1976). After a jury trial, he was convicted on all counts and sentenced to a life term for each offense, with the sentence for armed assault to run concurrently with the sentence for armed robbery, and the sentence for rape to run from and after the armed robbery sentence.[2] For reasons that are not part of the record before us, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court reordered and amended the sentences by reducing the sentences for armed assault and armed robbery to concurrent terms of from six to ten years, and ordering that they take effect from and after the life sentence for rape. The Appeals Court affirmed the convictions, see Nicholson, supra, as well as several subsequent orders denying his various motions for a new trial. See Commonwealth v. Sabree, 73 Mass. App. Ct. 1105 (2008); Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 17 Mass. App. Ct. 1112 (1984); Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 9 Mass. App. Ct. 892 (1980). Sabree also filed a petition pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3, which sought an order compelling the Superior Court to act on a pending motion. That was denied because he failed to create a record to support his allegations. See Sabree v. Commonwealth, 432 Mass. 1003, 1003 (2000). In 2015, Sabree filed a motion in the Superior Court seeking substantially the same relief that he requested in the G. L. c. 211, § 3, petition now before us: release from alleged unlawful restraint or correction of the sentences now being served, pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 30 (a), as appearing in 435 Mass. 1501 (2001). He also sought an evidentiary hearing and other relief. Although there is some indication that the motions were denied, the judge’s orders have not […]