Tavares v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-178-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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-11829 DANIEL D. TAVARES vs. COMMONWEALTH. November 10, 2016. Bail. Supreme Judicial Court, Superintendence of inferior courts. The petitioner, Daniel D. Tavares, appeals from a judgment of a single justice of this court that denied his petition pursuant to G. L. c. 211, § 3, but directed that he could seek, in the Superior Court, return of certain forfeited bail. We affirm. Tavares has been charged, in three different indictments, with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of G. L. c. 94C, § 32A (c); conspiracy to violate the drug law, in violation of G. L. c. 94C, § 40; and larceny over $ 250, in violation of G. L. c. 266, § 30 (1). Each of the cases originated with a complaint in the District Court and was subsequently transferred to the Superior Court after the corresponding indictment issued. The cases are now pending in the Superior Court where, according to their respective dockets, that court has imposed a “unified bail.” Although the record before us is not entirely clear, it appears that the bail set in the District Court in the possession with intent to distribute case and in the conspiracy case was transferred to the Superior Court, after Tavares was indicted on those charges, in the total amount of $ 2,500. In the larceny case, it does not appear that bail was transferred. Rather, it appears that, after Tavares was indicted on that charge, the bail that had been set in the District Court — $ 1,000 — was reduced to zero and the posted amount returned to the surety. Bail was then set in the Superior Court in the amount of $ 500, bringing the total bail in the three Superior Court cases to $ 3,000. 2 Docket entries for each of the cases indicate that on September 11, 2013, Tavares defaulted and a warrant issued. On October 21, 2013, Tavares was brought into court, the default was removed, and the warrant was recalled. The following day, the court held a new bail hearing, revoked the previous order of bail, and set a new unified bail in the amount of $ 13,000. On November 5, 2013, the court held a bail forfeiture hearing, after which the court denied forfeiture in the possession with intent to distribute and conspiracy cases but allowed it in the larceny […]