Bosquet v. Commerce Insurance Company (AC-25-P-1008, September 4, 2026)
Full text of the opinion in Bosquet v. Commerce Insurance Company, released by the Massachusetts Appeals Court on September 4, 2026.
Appeals Court Opinions
Commonwealth v. Pinney (AC-24-P-1472, September 2, 2026)
Full text of the opinion in Commonwealth v. Pinney, released by the Massachusetts Appeals Court on September 2, 2026.
Eng v. Chen’s Food Enterprise, Inc. (AC-25-P-1222, August 24, 2026)
Summary process statute permits successive action despite prior dismissal for procedural defect; claim preclusion doctrine does not apply to bar second eviction action.
Downey v. Contributory Retirement Appeal Board (AC-25-P-244, August 20, 2026)
Police officer with treatment-resistant PVCs denied accidental disability benefits. Court holds PVCs constitute heart disease under the heart law presumption.
Wang v. City of Chelsea (AC-25-P-1005, August 18, 2026)
Demand letter asserting Consumer Protection Act claim inadequate to satisfy Massachusetts Tort Claims Act presentment requirement; letter failed to identify negligence, sewer pipe maintenance failure, incident date.
Commonwealth v. Hempel (AC-19-P-63, August 12, 2026)
Defendant allowed to self-represent with standby counsel but trial judge failed to conduct required colloquy to ensure knowing and intelligent waiver of right to counsel. Convictions vacated; remanded for new trial.
Commonwealth v. Figueroa (AC-25-P-1027, August 7, 2026)
Defendant convicted of assault and battery challenged admission of detective's testimony about Spanish-language interrogation and medical record statements. Appeals Court affirmed, finding no abuse of discretion.
COMMONWEALTH vs. BYRON PALMER.
Police approached suspect in parking lot twelve days after robbery. Defendant fled and discarded drugs. Court held seizure occurred upon pursuit, officers had reasonable suspicion based on video identification.
O’Donoghue, et al. v. Commonwealth, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-046-18)
Property owners' appeal from judgment that they failed to prove title to beach lots in Marshfield. Court affirmed, applying issue preclusion and holding that early deeds bounding property by "the beach" did not convey shoreline title.
Commonwealth v. Pereira (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-045-18)
Probation violation affirmed where defendant failed to make restitution payments and contacted newspaper in violation of no-contact condition. Free speech defense rejected.