USF Insurance Company v. Langlois, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-085-14)
Insurance exclusion applied to innocent coinsured when coinsureds' interests were inextricably intertwined and nonseverable despite arson by one party.
Appeals Court Opinions
Commonwealth v. Baptista (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-083-14)
Affirmed convictions and sentence increase for child rape and assault. Rule 29(a) revision with stated reasons did not violate due process or chill appellate rights.
Commonwealth v. Peck (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-081-14)
Appeals Court reverses insurance fraud convictions where prosecutor improperly cross-examined defendant about unsubstantiated out-of-court statements.
Stone-Ashe v. Department of Environmental Protection, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-082-14)
Department of Environmental Protection's jurisdictional determination over seawall upheld where historic map evidence supported location of high water mark landward of seawall.
Gammell, petitioner (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-080-14)
Qualified examiners in sexually dangerous person cases may opine on petitioner's credibility regarding statements made during clinical evaluation, but penile plethysmograph test results must meet reliability standards.
Schmidt v. McCulloch-Schmidt (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-078-14)
Father not entitled to credit for SSDI dependency benefits paid to custodial mother where those benefits already reduced his child support obligation.
Samuelson, et al. v. Planning Board of Orleans, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-079-14)
Conditions imposed in 1975 subdivision approval requiring road and water improvements remain enforceable thirty years later and were not properly waived when board approved further subdivision.
Rodriguez v. City of Somerville (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-077-14)
Presentment under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act is a condition precedent to suit, not immunity from suit, and thus denials of motions to dismiss based on inadequate presentment are not immediately appealable.
Commonwealth v. Higgins (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-073-14)
Conviction for carrying a dangerous weapon reversed where evidence failed to prove the folding knife possessed statutory prohibited features.
Hassey v. Hassey (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-074-14)
Massachusetts Appeals Court vacated portions of a divorce judgment applying the 2011 Alimony Reform Act. Self-modifying alimony formula lacked required findings of need. Vacation property interest wrongly excluded from marital estate.