Commonwealth v. Dayton (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-100-17)
Section 58A permits pretrial detention only when defendant has three prior OUI convictions, not two, under rule of lenity.
SJC Opinions
Commonwealth v. Pacheco (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-091-17)
Defendant's double jeopardy rights violated when court attempted to impose consecutive probation years after original sentence completion.
Daley v. Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, et al.; Nadeau v. Director of the Office of Medicaid (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-092-17)
Medicaid applicants who transferred homes to irrevocable trusts while retaining use and occupancy or life estates were not disqualified from long-term care benefits based on home equity.
Commonwealth v. Lydon (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-089-17)
Judge may impose concurrent state prison sentence retroactively to credit time served on unrelated offense; judge must consider discretionary authority on remand.
Padmanabhan v. Yout (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-090-17)
Doctor's petition for extraordinary relief from denial of motion to dismiss in malpractice case affirmed; petitioner failed to follow required procedural rules.
Commonwealth v. McGrath (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-085-17)
Single justice's denial of leave to appeal is final and unreviewable; defendant cannot appeal gatekeeper ruling.
In the Matter of a Grand Jury Investigation (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-086-17)
Attorney sought to block search of digital devices on privilege grounds. Supreme Judicial Court dismissed appeal as moot after search was completed.
In the Matter of an Application for a Criminal Complaint (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-088-17)
Police officer's petition for extraordinary relief denied where clerk-magistrate twice denied criminal complaint application and rehearing by judge remained available.
Commonwealth v. Robinson (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-087-17)
Gatekeeper appeal from denial of seventh motion for new trial dismissed; final, unreviewable nature of single justice gatekeeper decisions reaffirmed.
Deputy Chief Counsel for the Public Defender Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, et al. v. Acting First Justice of the Lowell Division of the District Court Department (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-084-17)
CPCS has sole statutory authority to assign counsel for indigent defendants. Judges cannot bypass this authority or categorically exclude CPCS attorneys, even in specialized drug courts.