Schussel, et al. v. Commissioner of Revenue (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-107-15)
Double assessment upheld for taxpayers who knowingly filed false returns reporting income amounts identical to those found false in federal tax evasion prosecution.
SJC Opinions
Commonwealth v. Dossantos (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-106-15)
Statute requires judges to ensure adequate factual basis exists before recording domestic abuse allegations in statewide record system.
Commonwealth v. Wallace (and a companion case) (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-105-15)
Nine-year delay in prosecution for murder. Speedy trial violated for one defendant based on Commonwealth negligence in obtaining custody; not violated for other due to defendant's flight.
Commonwealth v. Libby (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-104-15)
Reversed as to pre-arrest statements; affirmed as to post-arrest statements. Pre-arrest interview was noncustodial, so Miranda did not apply. Post-arrest statements properly suppressed because defendant lacked clear understanding of right to appointed counsel.
Commonwealth v. Bastaldo (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-103-15)
Defendant convicted of mayhem and resisting arrest. Trial predated key eyewitness identification decisions; admission of in-court identifications proper under then-existing law.
Commonwealth v. Dorvil (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-102-15)
First express recognition of parental privilege defense to assault and battery; three-part test requiring reasonable force reasonably related to legitimate parental purpose without causing physical harm beyond minor marks or fleeting pain.
Commonwealth v. Kolenovic (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-101-15)
Murder conviction affirmed where trial counsel's strategic choice to pursue intoxication defense rather than mental illness defense was rational and not manifestly unreasonable.
Sarkisian v. Concept Restaurants, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-100-15)
Nightclub slip-and-fall case extends "mode of operation" premises liability approach beyond self-service stores to any business where unsafe conditions are reasonably foreseeable from how it operates.
Commonwealth v. Figueroa (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-099-15)
Convictions for mayhem and assault and battery by dangerous weapon not duplicative where jury instructions limited each conviction to separate injuries from independent acts.
Commonwealth v. Kostka (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-098-15)
DNA compulsion from uncharged third party reversed where Commonwealth failed to establish sufficient relevance and importance of evidence against defendant's constitutional rights.