Commonwealth v. Alcantara (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-089-15)
Murder conviction affirmed where DNA and eyewitness testimony established defendant's guilt despite his claims of police inadequacy and third-party culprit evidence.
SJC Opinions
Commonwealth v. Pagan (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-088-15)
Judge properly reduced first-degree murder verdict to second-degree murder where evidence of deliberate premeditation was slim and defendant's youth, untreated mental illness, and troubled background pointed to lesser culpability.
Walter E. Fernald Corporation v. The Governor, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-087-15)
Charitable corporation retains ownership of land parcels purchased with its own funds despite Commonwealth's later statutory assertion of ownership. Sovereign immunity does not bar quiet title actions.
Kimbroughtillery v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-085-15)
Collateral estoppel bars Commonwealth from relitigating probation violation on same facts previously resolved in defendant's favor in different district court.
Felix F. v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-086-15)
Juvenile prosecution as youthful offender requires evidence of explicit or implicit threat of serious bodily harm, not merely generalized potential for harm from heroin distribution.
Commonwealth v. Magdalenski (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-084-15)
Defendant improperly barred from cross-examining witnesses about bias and motive to fabricate testimony. Reversal and new trial ordered.
Vale v. Valchuis, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-083-15)
Stock valuation agreement between close corporation shareholders constitutes valid arbitration clause under Massachusetts Arbitration Act if actual controversy exists regarding price.
Bridgeman v. District Attorney for the Suffolk District, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-082-15)
Defendants who plead guilty in drug cases based on tainted analysis cannot face more serious charges or harsher sentences upon obtaining new trials.
Commonwealth v. Tavares (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-080-15)
Murder conviction reversed on joint venture theory where judge's response to jury question about liability of aiders and abettors created miscarriage of justice risk.
DaRosa, et al. v. City of New Bedford (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-081-15)
Work product prepared in anticipation of litigation by or for a city falls within the public records law's policy deliberation exemption, protecting it from disclosure.