Commonwealth v. Holmes (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-161-14)
Defendant cannot receive credit for time served on a completed, unrelated, vacated sentence against later convictions.
SJC Opinions
Commonwealth v. Wall (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-160-14)
Murder conviction affirmed where defendant claimed he was too intoxicated to kill victim. Phone recordings and jury instructions on intoxication properly admitted.
Superintendent-Director of Assabet Valley Regional Vocational School District v. Speicher (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-159-14)
School librarian with professional status challenged suspension for conduct unbecoming. Court held arbitrators may review suspension merits and apply just cause standard of proof.
Commonwealth v. Quinn (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-158-14)
Vacated conviction for child rape where prosecutor improperly elicited expert testimony from victim's therapist implicitly vouching for victim's credibility.
Commonwealth v. Letkowski (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-157-14)
Prosecutor's references to defendant's invocation of Miranda rights constituted constitutional error but did not create substantial risk of miscarriage of justice where evidence of criminal responsibility was overwhelming.
Commonwealth v. Sullivan (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-156-14)
Conviction for accosting or annoying person of opposite sex affirmed where defendant called young woman 'little girl,' pursued her aggressively, demanded she enter his vehicle.
Plumb, et al. v. Casey (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-155-14)
Written statement of delivery is not a mandatory prerequisite for forming a valid fine art consignment under Massachusetts law; consignment arises from delivery, acceptance, and sale-on-commission agreement alone.
A.J. Properties, LLC v. Stanley Black and Decker, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-154-14)
Whether assignment of mortgage carries surety claim when both obligor and surety breached before assignment and surety was liquidated.
Massachusetts Electric Company, et al. v. Department of Public Utilities (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-153-14)
Electric utilities challenged storm-response penalties. The court held the DPU correctly applied a reasonableness standard rather than industry-based prudence, vacated penalties unsupported by substantial evidence on specific days, and affirmed the remainder.
Commonwealth v. Thomas (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-152-14)
Defendant's invocation of right to counsel violated by police persuasion that she was losing her opportunity to tell her story. Murder and attempted murder convictions vacated; arson conviction affirmed.