Commonwealth v. Wadlington (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-024-14)
First-degree murder conviction affirmed where jury properly convicted on three alternative theories despite instructional omissions that caused no prejudice.
Category SJC Opinions
Commonwealth v. Joyner (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-025-14)
Armed robbery conviction affirmed where latent fingerprint evidence from crime scene matched defendant's thumb print under ACE-V methodology, without need for statistical evidence of accuracy.
Commonwealth v. Augustine (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-026-14)
CSLI obtained from cellular service provider constitutes a search under Massachusetts Constitution requiring probable cause, not just reasonable suspicion under federal Stored Communications Act.
Care and Protection of Jamison (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-028-14)
Juvenile Court has jurisdiction over sibling visitation petition where petitioning child in state custody seeks to visit siblings under guardianship; Blixt presumption does not apply to guardians; remanded due to insufficient evidence about impact on younger siblings.
Pepin, et al. v. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-027-14)
Priority habitat regulations validly implement the Endangered Species Act's take prohibition and do not require procedural protections given to significant habitat designations. Directed decision proper.
Galiastro, et al. v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-023-14)
Foreclosure standing claim proceeds after court extends retroactively an Eaton holding requiring mortgagees to hold underlying notes.
Commonwealth v. Ray (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-019-14)
Conviction of first-degree murder affirmed; life sentence vacated and remanded for resentencing to allow parole eligibility for sixteen-year-old defendant.
Commonwealth v. McGee (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-022-14)
Murder conviction affirmed despite newly discovered evidence claims. Witness testimony that became available after Fifth Amendment waiver not considered new where defendant knew its content pretrial.
Commonwealth v. Alebord (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-021-14)
Defendant's Sixth Amendment right to public trial during jury empanelment waived where experienced trial counsel was aware of courtroom closure practice and failed to object.
Claudio v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-018-14)
Defendant's petition for superintendence relief following normal appellate process properly denied.