Commonwealth v. Beal (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-070-16)
Conviction for shooting affirmed; duplicative assault conviction and armed career criminal enhancement reversed. Residual clause of Massachusetts ACCA held unconstitutionally vague.
Lawyers
Guardianship of B.V.G. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-068-16)
Grandfather entitled to intervene in guardianship proceedings as "interested person" seeking to limit father-guardian's restrictions on their contact, where daughter expressed desire for relationship with him.
Commonwealth v. Lodge (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-057-16)
Affirmed conviction for unlicensed firearm possession. Prosecutor's opening statement reference to school shootings was not reversible error; defendant's post-Miranda statements exposed to closing argument comment.
Commonwealth v. Valentin (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-067-16)
Murder conviction affirmed despite improper admission of unrelated weapons evidence. Reasonable provocation instruction properly denied when victim ended relationship hours before shooting.
Allen v. Allen (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-056-16)
Appeal from ex parte abuse prevention order dismissed as moot where order was terminated at hearing after notice, providing defendant all available relief.
Quinn v. Gjoni (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-055-16)
Appeal dismissed as moot after abuse prevention order was vacated. First Amendment arguments could not be reached where neither party retained cognizable interest in the terminated order.
Commonwealth v. Nguyen (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-054-16)
Ineffective assistance of counsel claim regarding immigration consequences fails where defendant enjoys protected status under U.S.-Vietnam repatriation agreement preventing deportation.
Kain, et al. v. Department of Environmental Protection (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-066-16)
Department of Environmental Protection must promulgate regulations establishing binding volumetric limits on greenhouse gas emissions from multiple sources that decline annually, not merely rates or aspirational targets.
Wilson’s Case (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-053-16)
Workers' compensation case involving bilateral shoulder injury from industrial accident. Court reverses reviewing board's dismissal, reinstates administrative judge's finding of causation.
Hanlon v. Town of Sheffield (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-052-16)
Town zoning by-law regulating private noncommercial aircraft landing areas requires state Division of Aeronautics approval before enforcement.