Commonwealth v. Centeno (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-067-15)
Affirmed convictions for child sexual abuse. Evidence of similar subsequent misconduct admissible to show pattern and intent. Expert testimony about absence of injury properly limited.
Weekly
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. Dyette (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-066-15)
Cell phone search unlawful under Fourth Amendment; improperly admitted evidence not harmless beyond reasonable doubt; conviction reversed.
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.
Adoption of Zak (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-065-15)
Affirmed termination of parental rights based on pattern of domestic violence; affirmed denial of family placement; vacated and remanded visitation orders for findings on domestic violence impact.
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. Moniz (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-064-15)
Affirmed convictions for rape and assault with intent to rape based on constructive force theory where childhood sexual abuse continued after victim reached sixteen.
Commonwealth v. Elliott (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-063-15)
Rape and indecent assault conviction affirmed where joinder of twin victims' charges was proper, prosecutor's closing argument did not improperly comment on defendant's silence, and hearing accommodation accommodations were adequate.