Commonwealth v. Sayyid (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-130-14)
Probationer with intellectual disability challenges attorney's stipulation to probation violations. Court holds waiver must be knowing and voluntary, assessed under totality of circumstances.
Weekly
Commonwealth v. Hunt (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-131-14)
Court vacates civil contempt order where attorney refused to produce third-party documents. Judge failed to follow mandatory protocols under rule 17(a)(2) before compelling production.
Fyffe v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-129-14)
Vacated and remanded for new trial where plaintiff's counsel repeatedly violated rules of practice, disregarded judge's rulings, and made inflammatory arguments throughout trial despite objections and curative instructions.
Commonwealth v. Balthazar (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-128-14)
Defendant's guilty pleas to crimes of moral turpitude subjected him to deportation. Counsel's failure to advise him of this certain consequence was constitutionally deficient; prejudice remanded for hearing.
Commonwealth v. Guinan (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-127-14)
Convictions reversed where accident reconstruction expert lacked qualifications to testify about computer-assisted power steering system software.
Commonwealth v. Paine (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-126-14)
Convictions reversed where Commonwealth proved pill identity only through visual inspection and pharmaceutical database lookup, without chemical analysis or corroborating circumstances.
Commonwealth v. Howard (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-166-14)
Murder conviction vacated where police violated Miranda rights by continuing interrogation after defendant invoked right to silence, prosecutor improperly used erroneously admitted statements and made character attacks in closing, and judge's mental impairment instruction omitted required limitations on extreme cruelty theory.
Tyree v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-165-14)
Conviction of first-degree murder affirmed. Defendant failed to demonstrate entitlement to extraordinary relief decades after conviction by not showing unavailable alternative remedies.
Roe No. 1, et al. v. Children’s Hospital Medical Center, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-164-14)
Hospital employer owes no duty of care to patients injured by former employee years later at separate institution in different state.
Ouellette v. Contributory Retirement Appeal Board, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-125-14)
Police officer's accidental disability retirement allowance subject to statutory seventy-five percent cap where officer became member inactive upon earlier superannuation retirement.