Commonwealth v. Vazquez (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-192-17)
First-degree murder conviction affirmed. CSLI records harmless; prior bad act evidence erroneous but harmless; transferred intent instruction proper.
Weekly
Worcester Regional Retirement Board v. Contributory Retirement Appeal Board, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-147-17)
Retirement board's enrollment error must be corrected; employee not required to take affirmative steps to purchase creditable service he was eligible to receive.
Marchetti v. Atwood, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-041-17)
Malpractice claim against criminal defense attorney dismissed where guilty defendant failed to allege actual innocence, even though attorney's conduct deprived him of valid double jeopardy defense.
Commonwealth v. Khan (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-146-17)
Affirmed conviction for larceny in grandparent scam. Joint venture liability properly instructed; fingerprint evidence admissible; ineffective assistance claims rejected.
Pantazis v. Mack Trucks, Inc., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-145-17)
Component manufacturer of truck and power take-off had no duty to warn of dangers from exposed drive shafts in assembled auxiliary system.
Ewing v. Davenport-Mello, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-190-17)
Inmate's petition seeking to compel filing of notice of appeal dismissed as moot after notice was docketed and record assembled.
Commonwealth v. Morin (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-188-17)
Defendant convicted of felony murder is entitled to new trial where trial counsel failed to file motion to suppress improperly searched cellular telephone; search warrant affidavit lacked probable cause.
Commonwealth v. Facella (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-189-17)
Murder conviction affirmed where defendant's interferon-defense rebutted by evidence of pre-treatment violence against former girlfriends, despite temporal remoteness of incidents.
Commonwealth v. J.A., a juvenile (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-187-17)
Youthful offender statute's "serious bodily harm" language does not encompass harm to animals. Court affirmed dismissal of indictments but noted Commonwealth could pursue delinquency complaint.
Commonwealth v. Sullivan (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-186-17)
Affirmed. DNA match evidence from CODIS database was inadmissible hearsay but harmless error; nondisclosed proficiency test failures by lab analyst did not warrant new trial.