Commonwealth v. Batista (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-085-13)
Mandatory sex offender sentence requires specific allegation of predicate offense in charging document, not mere statutory language incorporation.
Weekly
Owens v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-086-13)
Interlocutory appeal of motion to dismiss denial unavailable absent single justice decision on merits or reservation for full court review.
Chow v. Merrimack Mutual Fire Insurance Company (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-062-13)
Homeowner's insurance exclusion for frozen-pipe damage turns on whether the insured used reasonable care to maintain heat while property was unoccupied. Reversed because jury instruction improperly attributed caretaker's negligence without determining relationship between principal and agent.
Citizens Bank of Massachusetts v. Coleman (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-063-13)
Resulting trust arose when husband transferred rental properties to wife nominally to shield assets from creditors, not as gift, despite gratuitous family transfer presumption.
Dos Santos, et al. v. Coleta, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-084-13)
Property owner liable for maintaining open and obvious danger where owner created and facilitated the dangerous condition knowing lawful entrants would encounter it.
Commonwealth v. Lewis (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-081-13)
Conviction reversed due to prosecutor's improper closing argument characterizing defendant and defense as "street thugs" and a "sham," inviting jury to decide case irrationally.
Commerce Insurance Company, Inc. v. Alvarado, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-060-13)
Massachusetts no-fault insurance exemption from tort liability applies to out-of-state insurance benefits when they cover the same losses as Massachusetts PIP benefits.
Iv v. Hang (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-061-13)
Judge properly allocated income tax dependency exemptions to noncustodial parent in divorce judgment; federal tax law did not preempt state court authority to make such allocations.
McCants v. Clerk of Suffolk Superior Court for Criminal Business (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-082-13)
Supreme Judicial Court affirms dismissal of mandamus petition as moot where trial court clerk, responding to petition, dockets previously missing pleadings in prisoner's motion for new trial.
Medina v. Hochberg (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-079-13)
Physician owes no duty to third parties to warn patient of risks posed by patient's underlying medical condition, even when condition may impair driving.