Cort v. Majors (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-112-17)
Tenant properly demanded jury trial in answer to eviction case. Judge commenced bench trial without obtaining written or oral stipulation to waive jury right. Judgment vacated.
Weekly
Valente v. TB Bank, N.A. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-117-17)
Bank customer cannot sue for negligence over forged checks if notice not given within one year of account statement under UCC.
Commonwealth v. Villagran (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-145-17)
Police officer's pat-frisk and search of nonstudent's backpack at high school violated Fourth Amendment; officer lacked reasonable suspicion and probable cause.
Cesso v. Todd (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-110-17)
Attorney-client relationship continuance after formal withdrawal disputed. Malpractice claim survives summary judgment despite notice of withdrawal, but misrepresentation claim dismissed.
Commonwealth v. Perez (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-142-17)
Juvenile offender sentenced to thirty-two and one-half years with parole eligibility after twenty-seven and one-half years for armed robberies and shooting a police officer. Sentence presumptively violates proportionality requirement when non-murder juvenile receives longer parole eligibility than juvenile murderer. Remanded for Miller hearing.
Brangan v. Commonwealth (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-143-17)
Defendant held on unaffordable bail receives due process protections. Judge must consider defendant's financial resources, provide written findings explaining bail calculation, and cannot use bail to detain dangerous defendants without statutory preventive detention procedures.
Commonwealth v. Barbosa (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-144-17)
Murder conviction affirmed where GPS data, surveillance footage, and witness testimony established defendant's knowing participation in premeditated murder as joint venturer.
Van Liew v. Eliopoulos v. Hands on Technology Transfer, Inc., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-109-17)
Appeals Court affirms 2.9 million dollar defamation judgment against business owner who published false statements accusing selectman of ethics violations and illegal conduct.
Commonwealth v. Shelley (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-141-17)
Defendant charged with murder sought instruction on time-barred manslaughter. Court held defendant not entitled to both lesser included offense instruction and statute of limitations defense without waiving the latter.
New Bedford Educators Association v. Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, et al. (and two consolidated cases) (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-108-17)
Teachers' unions lacked standing to challenge turnaround plans for underperforming schools; the statute's duties run to students, not unions.