SJC seeks amicus briefs in key criminal, civil cases

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The Supreme Judicial Court is seeking amicus briefs in the following cases:

• SJC-13852, Commonwealth v. Shaw

The issue: whether the trial judge erred in admitting in evidence a purportedly certified Massachusetts court record, which document was embossed on all pages with the seal of the court and signed by the clerk-magistrate on the first five of its nine pages, where the defendant contends that the document was not attested, including whether, if the admission was erroneous, it created a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice.

• SJC-13854, Impounded

The issue: whether the Juvenile Court judge erred in revoking upon reconsideration his order expunging a harassment prevention order, issued pursuant to G.L.c. 258E, as to a defendant who was then 9, where the judge had since found that the allegations on which the harassment prevention order was based were unsupported by the evidence, and where his reconsideration and revocation of the expungement order was based on his finding that the harassment prevention order nevertheless was not obtained through a fraud on the court, including whether the judge was authorized to expunge the harassment prevention order issued against the child even if it was not obtained through a fraud on the court.

• SJC-13856, Commonwealth v. Thomson

The issue: where G.L.c. 140, §131(d)(iv), prohibits an individual under the age of 21 from obtaining a license to carry a firearm, whether that provision is unconstitutional; and, where the defendant, who is under the age of 21, did not apply for a firearms license, whether he is entitled to raise an as-applied challenge to the constitutionality of the statute.

• SJC-13857, Khoda v. Bangladesh Association of New England, Inc., et al.

The issue: where a plaintiff in a successful civil contempt proceeding is entitled to an award of attorneys’ fees; where the party held in contempt is a charitable organization; and where G.L.c. 231, §85K, provides that “liability [in certain actions involving a charitable organization] shall not exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars,” whether the $20,000 cap on damages applies to the award of attorneys’ fees.

• SJC-13855, Commonwealth v. Hsu

The issues:

1. Whether the evidence was legally sufficient to sustain the defendant’s conviction for involuntary manslaughter based on theories of battery and wanton or reckless conduct.
2. Whether the trial judge abused his discretion in permitting expert testimony that the infant’s injuries were “consistent” with “abusive head trauma,” as well as expert testimony that the injuries were not consistent with a short fall.

Interested parties should file their briefs in the Clerk’s Office at the John Adams Courthouse, Suite 1-400, One Pemberton Square, Boston, MA, 02108-1724. Questions should be directed to 617-557-1020.