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Search and seizure – Cellphone – Child pornography
Where a District Court judge suppressed evidence discovered during the execution of a search warrant, the suppression order must be reversed because the police acted lawfully pursuant to the search warrant when they examined the defendant's cellphone for evidence of child pornography.
Environmental – Wetlands – Pier
Where the conservation commission of Barnstable denied an application to construct a permanent pier in place of an existing seasonal pier on waterfront property in Osterville, the commission's decision to deny the application was arbitrary and capricious and based on an error of law, so it must be annulled.
Environmental – Wetlands – Pier
Where the conservation commission of Barnstable denied an application to construct a permanent pier on waterfront property in Osterville, the matter must be remanded to the commission to consider whether the project would have “unacceptable significant or cumulative effects” on wetland resource values.
Search and seizure – Consent – Exigency
Where a judge denied a motion to suppress a rifle that was found during a warrantless search, a remand must be ordered because the judge made no factual findings as to the voluntariness of the defendant's consent and did not make any findings as to the existence of an exigency.
Appeals – Dismissal – Notice
Where (1) a Probate & Family Court judge admitted a contested will to probate and denied the objector's petition for adjudication of intestacy, (2) the proponent of the will filed a motion for counsel fees and costs, which the judge denied, (3) while the fee motion was pending, the objector filed a timely notice of appeal from the underlying judgment, and (4) the objector's timely notice of appeal[...]
Civil practice – Sex offender classification – Expert funds
Where the Sex Offender Registry Board’s decision to classify a plaintiff as a Level 3 offender was affirmed in Superior Court, the hearing examiner abused her discretion in denying the plaintiff's motion for expert funds, so the judgment must be vacated and the matter remanded to the board for further proceedings.
Criminal – Firearm – License
Where a jury found a defendant guilty of carrying a firearm without a license and carrying a loaded firearm without a license, those convictions must be vacated because the commonwealth did not introduce evidence of the defendant's lack of licensure under then-prevailing law.
Zoning – Intervention – Abutter
Where an abutter moved to intervene in an action involving a developer and the East Longmeadow planning board, the motion should have been allowed because the abutter has standing and meets all the requirements to intervene.
Motor vehicles – Plea withdrawal – Alcotest 9510
Where a defendant's second motion to withdraw his plea was denied, it was a clear error of law to deny the defendant's motion, as he demonstrated a reasonable probability that he would not have pleaded guilty had he known of misconduct by the government.
Criminal – Assault – Family member
Where a jury convicted a defendant of multiple offenses, the facts failed to set forth a sufficient basis for the jury to conclude that the defendant assaulted his wife in violation of G.L.c. 265, §13M(a), so that conviction must be reversed.
Zoning – Standing – Abutter
Where a Land Court judge awarded counsel fees and costs to a defendant pursuant to G.L.c. 231, §6F, the plaintiff's arguments as to her standing were not frivolous, so the fee award should not be upheld.
Mortgages – Discharge – Mistake
Where a bank filed suit seeking to have a mortgage discharge declared void because the discharge was the result of “inadvertence and error,” a grant of summary judgment in the bank’s favor must be vacated because the bank did not meet its burden of proving the discharge was a mistake by “full, clear, and decisive” proof.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Injury during baby’s adenoidectomy leads to stroke
- Construction worker’s hand caught in cement mixer
- Worker trapped in freezer, dies during steam cleaning
- Pedestrian, 69, hit by motor vehicle while in crosswalk
- Four-vehicle pileup leaves driver with spinal cord injury
- Nursing home staff blamed for kidney-failure death
- Pharmacy’s late delivery blamed for patient’s death
- Man, 25, drowns after swimming lesson at fitness club
Opinion Digests
- Jurisdiction – Forum selection clause – Non-signatory
- Criminal – Responsibility
- Attorneys – Lien
- Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
- Zoning – Constructive grant – Comprehensive permit
- Fraud – False Claims Act – Settlement share
- Civil practice – Discovery – Cybersecurity
