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Search and seizure – Community caretaking – Well-being inquiry
Where a motion to suppress was allowed, that decision must be reversed because a police officer’s questions to the defendant preceding an exit order were reasonable pursuant to the community caretaking function and did not amount to an unjustified seizure.
Juvenile – Custodial interrogation
Where a juvenile moved to suppress statements he made to police during two interviews conducted just over an hour apart, a decision to deny the motion should be reversed as to the juvenile's statements made during the first interview because the motion judge erred in concluding that the questions posed to the juvenile during the first interview were “investigatory and non-inculpatory in nature[...]
Criminal – Firearm – License
Where a jury found a defendant guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition, those convictions must be vacated because the commonwealth did not introduce evidence that the defendant lacked a license to carry firearms or a firearms identification card.
Mortgages – Disbursement
Where a defendant bank that failed to disburse funds was awarded summary judgment, that was error, as there was no agreement concerning the withholding of some of the $200,000 loan or stating that certain of the loan proceeds would not be disbursed absent requisition, inspection and approval of construction.
Criminal – Ineffective assistance
Where a jury convicted a defendant of assault and battery on a police officer (ABPO) and resisting arrest, the convictions must be vacated because the defendant's trial counsel was ineffective in failing to develop a defense and challenge the commonwealth's case.
Contract – Leased premises
Where a defendant has appealed from a judgment entered against it on a breach of contract claim, the case must be remanded for further proceedings so that the judge can determine which plaintiff or plaintiffs suffered damages and should be included in the judgment.
Criminal – Double jeopardy – Mistrial
Where (1) a District Court judge declared a mistrial and (2) three months later, the judge allowed the commonwealth's motion for a new trial date, a remand is necessary because it cannot conclusively be determined from the record whether the judge found manifest necessity.
Tort – Harassment prevention order – Extension
Where a District Court judge permanently extended a harassment prevention order, the extension order must be vacated to the extent that it is permanent.
Parent and child – Weekday overnight parenting time
Where a Probate & Family Court judge allowed a mother’s motion to alter or amend a judgment, the judge erred in modifying the weekday overnights provision, but the amended judgment should otherwise be affirmed.
Domestic relations – Limitations – Prenuptial agreement
Where a plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that the defendant, his father-in-law, improperly advised him not to obtain a prenuptial agreement before marrying the defendant's daughter, a judgment dismissing the complaint on statute of limitations grounds must be vacated because the plaintiff’s claims did not accrue at the time of his marriage in 2006.
Negligence – Recreational use statute – Overpass
Where (1) a plaintiff fractured her clavicle when she tripped and fell down the steps of the Monsignor Timothy Gleason Memorial Overpass, (2) she brought suit alleging that the Department of Conservation and Recreation failed to properly maintain the overpass, and (3) the commonwealth filed a motion for summary judgment claiming immunity because the overpass was attached to the Charles River Reser[...]
Tort – Harassment – G.L.c. 258E
Where a harassment prevention order was extended pursuant to G.L.c. 258E, §3, the order must be vacated because the evidence was insufficient to establish three or more acts of harassment.
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
