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Employment – Whistleblower
Where a plaintiff employee objected to the failure of the defendant employer, Roxbury Community College, to report alleged sex offenses against a student as required by a federal statute, the lower court properly decided that the plaintiff engaged in protected activity as a matter of law, despite his own involvement in and responsibility for reporting the alleged sex offenses.
Criminal – Bail – Release
Where (1) a Superior Court judge set bail at $7,500 cash, (2) the defendant did not post bail in the set amount, (3) while he remained in custody, the defendant allegedly committed a new offense and (4) his bail was later revoked, the order revoking the defendant's bail must be vacated because the alleged offense was not committed while he was on release.
Criminal – Armed Career Criminal Act – Predicate offenses
Where a defendant moved to dismiss so much of an indictment as alleged more than one previous qualifying conviction, a judge did not err in allowing that motion under Commonwealth v. Resende, 474 Mass. 455 (2016).
Juvenile – Community caretaking doctrine – Exit order
Where (1) during a traffic stop, a police officer encountered a 16-year-old juvenile who had been reported as a missing runaway by the Department of Children and Families, (2) the officer ordered the juvenile out of the vehicle and pat-frisked him, discovering a handgun, and (3) a Juvenile Court judge allowed the juvenile's motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of the exit order and pat[...]
Criminal – Indictment amendments – Child rape
Where an indictment was amended to change the subsection of the aggravated child rape statute (G.L.c. 265, §23A) under which the defendant was charged, the amendments changed an essential element of the crime charged, so the defendant’s convictions must be reversed.
Licenses and permits – Massage therapist
Where the Board of Registration of Massage Therapy revoked a petitioner’s license to practice, the board's decision was supported by substantial evidence, so it should be affirmed.
Criminal – Murder
Where a jury convicted a defendant of first-degree murder, the conviction should be affirmed because the jury's finding that the defendant was criminally responsible for the murder was overwhelmingly supported by the evidence, but his sentence should be reduced to life with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
Negligence – Medical malpractice – Impoundment
Where a plaintiff has filed an appeal following the dismissal of her medical malpractice complaint, the appeal must fail because (1) it was not an abuse of discretion to deny the plaintiff’s motion to impound her medical records and (2) a medical malpractice tribunal did not err in finding that the plaintiff's offer of proof was insufficient to raise a legitimate question of liability appropriat[...]
Criminal – Murder
Where a jury found a defendant guilty of first-degree murder, that conviction should be affirmed because (1) the evidence of the defendant's shared lethal intent was sufficient and (2) the admission of four photographs obtained from a cellphone was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
Attorneys – Reinstatement
Where a single justice denied a third petition for reinstatement to the practice of law, that decision should be upheld based on substantial evidence that the petitioner did not meet his burden of establishing his current moral fitness to resume the practice of law.
Criminal – Murder – Inconsistent verdicts
Where a jury found that a defendant engaged in conduct that did not result in death for purposes of an attempted murder charge but also found that the defendant engaged in conduct that did result in death on a first-degree murder charge, the verdicts were not inconsistent.
Appeals – G.L.c. 211, §3 – Pretrial detention
Where a petitioner sought relief from a pretrial detention order, a single justice did not err or abuse her discretion in denying the requested relief pursuant to G.L.c. 211, §3.
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
