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Zoning – Standing – Special permit
Where two plaintiffs have challenged a special permit allowing the defendants to demolish an existing office building and construct an apartment building in its place, the defendants’ motion to dismiss should be allowed in part and denied in part, as one of the plaintiffs lacks standing but the other plaintiff has sufficiently alleged standing based on loss of sunlight, increased shadow, and inc[...]
Real property – Easement rights – Abandonment
Where (1) plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that the defendant interfered with their easement rights by placing fill, landscaping, and other encroachments within a right of way, (2) the defendant filed an answer and counterclaim asserting that the plaintiffs have abandoned their easement rights in the right of way, and (3) the defendant has moved for a preliminary injunction to prevent the pla[...]
Civil practice – Settlement agreement – Show cause hearing
Where an “agreement for judgment” has been proposed, the defendants will be required to show cause why the agreement should not be enforced.
Evidence – Authentication – Attestation
Where a defendant was found guilty under G.L.c. 269, §10G(a), a copy of a District Court docket sheet introduced at trial as evidence of a prior drug conviction was not properly authenticated, but the error did not create a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice.
Appeals – Stay
Where (1) a complaint was filed challenging an executive order, (2) a U.S. District Court judge enjoined most of the defendants from implementing certain provisions of the executive order and (3) the federal defendants and 12 states that intervened in the case in support of the executive order have now filed separate motions seeking a stay of the injunction pending appeal, their motions should be [...]
Appeals – Mootness
Where an appeal has been filed concerning a “buffer zone” for courthouse protests during a murder trial, the appeal is moot now that the murder trial has come to an end.
Civil practice – Mootness
Where a plaintiff’s complaint against a defendant labor union was dismissed as moot after the Supreme Court decided Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, 585 U.S. 878 (2018), the dismissal should be upheld because the issue of whether the plaintiff was a “prevailing party” does not bear on mootness.
Criminal – Conspiracy – Wire fraud
Where a defendant who was a legal advisor to a Puerto Rico municipality and its mayor was convicted of wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the defendant’s convictions should be affirmed despite his contention that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he knowingly and intentionally participated in the wire fraud conspiracy.
Appeals – Stay
Where a U.S. District Court judge vacated actions taken by officials of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of State to implement a presidential proclamation requiring that a $100,000 payment accompany all H-1B visa petitions, the defendants’ emergency motion for a stay pending appeal should be denied because they have not made a “strong showing” that they are li[...]
Criminal – Murder – New trial motion
Where a judge allowed a motion for a new trial filed by a defendant who was convicted of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm, the judge did not commit a significant error of law or abuse his discretion in concluding that newly discovered and newly available evidence casts real doubt on the justice of the defendant's convictions.
Real property – Utility pole – Relocation
Where a plaintiff has brought suit to prevent the relocation of a utility pole onto her property, a motion to dismiss filed by one of the defendants, a private real estate developer, should be allowed because the facts alleged in the plaintiff’s complaint do not plausibly suggest any entitlement to relief against that defendant.
Zoning – Town Meeting vote – ANR application
Where (1) the Salisbury Town Meeting voted to change the zoning for an area of town, which included the plaintiff’s property, from “Beach Commercial” to “Residential 2” and (2) the plaintiff submitted an application for an approval not required (ANR) endorsement to the Salisbury Planning Board, the board acted well within its authority and according to law when it applied the Residential[...]
