The Massachusetts SJC ordered a new murder trial because prosecutors used particles from scientifically negative gunshot-residue tests as identification evidence without establishing that inference was reliable.
The Massachusetts SJC held that experts may describe injuries as consistent with abusive head trauma when careful limits preserve the jury’s role.
The Massachusetts SJC held that SORB abused its discretion by denying an indigent registrant funds for an expert to address whether multiple pre-arrest offenses predict future dangerousness.
The Massachusetts SJC affirmed a first-degree murder conviction, holding that counsel reasonably avoided first-aggressor evidence and that a planned fight did not warrant a sudden-combat instruction.
The Massachusetts SJC ordered a new murder trial because excluding postarrest psychiatric records stripped the defendant’s criminal-responsibility defense of its medical foundation.
The Massachusetts SJC affirmed a first-degree murder conviction after finding four alleged investigative failures did not undermine the verdict.
The Massachusetts SJC held that a court seal and clerk’s stamped signature do not replace a written attestation that a docket copy is accurate.
The Massachusetts SJC affirmed a new trial where witness records, third-party-culprit evidence, and modern DNA results collectively cast real doubt on a murder conviction.