An equally divided Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed suppression of a firearm found after police impounded and searched an unregistered SUV parked off the public way.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld child-rape convictions after curative instructions and ruled that parties cannot impose appellate secrecy without a motion and good cause.
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 Appeals Court vacated an involuntary-manslaughter conviction because substitute DNA analysts conveyed testimonial findings from an absent analyst and the error was not harmless.
The Massachusetts SJC held that corruption in an overlapping police investigation did not justify plea withdrawal without a concrete nexus to the defendant’s own case.