MILKEY, J. According to the evidence presented at trial, the defendants participated in and encouraged others to join a classic "pyramid scheme." A Superior Court jury convicted them of violating G. L. c. 271, 7 (setting up or promoting a lottery). On appeal, the defendants argue that their motions for required findings of not guilty should have been granted for two distinct reasons. First, they argue that the scheme at issue was not a "lottery" subject to the statute. Second, they argue...
KAFKER, J. The defendant, Paul Revells, was convicted of four counts of rape of a child with force, G. L. c. 265, 22A, after a jury trial in the Superior Court Department. He subsequently filed a motion for a new trial. On appeal from his convictions and from the denial of his motion for a new trial, he primarily claims error in the admission of testimony under the first complaint doctrine. We affirm. Background. We relate the testimony presented at trial as it pertains to the issue of...
COHEN, J. The defendant is currently serving a life sentence for the murder in the second degree of Walter Poe. In this appeal from the denial of his motion for a new trial, brought on the ground of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, the defendant's primary claim is that counsel unreasonably failed to introduce Poe's hospital records in evidence. The defendant also faults trial counsel for referring in his opening statement to evidence that he was unable to present, for failing to...
TRAINOR, J. A Superior Court judge reported three questions to this court in connection with a ten-count indictment of the defendant. The indictment alleges that the defendant violated various subsections of G. L. c. 269, 10, by knowingly having in his possession, or knowingly having under his control in a vehicle, firearms or ammunition. During pretrial hearings, several questions of law arose which the judge determined to be material to the ultimate decision, and the resolution of which...
WOLOHOJIAN, J. After a jury trial in 2002, Misha Defonseca and Vera Lee were awarded more than $30 million in compensatory and multiple damages on claims arising from breaches of contract and violations of G. L. c. 93A by Jane Daniel and Mt. Ivy Press, L.P. (Mt. Ivy). 4 At issue was the publication, distribution, and marketing of Defonseca's life story, Misha: A Memoir of the Holocaust Years. 5 The judgment was affirmed by this court in all respects. Lee v. Mt. Ivy Press, L.P., 63 Mass....
CYPHER, J. On January 9, 2002, plaintiff Marcia Rhodes (Marcia), 3 then forty-six years old, stopped her car, as directed by a police officer conducting traffic around a tree service crew, whereupon she was hit from behind by an eighteen-wheel trailer truck, leaving her instantly and permanently paralyzed. Marcia, along with her husband, Harold, and their daughter, Rebecca (collectively, the plaintiffs), are claimants under policies of insurance issued by the defendants for Building Materials...
RUBIN, J. In 2005, Hugo Santos petitioned for discharge from his civil commitment to the Massachusetts Treatment Center (treatment center), pursuant to G. L. c. 123A, 9. In a hearing to determine whether the then seventy-three year old petitioner remained a sexually dangerous person requiring continuing commitment, the judge allowed the respondent Commonwealth to introduce in evidence the written reports of two "qualified examiners" (QEs), as defined in G. L. c. 123A, 1. The QEs, who also...
KAFKER, J. The issue presented is whether the fourteen-day deadline for the initial approval or denial of workers' compensation benefits set out in G. L. c. 152, 7(1), applies to additional assault pay benefits to be awarded to correction officers pursuant to G. L. c. 126, 18A, as amended by St. 1977, c. 1002, and St. 1970, c. 800. Members of AFSCME, Council 93, Local 419 (union), who are employed by the sheriff of Suffolk County (sheriff) sought declaratory and injunctive relief to impose...
HANLON, J. After a jury trial, the defendant, John Aguiar, was convicted of multiple sexual assaults involving two children, Lauren and Jane. 1 The jury found the defendant guilty of six counts of indecent assault and battery on Lauren, a child under the age of fourteen, 2 and four counts of indecent assault and battery on Jane, three as lesser included offenses of statutory rape. On appeal, the defendant argues that the charges were improperly joined for trial and that certain defense...
MILKEY, J. Having taken the relevant civil service examination, the defendant Sean Bell applied for a position as a reserve police officer with the city of Beverly (city). 3 The city excluded Bell from consideration because it learned that he had recently been fired from his job as a hospital security guard for allegedly having improperly accessed the voice mail accounts of other employees. Bell appealed to the Civil Service Commission (commission) pursuant to G. L. c. 31, 2( b ). Through a...
GRAINGER, J. The plaintiff, Robert Williams, was incarcerated at Old Colony Correctional Center (Old Colony) beginning in September, 2005. He appeals the dismissal on summary judgment of his complaint seeking damages against the Commonwealth, the prison and several correction officers for injuries he suffered as the result of being stabbed by another inmate. We recite the allegations of the complaint and record on summary judgment, which describe troubling and unprofessional conduct on the...
HANLON, J. The defendant was convicted after a jury trial of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor in violation of G. L. c. 90, 24(1)( a )(1). 1 On appeal, he argues that the trial judge erred in permitting the Commonwealth to introduce testimony about his failed efforts to take a breathalyzer test. We affirm. Background. The jury could have found the following: Police Officer Craig Perry saw the defendant make an illegal right turn through a red light...
DREBEN, J. At approximately 12:50 P.M. on May 1, 2008, three 911 telephone calls were received by the Fall River police department reporting a shooting on South Main Street in that city. As a consequence of those telephone calls the defendant was apprehended and then arrested, and his vehicle was brought to the police station where it was later searched. After being indicted on charges of assault by means of a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of a...
COHEN, J. In 1975, the Concord home of Helen S. Thompson was burglarized. Among the items stolen was a portrait that recently had been appraised by a Boston art dealer at $25,000, but that had unique value to Thompson and her family. The portrait was painted in Italy, in 1765, by the artist Angelica Kauffmann, 3 and depicted Thompson's ancestors, John Apthorp and his two daughters. It was considered a family heirloom. At the time of the burglary, Thompson was insured under a homeowner's...
GRAINGER, J. On March 12, 2007, the plaintiff, a captain in the city of Boston's fire department (department), tested positive for a narcotic on a random drug test administered by the department. He appeals from the dismissal by a judge of the Superior Court of his amended complaint, which sought review of a decision issued by the department's hearing board (board) confirming the imposition of a month's suspension by the department. The plaintiff contends that the judge erred in holding that...
McHUGH, J. As her years were advancing, Marianna Forcier (Marianna) placed her real estate in a nominee trust (trust), under the terms of which she retained a life estate in the property and her daughter, granddaughter, and grandson were remainder beneficiaries in equal shares. Later, however, Marianna made an inter vivos conveyance of some of the real estate to her granddaughter. A Probate and Family Court judge found that Marianna intended that conveyance to be in lieu of her...
CYPHER, J. On January 9, 2002, plaintiff Marcia Rhodes (Marcia), 3 then forty-six years old, stopped her car, as directed by a police officer conducting traffic around a tree service crew, whereupon she was hit from behind by an eighteen-wheel trailer truck, leaving her instantly and permanently paralyzed. Marcia, along with her husband, Harold, and their daughter, Rebecca (collectively, the plaintiffs), are claimants under policies of insurance issued by the defendants for Building Materials...
