SPINA, J. This case is before us on a reservation and report from a single justice. We must determine the effect of the United States Supreme Court's recent decision in Miller v. Alabama, 132 S.Ct. 2455 (2012), on the sentencing of juvenile defendants 1 convicted of murder in the first degree under G. L. c. 265, 1. 2 In Miller, the Supreme Court held that the mandatory imposition of life-without-parole sentences on homicide offenders who were juveniles at the time of their crimes...
SPINA, J. On the evening of May 9, 1981, Gregory Diatchenko, who was seventeen years old at the time, stabbed Thomas Wharf nine times as Wharf sat in his red Cadillac automobile near Kenmore Square in Boston. Wharf was pronounced dead at 10:40 P.M. A Superior Court jury convicted Diatchenko of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity or cruelty, and felony-murder (armed robbery). He was sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without the...
SPINA, J. In each of these consolidated appeals the plaintiff bank brought a summary process action against the former homeowner-mortgagor in the Housing Court after foreclosure. Each former homeowner raised various defenses and counterclaims in his or her answer to the complaint that challenged the bank's right to both possession and title as derived through foreclosure sale, as well as other defenses and counterclaims. In each case the bank filed a motion to strike the affirmative defenses...
BOTSFORD, J. The dispute in this case concerns the authority of the plaintiff commissioners of the Bristol County Mosquito Control Project (Bristol project), an entity that operates under G. L. c. 252 and is subject to oversight by the defendant State Reclamation and Mosquito Control Board (board), to establish unilaterally the compensation rates for the individuals who are employed by the Bristol project to carry out its mosquito control programs and functions. At the heart of this dispute...
CORDY, J. In the present appeal, we consider two double jeopardy challenges to a Superior Court judge's resentencing order following the judge's allowance of the defendant's motion to correct his sentences by vacating the requirement of community parole supervision for life (CPSL) pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 30 (a), as appearing in 435 Mass. 1501 (2001). The CPSL requirement had been illegally imposed years earlier as a component of the defendant's original sentences, 1 which also...
Rescript Opinion Frank Schifano appeals from a judgment of a single justice of this court denying his petition for relief under G. L. c. 211, 3. He challenges an order of a judge in the District Court that, among other things, declared him to be in contempt of a prior order that he make payments toward an outstanding judgment. The judge found that Schifano had the ability to pay. She also ordered that Schifano be jailed if he failed to pay a certain amount by a given date. It appears,...
CORDY, J. In 2007, the defendant, Kempess Sylvain, a noncitizen lawfully residing in the United States, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, subjecting him to automatic deportation from the United States. After the defendant's conviction was final, we decided Commonwealth v. Clarke, 460 Mass. 30 , 34, 37, 45 (2011) ( Clarke ), which held that the rule announced in Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S.Ct. 1473 , 1483, 1486 (2010) ( Padilla ), regarding a criminal defendant's...
SPINA, J. The defendant was convicted on January 24, 2002, of the deliberately premeditated murder of his mother. On May 6, 2008, he filed a motion for a new trial alleging that he was not competent to stand trial. The motion was denied after a nonevidentiary hearing. The defendant appealed his conviction and the denial of his motion for a new trial. On appeal he asserts error in the failure to hold an evidentiary hearing on his motion for a new trial and the denial of that motion. He also...
GANTS, J. In Hannon v. Original Gunite Aquatech Pools, Inc., 385 Mass. 813 , 826-827 (1982) ( Hannon ), we held that, even where a consumer executed a valid contract agreeing to arbitrate all disputes, a plaintiff may not be compelled to arbitrate a claim alleging an unfair or deceptive trade practice in violation of G. L. c. 93A, 9. We hold today that such claims must be referred to arbitration where the contract involves interstate commerce and the agreement to arbitrate is enforceable...
IRELAND, C.J. On December 19, 2007, a jury convicted the defendant, Stevie Walker, of murder in the first degree on the theory of extreme atrocity or cruelty. 1 Represented by new counsel on appeal, the defendant argues error in the denial of his motion to suppress statements and the instructions to the jury. We affirm the order denying his suppression motion and affirm his conviction. We discern no basis to exercise our authority pursuant to G. L. c. 278, 33E. 1. Motion to suppress. a....
CORDY, J. The defendants, Cory A. Moody and Devin Newman, were separately indicted for various violations of the Controlled Substances Act, G. L. c. 94C, stemming from their alleged involvement in an organized group engaged in drug trafficking in Berkshire County. In particular, Moody was indicted for one count of trafficking in cocaine, G. L. c. 94C, 32E ( b ); one count of distribution of cocaine, G. L. c. 94C, 32A ( c ); and two counts of conspiracy to violate the drug laws, G. L. c....
LENK, J. The written homeowner's insurance policy at issue here had an over-all coverage limit of $500,000, but also contained an "animal liability" endorsement that limited coverage to $25,000 per occurrence for claims arising from animal bites. The question before us is whether, on the ground of mutual mistake, the policy should be reformed by striking that endorsement. It is undisputed that both the insurance company's agent and the homeowner mistakenly believed that the policy did not...
BOTSFORD, J. This is the second time this court has considered the present case. Again, the issue presented is whether a claimant may seek medical expense benefits under the "medical payments" coverage (MedPay) offered in a standard Massachusetts automobile insurance policy (auto policy) where those expenses were covered and paid under the claimant's separate policy of health insurance. In Golchin v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 460 Mass. 222 , 236-237 (2011) ( Golchin I ), we reversed the...
LENK, J. A single justice of this court, treating as petitions brought under G. L. c. 211, 3, the defendants' respective appeals from court orders compelling each of them to provide a buccal swab 1 for purposes of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing, denied both petitions. We are called upon to decide whether a petition under G. L. c. 211, 3, is the appropriate means by which to seek relief from such orders and, if it is, whether the single justice erred or otherwise abused his...
RESCRIPT The plaintiffs seek interlocutory review of the judge's order refusing to reduce the amount of the $6,000 bond they were required to file in order to pursue their medical malpractice claim against defendant Dr. Javed Siddiqi after a tribunal convened pursuant to G. L. c. 231, 60B ( 60B), determined that there was not sufficient evidence to raise a legitimate question of liability appropriate for judicial inquiry as to Dr. Siddiqi. The appeal was entered in the Appeals Court, and we...
GANTS, J. General Laws c. 231, 60B ( 60B), provides that "[e]very action for malpractice, error or mistake against a provider of health care shall be heard by a tribunal consisting of a single justice of the superior court, a physician licensed to practice medicine in the commonwealth ..., and an attorney authorized to practice law in the commonwealth." Where a medical malpractice tribunal determines that there is not sufficient evidence to raise a legitimate question of a defendant's...
SPINA, J. In June, 2011, allegations of misconduct at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute in Jamaica Plain (Hinton drug lab) surfaced regarding work performed by Annie Dookhan, a chemist who had been employed in the forensic drug laboratory since November, 2003. Following an internal review, the Department of Public Health launched a formal investigation of the matter in December, 2011. The investigation concluded that "Dookhan failed to follow [Hinton drug l]ab protocols for the...
BOTSFORD, J. The Commonwealth's antidiscrimination statute, G. L. c. 151B, 4 (16), bars employment discrimination on the basis of handicap. This case presents the question whether the statute bars an employer from discriminating against its employee based on the handicap of a person with whom the employee associates. We answer that, in the circumstances of this case, it does. 1 Background. The plaintiff, Marc Flagg, appeals from the dismissal of his second amended complaint (complaint) 2...
LENK, J. In this case we consider whether the Commonwealth may pursue an interlocutory appeal, under the doctrine of present execution, of the determination that a plaintiff is an eligible claimant as defined under the erroneous convictions statute, G. L. c. 258D. 1 We consider also whether a conviction that was overturned because the Commonwealth introduced evidence of the plaintiff's prearrest silence as purportedly establishing consciousness of guilt was overturned "on grounds which...
DUFFLY, J. Early in the evening of October 26, 2007, the defendant engaged Luis Acevedo in a fight in the middle of a residential street in Worcester. After the two men threw several punches at each other, the defendant moved back and called out, "Bobo," whereupon a man stepped out from behind a tree, fired a gun, and fled. Acevedo departed quickly from the area in an automobile driven by his friend, Andrew Robinson. A few minutes later, additional shots were fired, striking the automobile....
