Under Massachusetts G. L. c. 123A, § 12, if the Commonwealth has reason to believe a person convicted of a sex offense is likely to re-offend, it may file a petition in the Superior Court alleging the person is a “sexually dangerous person,” and request that the person be civilly committed.…
During the process of a criminal case, the trial court judge makes a number of different rulings, all of which may be appealed by a defendant. There are several different types of appeals. The most common type of appeal is a direct appeal, which is an appeal to the Appeals…
This past week, the Supreme Judicial Court rule that people who pled guilty in cases where evidence was mishandled by former state chemist Annie Dookhan may not be charged with more serious crimes if given a new trial and, if convicted, may not be given a worse sentence than the…
On March 5, 1982, a five-alarm fire killed a family of four and four others in Lowell, Massachusetts. Within 48 hours, the Lowell Police Department had arrested three people – the defendant and two other men who were brothers. The defendant was just 24 years old at the time and…