In an opinion issued last week, the Massachusetts Appeals Court overturned a defendant's felony motor vehicle homicide conviction because a testifying state trooper offered an inappropriate expert opinion about the cause of the accident.  The case is Commonwealth v. Douglas Guinan. In 2010, the defendant was driving his 2011 Hyundai Sonata on South Street...

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled yesterday that a non-citizen who pled guilty to two property crimes in 2009 may be entitled to withdraw his guilty pleas because his attorney failed to properly advise him regarding the effect the convictions would have on his immigration status.  The name of the case is Commonwealth v. Billy...

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reversed the first-degree murder conviction of a man who shot to death his coworker at a Cambridge company in 2009.  The name of the case is Commonwealth v. Clyde Howard. The defendant and the victim both worked at Baystate Pool Supplies in Cambridge.  On a January morning in 2009,...

In a decision that could have far-reaching implications for future drug prosecutions, the Massachusetts Appeals Court today reversed drug possession convictions of a woman that resulted from her arrest in Haverhill.  The name of the case is Commonwealth v. Dolores Paine. In October of 2008, a state trooper came upon a pickup truck parked...

The Massachusetts Appeals Court yesterday affirmed a defendant's conviction for multiple counts of child rape that were based, in part, on the defendant's confessions during an instant messaging ("IM") chat with one of the prosecution witnesses. The name of the case is Commonwealth v. David Oppenheim. The defendant and his wife founded and operated...