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Massachusetts Supreme Court Vacates Threat-Based Conviction on First Amendment Grounds Because Jury Instructions Failed to Include Mens Rea Element Mandated by Counterman for ‘True-Threat’ Conviction

Loaded on Feb. 15, 2025 by Sam Rutherford published in Criminal Legal News March, 2025, page 41
Filed under: Jury Instructions, Resentencing, Threats, Negligence/Reckless Endangerment. Location: Massachusetts.

by Sam Rutherford

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts vacated a threat-based conviction because the jury instructions provided setting forth the elements of that offense did not require the Commonwealth to prove that the defendant uttered a true threat of violence with the requisite mens rea of recklessness, as required ...

 

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More from this issue:

  1. Community Supervision: America’s Hidden Wellspring to Mass Incarceration, by Douglas Ankney, James Mills
  2. Hawai’i Supreme Court Reverses Murder Conviction for Prosecutorial Misconduct Based on Prosecution’s Improper Statements During Closing Arguments, by Sam Rutherford
  3. D.C. Circuit Holds Compelling Suspect to Unlock Cellphone With Thumbprint Is ‘Testimonial’ Act and Violates Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, by Anthony Accurso
  4. A Gift America Can’t Return: The Police State Is America’s New Crime Boss, by Nisha Whitehead, John W. Whitehead
  5. ‘Fictional Pleas’ and ‘Hidden Departures’: Failure to Collect Data on Binding Federal Plea Bargains Hinders Researchers, by David Reutter
  6. Third Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to Prisoner on Confrontation Clause and Ineffective Assistance Claims Based on Trial Court Reading Entire Criminal Information Into the Record of Co-Conspirator Who Pleaded Guilty, by Sam Rutherford
  7. Examining Pro-Prosecution Bias in the Judiciary: Unconscious Biases of a Prosecutorial Background, by Casey Bastian
  8. Colorado Supreme Court Holds Defendant Was in ‘Custody’ for Miranda Purposes Because She Had Hands Bagged and Zip Tied, Commanded Not to Remove Them, and Questioned Alone in Interrogation Room With Door Closed, by Anthony Accurso
  9. California Court of Appeal: Evidence Insufficient to Show Robbery Victim Moved ‘Substantial Distance’ to Support Simple Kidnapping Conviction and Amendments to § 186.22 Require Vacatur of Gang Enhancements, by Douglas Ankney
  10. Fourth Circuit Decision on Claim of Retaliation for Exercising First And Sixth Amendment Rights Highlights Police Corruption, by Sam Rutherford
  11. Reining in Police Monitoring of Social Media, by Michael Thompson
  12. Study: DNA Transfer in Social Settings, by Michael Thompson
  13. California Court of Appeal Announces Defendants May Obtain Brady Evidence From Police Officers’ Personnel Files in Advance of § 1172.6 Hearing Requesting Vacatur of Conviction and Resentencing for Certain Types of Murder Convictions, by Sam Rutherford
  14. First Circuit: Two-Level Enhancement Under § 3B1.1(c) for Leadership or Managerial Role Vacated Because Government Failed to Prove Defendant’s Order Was Actually ‘Obeyed’ by Fellow Criminal Participant, by David Reutter
  15. Massachusetts Supreme Court Vacates Threat-Based Conviction on First Amendment Grounds Because Jury Instructions Failed to Include Mens Rea Element Mandated by Counterman for ‘True-Threat’ Conviction, by Sam Rutherford
  16. First Circuit Holds No Emergency-Aid Exception to Warrant Requirement Where Police Have Information That Subject Is Already Deceased, by Anthony Accurso
  17. Police Departments Are Now Using AI to Write Reports, by Anthony Accurso
  18. California Court of Appeal Announces Equal Protection Entitles Youth Offenders Convicted of Special Circumstances Murder Predicated on Robbery or Burglary to Franklin and Parole Hearings Under Cal. Penal Code § 3051, by Sam Rutherford
  19. Law Enforcement Obscures Use of Facial Recognition Technology, by Sam Rutherford
  20. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Holds Witness Wearing Surgical Mask During Pandemic Is Denial of Sixth Amendment Right to Face-to-Face Confrontation and No General Exception to This Right for Pandemic or ‘Other Global Events’ Such as Wars and Natural, by David Reutter
  21. News in Brief
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