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Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: GPS Monitoring Unreasonable When It Doesn’t Further Any Governmental Interest

Article • July 15, 2020 • from CLN August, 2020

Filed under: Condition of Probation, GPS Tracking Device

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: GPS Monitoring Unreasonable When It Doesn’t Further Any Governmental Interest by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that imposition of GPS monitoring as a condition of bail was an unreasonable search because the monitoring did not further any legitimate governmental …

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Officer’s Handling of Cellphone Exceeded Scope of Inventory Search

Article • July 15, 2020 • from CLN August, 2020

Filed under: Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Probable/Proximate Cause, Searches - Inventory

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Officer’s Handling of Cellphone Exceeded Scope of Inventory Search by Anthony Accurso by Anthony Accurso The Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“SJC”) upheld a superior court’s order suppressing evidence obtained from a cellphone because the search of the cellphone was unsupported by probable cause, …

Police Use of Robotic Technology Raises Civil Liberty Concerns

Article • July 15, 2020 • from CLN August, 2020

Filed under: junk science, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance

Police Use of Robotic Technology Raises Civil Liberty Concerns by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney While Sleepy Hollow had the Headless Horseman, the Massachusetts State Police (“MSP”) had the headless dog. Spot — a one-time member of MSP’s bomb squad — is a semi-autonomous robotic dog that MSP leased for …

Courts Oppose Prosecutors’ Attempts to Right Past Wrongs

Article • June 15, 2020 • from CLN July, 2020

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction

Courts Oppose Prosecutors’ Attempts to Right Past Wrongs by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Over the past 10 years, a growing number of reform-minded prosecutors has emerged across the U.S., seeking not only to reform current tough-on-crime practices but also to acknowledge mistakes of the past. For example, in 2018, …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Standards for Exit Order and Patfrisk

Article • May 15, 2020 • from CLN June, 2020

Filed under: Body Frisk

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Standards for Exit Order and Patfrisk by Anthony Accurso by Anthony Accurso The Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts affirmed the suppression of evidence resulting from a patfrisk that was conducted after the defendant had exited his vehicle unprompted by police, and twice …

News in Brief

Article • April 15, 2020 • from CLN May, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: A sheriff’s deputy who roughed up a 15-year-old quadruple amputee during an arrest at a state-operated group home in September 2019 will not face excessive use of force charges, the Pima County Attorney’s Office announced March 10, 2020. “The teen, in a group home after …

First Circuit: Home Search Affidavit Failed to Establish Nexus of Crime and Evidence

Article • April 15, 2020 • from CLN May, 2020

Filed under: Nexus between crime and property, Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

First Circuit: Home Search Affidavit Failed to Establish Nexus of Crime and Evidence by David Reutter by David Reutter The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the suppression of evidence seized from a suspected drug dealer’s home as fruit of the poisonous tree. Jamal Roman was alleged …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Reverses Murder Conviction Due to Insufficient Evidence

Article • April 15, 2020 • from CLN May, 2020

Filed under: Murder/Felony Murder, Insufficiency of the Evidence

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Reverses Murder Conviction Due to Insufficient Evidence by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts reversed Jean Carlos Lopez’s murder conviction because the evidence was insufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Lopez knowingly participated in the killing with the requisite …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Police Must Inform Arrested Driver That Passenger Can Assume Custody of Vehicle if Lawful and Practical as Alternative to Impoundment

Article • March 18, 2020 • from CLN April, 2020

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Police Must Inform Arrested Driver That Passenger Can Assume Custody of Vehicle if Lawful and Practical as Alternative to Impoundment by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that, where officers are aware that a passenger could lawfully assume control of …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: When Exit Order is Unlawful, Evidence Obtained from Subsequent Search Must be Suppressed

Article • February 18, 2020 • from CLN March, 2020

Filed under: Searches

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: When Exit Order is Unlawful, Evidence Obtained from Subsequent Search Must be Suppressed by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that when officers unlawfully issue an order commanding a suspect to exit a vehicle, any evidence obtained from the subsequent …

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the State Auditor, 2020

Publication • January 9, 2020

Filed under: Medical, Medication, Release and Reentry, Mental Health

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the State Auditor, 2020 Official Audit Report – Issued January 9, 2020 Massachusetts Department of Correction For the period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018 State House Room 230  Boston, MA 02133  auditor@sao.state.ma.us  www.mass.gov/auditor January 9, 2020 Ms. Carol Mici, Commissioner …

Massachusetts Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Obtained After Miranda Warnings Translated into Spanish Deemed Incapable of Conveying Meaningful Advice

Article • November 18, 2019 • from CLN December, 2019

Filed under: Arrest and Booking

Massachusetts Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Obtained After Miranda Warnings Translated into Spanish Deemed Incapable of Conveying Meaningful Advice by David Reutter by David Reutter The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed the suppression of custodial statements where the translation of Miranda warnings into Spanish was inadequate to apprise the defendant …

Massachusetts Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Obtained Following Illegally Prolonged Traffic Stop, Orders New Trial

Article • November 16, 2019 • from CLN December, 2019

Filed under: New Trial Motions, Traffic stop

Massachusetts Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Obtained Following Illegally Prolonged Traffic Stop, Orders New Trial by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the convictions of Paulos Tavares, ruling that the trial court failed to suppress evidence that was obtained as the result of an officer extending a …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Explains Procedures of G. L. c. 278A and Rules That a Claim of Self-Defense Is a Claim of Factual Innocence

Article • August 21, 2019 • from CLN September, 2019

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Explains Procedures of G. L. c. 278A and Rules That a Claim of Self-Defense Is a Claim of Factual Innocence by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts explained the procedures for filing and adjudicating a motion brought under G. L. c. …

Massachusetts Supreme Court Holds Statute Requiring GPS Monitoring of Probationers Convicted of Sex Offenses Unconstitutional ‘as Applied’

Article • August 19, 2019 • from CLN September, 2019

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Electronic Monitoring

Massachusetts Supreme Court Holds Statute Requiring GPS Monitoring of Probationers Convicted of Sex Offenses Unconstitutional ‘as Applied’ by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that Massachusetts General Law, chapter 265, § 47 (“G.L. c. 265, § 47”), is overinclusive and is unconstitutional as applied …

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Discharge From Civil Commitment  Required When Examiners Conclude Defendant Is Not Sexually Dangerous

Article • July 17, 2019 • from CLN August, 2019

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Sex Offender Treatment, Civil Commitment

Massachusetts Supreme Court: Discharge From Civil Commitment Required When Examiners Conclude Defendant Is Not Sexually Dangerous by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Following convictions for two counts of rape of a child in 1977, Wayne Chapman was sentenced to prison for a term of 15 to 30 years. But later …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Consent to Search Does Not Attenuate Seized Evidence From Taint of Illegal Search of CSLI

Article • July 16, 2019 • from CLN August, 2019

Filed under: Searches, Police Searches

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Consent to Search Does Not Attenuate Seized Evidence From Taint of Illegal Search of CSLI by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts suppressed illegally obtained CSLI, ruling that the Commonwealth failed to meet its burden under the Fourth Amendment of proving …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces in Case of First Impression That Police Causing Cellphone to Reveal Its Real Time Location Is a Search Under State Constitution

Article • June 17, 2019 • from CLN July, 2019

Filed under: Telephones

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces in Case of First Impression That Police Causing Cellphone to Reveal Its Real Time Location Is a Search Under State Constitution by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In a case of first impression, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that when police take action …

The Sentencing Project, Campaign to End Life Imprisonment - Women and Girls Serving Life Sentences, 2019

Publication • June 1, 2019

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Statistics/Trends, Parole, Mental Health, Suicides, Juveniles

The Sentencing Project, Campaign to End Life Imprisonment - Women and Girls Serving Life Sentences, 2019 CAMPAIGN TO END LIFE IMPRISONMENT WOMEN AND GIRLS SERVING LIFE SENTENCES Nationwide one of every 15 women in prison — nearly 7,000 women — is serving a life or virtual life sentence.1 One-third of …

Federal Judge Rules Massachusetts Law Banning Secretly Recording Police in Public Is Unconstitutional

Article • April 12, 2019 • from CLN May, 2019

Filed under: Police, First Amendment, rights

Federal Judge Rules Massachusetts Law Banning Secretly Recording Police in Public Is Unconstitutional by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that secretly recording the police in public is protected by the First Amendment and that a Massachusetts law forbidding such activity …