Articles Posted in Massachusetts Criminal Law Updates | Serpa Law Office

Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024 is in force now and was never suspended by the referendum petition. The October 2026 compliance deadlines fall before the November 3 vote.

On August 7, 2026, the Appeals Court decided Commonwealth v. Figueroa, No. 25-P-1027 (Mass. App. Ct. Aug. 7, 2026), a case about the use of a defendant’s statements from a police interrogation conducted in a language other than English. The defendant, whose first language is Spanish, was questioned in Spanish, and the Commonwealth never produced…

On August 10, 2026, the Supreme Judicial Court decided Commonwealth v. Palmer, SJC-13873 (Mass. Aug. 10, 2026), a case that depends on two questions that decide most street-stop suppression motions: at what moment the police seize a person who runs from them, and whether the police had reasonable suspicion at that moment. The Court held…

The Massachusetts SJC rejected a fixed deadline for police to seek a search warrant after seizing a cell phone and upheld delays of 109 and 123 days under the specific facts of two cases.

The Supreme Judicial Court and the Appeals Court issued a steady run of criminal decisions in July 2026. Defense counsel will rely on several of them in motions to suppress, evidentiary objections, and abuse prevention hearings in the District Court and the Boston Municipal Court. This survey is the first in a monthly series covering…

The Massachusetts Appeals Court has vacated a domestic violence conviction because of the prosecutor’s closing argument. In Commonwealth v. Pena, No. 24-P-0970 (Mass. App. Ct. July 24, 2026), the court set aside a Boston Municipal Court jury verdict for assault and battery on a family or household member, holding that a closing argument that vouched…

The Massachusetts Appeals Court has reversed the denial of a motion to suppress in a District Court drug case, holding that a detective unlawfully prolonged a traffic stop after the justification for the stop had run out. In Commonwealth v. Steward, No. 25-P-0015 (Mass. App. Ct. July 23, 2026), the court ordered the suppression of…

The Massachusetts Appeals Court has issued an early decision on a 209A restraining order (abuse prevention order) based on coercive control. The Appeals Court applied the coercive control definition that the Legislature added to the abuse prevention statute in 2024. In V.B. v. B.W.R.T., No. 25-P-1086 (Mass. App. Ct. July 24, 2026), the court vacated…

In Commonwealth v. Gordon (2025), applying Smith v. Arizona, the Supreme Judicial Court held that a substitute analyst may not testify to an opinion that depends on the truth of an absent analyst\u2019s testimonial statements. Here is what that means for forensic proof in drug cases.

Bruen did not end Massachusetts firearm licensing. In 2025 the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the current resident and nonresident licensing schemes and confirmed that unlicensed carrying remains a crime. Here is what visitors, travelers, and new residents need to know.