By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 On June 2, 2026, the Supreme Judicial Court decided Commonwealth v. Grimaldi, SJC-13842. The court addressed whether the Commonwealth can use bodycam recordings of a driver’s field sobriety tests when no one told the driver he was being recorded. Defendants…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 On July 9, 2026, the Supreme Judicial Court decided Commonwealth v. Watson, SJC-13850 (July 9, 2026), and held that G. L. c. 278A, the postconviction forensic and scientific analysis statute, permits digital forensic analysis of cell phones. The Commonwealth had…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 On April 15, 2026, the Supreme Judicial Court decided Commonwealth v. Arias, 497 Mass. 425 (2026), and announced a new rule for delayed traffic stops. Police who stop a car for a traffic violation they observed earlier must make the…
Continue reading ›Attorney Joe Serpa is a Georgetown University Law Center graduate who has practiced Massachusetts criminal defense since 1995. On November 25, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided Gravito v. Commonwealth, No. SJC-13705 (Mass. Nov. 25, 2025). The Court held that M.G.L. c. 276, § 100C permits a defendant and appellate counsel to obtain the…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 On May 7, 2026, the Supreme Judicial Court decided Commonwealth v. Chhieng, which affects every noncitizen who resolved a Massachusetts criminal case with a plea or an admission. The court held that the immigration warning that many District Court judges…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 Massachusetts firearms owners face two separate compliance deadlines in October 2026. Much of the confusion about the two deadlines comes from treating them as one deadline. Under 501 CMR 20.00, the regulation implementing M.G.L. c. 140, § 121C, every firearm,…
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