Articles Posted in Trial Practice and Evidence

A Massachusetts criminal sentence is not as final as it looks on the day it is imposed, and not as open to revision as clients hope. Three instruments govern what can change afterward: Mass. R. Crim. P. 29, which permits revision or revocation of a disposition within a sixty-day limit; Mass. R. Crim. P. 30(a),…

Most criminal cases in Massachusetts are resolved in the District Court and the Boston Municipal Court, and most of them end at a disposition rather than a verdict. The hearing is often short, the session is busy, and choices with years of consequences are made in minutes. This guide is written for defense lawyers. It…

Three decisions recur in nearly every Massachusetts criminal trial: which evidence to challenge before the jury hears it, when to object once the testimony begins, and how to attack the sufficiency of the Commonwealth’s proof. Each decision has a settled legal framework, and each carries preservation consequences that fix the standard of review on appeal.…

In a Massachusetts criminal trial, counsel address the jury twice without a witness on the stand: in the opening statement before any evidence is offered, and in the closing argument after both sides rest. Different rules govern the two moments. An opening is a preview, confined to what counsel reasonably expects the evidence to show.…

Jury selection in a Massachusetts criminal trial is governed by G. L. c. 234A, by Rule 20 of the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure, and by Supreme Judicial Court decisions that have changed substantially over the past decade. Counsel who last selected a Superior Court jury before 2015 will find the questioning transformed: attorneys now…

Few decisions in a Massachusetts criminal case come faster, or matter more, than the custody decision at the first appearance. Two bodies of law govern it. Bail under G. L. c. 276, §§ 57 and 58 concerns a single question: what will reasonably assure the defendant’s appearance in court. Pretrial detention on grounds of public…

The continuance without a finding is central to District Court and Boston Municipal Court practice. Under G. L. c. 278, § 18, a defendant admits that the Commonwealth’s evidence would support a finding of guilty, the court declines to enter that finding, and the case is continued on conditions to a specific date, at which…

A stage by stage guide to a criminal case in the Boston Municipal Court: the eight divisions, the court’s criminal jurisdiction, the clerk magistrate hearing, arraignment, bail, discovery, motions, dispositions, and trial before a jury of six. Serpa Law Office: 617.936.0201.

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense Some of the hardest fought Massachusetts domestic violence cases I try are the ones where the accuser never takes the stand. The person who called 911 recants, refuses to appear, or has reconciled and wants the case gone. The Commonwealth…

Be fair to the witness. Respect the jury. The two rules behind every Serpa Law Office cross-examination, from the rules of evidence to the last question that answers itself.