Massachusetts Criminal Law Library for Lawyers

This library collects the pages of serpalaw.com written at practitioner depth, for defense lawyers, referring counsel, students of the system, and anyone who needs Massachusetts criminal law stated with its authorities. Every legal claim on these pages is verified against a primary source before publication, and Massachusetts cases are cited to the official reporter.

Attorney Joe Serpa has tried criminal cases in the District Courts and the Boston Municipal Court since 1995, and he maintains these pages as working references. A monthly roundup of Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court criminal decisions begins with the July 2026 edition in the Boston criminal law updates, and the firm’s case notes on new decisions collect in the Massachusetts Criminal Decisions archive.

Clerk-Magistrate Practice

Attorney Serpa addresses representation, G.L. c. 218, § 35A, the probable cause standard, and hearing preparation on the Massachusetts Clerk-Magistrate Hearing Lawyer page. Readers can find direct answers in the Massachusetts Clerk-Magistrate Hearing FAQs and the immediate steps after receiving notice in What to Do With a Massachusetts Show Cause Notice.

OUI and the Breath Test

The Massachusetts OUI defense page states the elements, the penalties by offense, the refusal rules, and the leading cases with their holdings. The firm explains its trial method in How Massachusetts OUI Cases Are Won at Trial and in Cross-Examining the Field Sobriety Opinion, and it covers the science on the breath test and blood alcohol science page.

Evidence and Confrontation

The firm addresses the recurring evidence questions of a District Court practice: the wiretap statute and secret recordings, digital searches of phones and computers, and excited utterances and the recanting accuser. The confrontation problem of the substitute analyst is treated in a dedicated case note.

Trial Practice

Attorney Serpa’s approach to cross-examination is described with examples from tried cases. Companion articles cover how Massachusetts drug cases are won at trial and the dangerousness hearing under G. L. c. 276, § 58A.

A set of practitioner’s guides covers the trial itself. Jury selection is treated from empanelment mechanics and attorney-conducted voir dire through Soares and Sanchez objections, with a section on individual voir dire in sexual offense and child abuse cases. Opening statements and closing arguments receive the same treatment, from the fair expectation standard through the Kozec limits and preservation practice. Trial motion practice, from motions in limine and the objection decision through the required finding under Latimore and Rule 25(b)(2) relief, has its own guide.

Two companion guides address the fights that frame the trial: the motion to suppress in motor vehicle stop cases, from the stop, the exit order, and the patfrisk through Rule 13 procedure and the fruits doctrine, and bail and the section 58A dangerousness hearing, from personal recognizance and the Brangan findings through the predicate offenses and the detention period limits.

Sentencing and Post-Disposition Practice

Two practitioner’s guides cover the sentencing side of the practice. Sentencing in the District Court and Boston Municipal Court treats the sentencing power of those courts, the available dispositions and the revocation exposure each one carries, credit for time served, the limits on probation conditions, restitution, and the statutory assessments. Correcting a Massachusetts criminal sentence treats Rule 29 and its sixty-day windows, Rule 30(a) and the illegal sentence, and the double jeopardy finality decisions through 2026.

Records, Sealing, and Expungement

The sealing and expungement standards page states the governing law, and the criminal dismissal rules page states when a judge may dismiss over objection. The record consequences of a domestic violence case are covered on the domestic violence records page, and the treatment of vacated protective orders in State and Federal Records of Massachusetts 209A and 258E Protective Orders.

Two practitioner’s guides complete this section: the continuance without a finding and its collateral consequences, covering the section 18 mechanics, violation, CORI treatment, and the immigration, commercial license, and licensing board definitions of conviction, and sealing and expungement, from the Pon good cause standard and the section 100A waiting periods through expungement under sections 100E to 100U.

Referring counsel may reach Attorney Serpa at 617.936.0201.

Last Reviewed: July 2026