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Judge Finds Plymouth Police Detective Withheld Exculpatory Evidence

In 2015 there was a brawl at a bar in Plymouth resulting in serious injuries to an off-duty corrections officer. Detective Greg Smith of the Plymouth Police led the investigation which resulted in charges of mayhem and assault and battery causing serious bodily injury against Alex Johnson. After an evidentiary hearing on an O’Dell motion to dismiss, Judge Cosgrove found that Greg Smith failed to provide exculpatory evidence that […]

By |2021-10-25T14:26:47-04:00October 25th, 2021|News|Comments Off on Judge Finds Plymouth Police Detective Withheld Exculpatory Evidence

An Attack on All Defense Attorneys

Defense attorneys Blake Rubin and Angela Cavanaugh were acquitted of witness intimidation after being accused of arranging for a key witness in a human trafficking case to be bailed out so that she could run away and not be available to testify at trial. When the man accused of human trafficking was confronted for bailing the witness out, he blamed his lawyer and the witness’s lawyer for orchestrating this. […]

By |2021-07-01T12:53:17-04:00July 1st, 2021|News|Comments Off on An Attack on All Defense Attorneys

MACDL Objects to DA Harrington’s Attack on Judge Tyne

MACDL’s Board recently sent a letter to Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington, strongly objecting to DA Harrington’s choice to write an ex parte letter to the Chief Justice of the District Court system requesting the removal of the Honorable Jennifer Tyne from criminal cases. As the letter states, MACDL is deeply concerned by this indefensible and unethical effort to circumvent fair process and undermine the independent decision-making of […]

By |2021-06-10T13:57:13-04:00June 10th, 2021|News, President's Messages|Comments Off on MACDL Objects to DA Harrington’s Attack on Judge Tyne

Suffolk County Hinton Lab Initiative

On Monday March 22, 2021 the Suffolk County DA’s Office announced the Hinton Lab Initiative — a plan to identify a global resolution for any controlled substance conviction resulting from a Hinton Lab case between May 1, 2003 and August 30, 2012. DA Rollins’ office has pledged “to collaborate with the defense bar to identify a global resolution for any controlled substance conviction resulting from any analysis conducted at […]

By |2021-03-24T10:41:24-04:00March 24th, 2021|News|Comments Off on Suffolk County Hinton Lab Initiative

MACDL Amicus in Commonwealth v. Vazquez Diaz

In Commonwealth v. Vazquez Diaz, MACDL, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice, and the Boston Bar Association submitted an amicus brief arguing that a superior court judge acted in violation of Mr. Vazquez Diaz’s rights when it ordered him to undergo a virtual suppression hearing, over his objection and despite his willingness to wait to hold the hearing until it is safe to do so […]

By |2021-01-27T17:38:49-05:00January 27th, 2021|News|Comments Off on MACDL Amicus in Commonwealth v. Vazquez Diaz

MACDL Amicus Supports Further Appellate Review in Case of Intentional Destruction of Evidence by Springfield Police

On January 4, 2021, MACDL filed an amicus letter, written by Attorney Amy Belger, in support of an application for Further Appellate Review in a case in which the trial judge concluded that members of the Narcotics Bureau of the Springfield Police Department intentionally destroyed evidence favorable to the defendant. A Springfield Police sergeant ordered the City Forester to remove trees near the scene in order to prevent the […]

By |2021-01-04T13:49:24-05:00January 4th, 2021|News|Comments Off on MACDL Amicus Supports Further Appellate Review in Case of Intentional Destruction of Evidence by Springfield Police

Complaint to SJC filed re: Houses of Correction failure to do routine COVID-19 testing

On December 24, 2020, CPCS and MACDL, represented by the ACLU of Massachusetts, filed a complaint with the single justice of the SJC alleging that the Houses of Correction (HOCs) failure to conduct routine, comprehensive COVID-19 testing and to meaningfully reduce their populations, as well as five HOCs’ failure to provide meaningful, timely, and confidential modes of communication between incarcerated individuals and their lawyers, violate constitutional guarantees concerning cruel […]

By |2021-01-04T12:51:18-05:00January 4th, 2021|News|Comments Off on Complaint to SJC filed re: Houses of Correction failure to do routine COVID-19 testing

ACLU & MACDL Amended Petition

On Monday, December 21, MACDL, CPCS, and ACLUM filed an amended petition in the Supreme Judicial Court alleging that Massachusetts Houses of Corrections still are not undertaking two essential steps to mitigate the threat of COVID-19 in communal living environments: routine, comprehensive COVID-19 testing, and meaningful population reductions, and that their failures violate the 8th Amendment and Article 26. We also argue that 5 facilities are violating the right […]

By |2020-12-22T09:59:56-05:00December 22nd, 2020|News|Comments Off on ACLU & MACDL Amended Petition

Letter from Suffolk County District Attorney

September 22, 2020

MACDL and CPCS received a letter from Rachael Rollins, Suffolk County District Attorney, regarding the federal charges recently announced against nine current and retired Boston Police Department Officers. In the letter Rachel Rollins states, “I am deeply dismayed by the allegations outlined in federal court. If these allegations are true, these men and women have dishonored their badges by stealing taxpayer dollars on multiple occasions over a […]

By |2020-09-28T23:30:05-04:00September 28th, 2020|News|Comments Off on Letter from Suffolk County District Attorney

The Road to Commonwealth v. Long

September 21, 2020
Chauncey Wood, co-chair MACDL amicus committee

In the midst of an otherwise horrible week for Justice in America, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a ground-breaking decision on racial justice on September 17, 2020. In Commonwealth v. Long, SJC-12868, the Court unanimously agreed that its previous remedy for addressing racially motivated traffic stops under the equal protection clause of the state and federal constitutions, a statistical […]

By |2020-09-22T11:34:46-04:00September 22nd, 2020|News|Comments Off on The Road to Commonwealth v. Long
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