In Aguilar v. Hernandez-Mendez, the defendant appealed an abuse prevention order that was issued against him for the benefit of his father’s girlfriend. The plaintiff and her two teenage daughters lived with the defendant’s father. The defendant lived there as well for about two years until he moved out.
In Campbell v. Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that rape under G.L. c. 265, § 22 qualifies as a predicate offense under the “force clause” of the pretrial detention statute, G.L. c. 276, § 58A.
The plaintiff was a resident of Massachusetts seeking an abuse prevention order against her nonresident partner. The plaintiff and her partner (the defendant) met in Massachusetts and moved to Florida, where they had a child. The plaintiff took the child to Massachusetts on occasion but the defendant never returned. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant physically abused her and she fled to Massachusetts with her son. She alleged that prior to her escape, the defendant accused her of cheating, called her a whore, and threatened to kill her and the child. He block
A few weeks after College-Town hired the employee, Rizzi, her direct supervisor began engaging in sexually inappropriate conduct. He made repeated sexually suggestive comments, touched her back on one occasion, and at another time placed his hand over a slit in her dress while commenting on her clothing. During a performance discussion requested by Rizzi, the supervisor stated that she performed well and added a sexual remark about her body. On another occasion, he used an explicit sexual term to refer to her.
In the case Commonwealth v. Boucher, the defendant pleaded guilty to rape of a child and assault and battery on a child.
A man was convicted of raping his estranged wife and breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony. On appeal, he argued that under the common law, a husband could not be convicted of raping his wife. The Supreme Judicial Court rejected this “marital rape exemption,” holding that the revised rape statute, G.L. c.
In the case Commonwealth v. Cruz, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court considered whether a criminal conviction for threatening to commit a crime violated the First Amendment after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Counterman v. Colorado (2023).
The defendant was convicted of multiple sexual offenses against two minor girls who were living in his household. On appeal, he argued that the trial judge improperly excluded evidence of one complainant’s prior allegations of sexual abuse by a third party under the Massachusetts rape shield statute (G. L. c.
A woman was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after attempting an unassisted home childbirth in which her viable fetus died. The trial court found that she used excessive force to accelerate delivery, and failed to call for medical help despite recognizing a breech positioning. On appeal, the Supreme Judicial Court reversed, holding that the Commonwealth had not proven her actions caused the death, and that failing to call for help was not a legally sufficient cause of death.
The plaintiff was employed by Stop & Shop as a production line worker. From her first day of work, she was subjected to repeated sexual harassment by her supervisor and two foremen. Other female employees were also subjected to similar conduct. The harassment included sexually inappropriate comments and behavior that persisted over time. Although the plaintiff reported some incidents to management, she did not report all of them because she feared retaliation in the form of more difficult work assignments.
