Guides
This presentation provides advice for appellate attorneys seeking the cooperation of trial counsel in claims of ineffective assistance.
This is a guide for criminal defense attorneys describing when Miranda warnings are required and what constitutes “interrogation” requiring Miranda warnings.
The Massachusetts version of the Freedom of Information Act provides an opportunity to get copies of important documents such as police manuals, expert reports, or internal affairs complaints. This brief guide provides quick guidance for the criminal defense attorney seeking public records.
The Secretary of the Commonwealth also has a long and comprehensive guide here.
Federal habeas corpus petitions are unfamiliar territory for many criminal defense attorneys. Here is a practical guide to common questions about filing a habeas corpus petition.
In 1996, Congress severely restricted the time for filing a habeas corpus petition. This is a brief explanation of how those time limits work.
This provides a quick outline of the mechanics of petitions for Further Appellate Review in the Supreme Judicial Court and petitions for certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. There are also tips for appellate counsel about how to focus such petitions.
Sample Pleadings
On March 6, 2017, Attorney Wood and a team of attorneys from Ropes & Gray filed a brief in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Weaver v. Massachusetts, No. 16-240. They argue that the Court should not shy away from vindicating the treasured right to a public trial. The government's argument that vindicating the right to a public trial would "open up the floodgates" is both factually incorrect and diverts attention from the real issue: whether our Constitution entitles everyone to a public trial. Read the brief here.
On March 21, Attorney Jellison submitted an amicus brief in a manslaughter case on behalf of the Committee for Public Counsel Services and the ACLU arguing that juvenile brain science should lead courts to evaluate juveniles' conduct under a reasonable juvenile standard. Read the brief here.
Although it was eventually denied, this petition highlights the weakness of the evidence against our client, outrageous police misconduct in destroying evidence, and the ways in which the Massachusetts law on destruction of evidence fails to protect constitutional rights.
This is an amicus (friend of the court) brief we submitted on behalf of the public defender’s office. Our position won and the case established as Massachusetts law that excluding spectators from jury selection violates the right to a public trial.
We co-authored this amicus brief with the ACLU of Massachusetts, supporting activists’ challenge to a terrifying vague federal law that criminalizes even the most minor conduct as terrorism.
This is our brief which convinced the Supreme Court that our client’s conviction violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Constitution.
Listen to the arguments here.
What happens to the attorney-client privilege when a defendant claims that his trial attorney was ineffective?
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