reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 276b - Restorative Justice › Section 4 - Effect of Participation in Community-Based Restorative Justice Program in Current or Subsequent Legal Proceedings; Confidentiality of Statements Made During the Course of an Assignment to Program

Section 4. Participation in a community-based restorative justice program shall not be used as evidence or as an admission of guilt, delinquency or civil liability in current or subsequent legal proceedings against any participant. Any statement made by a juvenile or adult defendant during the course of an assignment to a community-based restorative justice program shall be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure in any judicial or administrative proceeding and no information obtained during the course of such assignment shall be used in any stage of a criminal investigation or prosecution or civil or administrative proceeding; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall preclude any evidence obtained through an independent source or that would have been inevitably discovered by lawful means from being admitted at such proceedings.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 276b - Restorative Justice › Section 5 - Restorative Justice Advisory Committee

Section 5. (a) There shall be established a restorative justice advisory committee to review community-based restorative justice programs. The advisory committee shall consist of 17 members: 1 of whom shall be: the secretary of public safety and security or a designee who shall serve as chair; 1 of whom shall be the secretary of health and human services or a designee; 1 of whom shall be a member of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker; 1 of whom shall be a member of the senate appointed by the senate president; 1 of whom shall be; the president of the Massachusetts district attorneys association, or a designee; 1 of whom shall be the chief counsel of the committee for public counsel services or a designee; 1 of whom shall be the commissioner of probation or a designee; 1 of whom shall be the president of the Massachusetts chiefs of police association, or a designee; 1 of whom shall be the executive director of the Massachusetts office for victim assistance or a designee; 1 of whom shall be the executive director of the Massachusetts sheriff's association, or a designee; and 7 of whom shall be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be a retired trial court judge and 6 of whom shall be representatives of community-based restorative justice programs or a member of the public with expertise in restorative justice. Each member of the advisory committee shall serve a 6-year term.
(b) The advisory committee may monitor and assist all community-based restorative justice programs to which a juvenile or adult defendant may be diverted pursuant to this chapter.
(c) The advisory committee shall track the use of community-based restorative justice programs through a partnership with an educational institution and may make legislative, policy and regulatory recommendations to aid in the use of community-based restorative justice programs including, but not limited to: (i) qualitative and quantitative outcomes for participants; (ii) recidivism rates of responsible parties; (iii) criteria for youth involvement and training; (iv) cost savings for the commonwealth; (v) training guidelines for restorative justice facilitators; (vi) data on gender, racial socioeconomic and geographic disparities in the use of community-based restorative justice programs; (vii) guidelines for restorative justice best practices; and (viii) appropriate training for community-based restorative programs.
(d) The advisory committee shall annually, not later than December 31, submit a report with findings and recommendations to the governor, the clerks of the house of representatives and senate and the house and senate chairs of the joint committees on the judiciary and public safety and homeland security.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 1 - Issuance of Writs of Venire Facias for Grand Jurors; Attendance at Sittings of Court

Section 1. The clerk of the courts for each county, except Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, Hampden, Norfolk, Plymouth and Worcester shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the commencement of the first sitting of the superior court for criminal business in each year, issue writs of venire facias for forty-five veniremen, from whose numbers the court shall select twenty-three grand jurors who shall serve in said court until the first regular sitting in the year next after they have been impanelled and until another grand jury has been impanelled in their stead. In counties where sittings of the court are established for the transaction of criminal business, they shall be required to attend only at such sittings.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 1a - Completion of Investigations by Grand Juries; Notice; Order

Section 1A. Upon a written notice by the attorney general or any district attorney made to any justice of the superior court that public necessity requires further time by a grand jury to complete an investigation then in progress, the court may order such grand jury to continue to serve until said investigation has been completed and shall take up no new matter.
This section shall not be construed to prevent the issuance of writs of venire facias authorized by section one for impanelling a grand jury whose duty shall include all business not then before the grand jury continued under authorization of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 2 - Suffolk County; Issuance of Writs of Venire Facias for Grand Jurors

Section 2. The clerk of the superior court for criminal business in Suffolk county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and July, respectively, issue writs of venire facias for forty-five veniremen of whom thirty-nine shall be from Boston and two each from Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop. From these forty-five veniremen the court shall then select twenty-three grand jurors to serve in said court, who shall serve for each sitting thereof for six months and until another grand jury has been impanelled in their stead.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 2a - Issuance of Writs of Venire Facias for Special Grand Jury

Section 2A. The clerk of the courts in any county, or in Suffolk county the clerk of the superior court for criminal business, shall, upon written request of the attorney general accompanied by a certificate that public necessity requires such action, signed by the chief justice of the superior court, issue writs of venire facias for forty-five veniremen of whom the court shall select twenty-three for service as a special grand jury to hear, consider and report on such matters as the attorney general may present. Said jurors shall serve for a period of six months, unless sooner discharged by the attorney general or by the said chief justice, and shall be drawn, summoned and returned in the same manner, and shall have the same powers and receive the same compensation, as grand jurors summoned for service under sections one and two, and the provisions of sections three to fourteen, so far as apt, shall apply to such jurors. In Middlesex county, the clerk of the courts shall send a letter of venire to the jury commissioner as set forth in section twelve of chapter two hundred and thirty-four A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 2b - Middlesex County; Issuance of Letters of Venire for Grand Jurors

Section 2B. The clerk of courts in Middlesex county shall, not less than seventy days before the first Monday of January and July, respectively, issue letters of venire to the jury commissioner for thirty-five prospective grand jurors from whom the court shall select twenty-three grand jurors who shall serve in said court for each sitting thereof for six months and until another grand jury has been impanelled in their stead.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 2c - Hampden County; Issuance of Writs of Venire Facias for Grand Jurors

Section 2C. The clerk of the court for Hampden county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and May, and the second Monday of September respectively, issue writs of venire facias for forty-five veniremen from whom the court shall select twenty-three grand jurors to serve in said court, who shall serve for each sitting thereof for four months and until another grand jury has been impanelled in their stead.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 2d - Plymouth County; Issuance of Writs of Venire Facias for Grand Jurors

Section 2D. The clerk of the court for Plymouth County shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and May, and the second Monday of September respectively, issue writs of venire facias for forty-five veniremen from whom the court shall select twenty-three grand jurors to serve in said court, who shall serve for each sitting thereof for four months and until another grand jury has been impanelled in their stead.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 2e - Worcester County; Issuance of Writs of Venire Facias for Grand Jurors

Section 2E. The clerk of the court for Worcester county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and May, and the second Monday of September, respectively, issue writs of venire facias for fifty veniremen from whom the court shall select twenty-three grand jurors to serve in said court, who shall serve for each sitting thereof for four months and until another grand jury has been impanelled in their stead.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 2f - Norfolk County; Issuance of Writs of Venire Facias for Grand Jurors

Section 2F. The clerk of the court for Norfolk county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and July respectively, issue writs of venire facias for fifty veniremen from whom the court shall select twenty-three grand jurors to serve in said court, who shall serve for each sitting thereof for six months and until another grand jury has been impanelled in their stead.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 2g - Essex County; Issuance of Writs of Venire Facias for Grand Jurors

Section 2G. The clerk of the court for Essex county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and May, and the second Monday of September respectively, issue writs of venire facias for forty-five veniremen from whom the court shall select twenty-three grand jurors to serve in said court, who shall serve for each sitting thereof for four months and until another grand jury has been impanelled in their stead.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 2h - Bristol County; Issuance of Writs of Venire Facias for Grand Jurors

Section 2H. The clerk of the court for Bristol county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and July respectively, issue writs of venire facias for fifty veniremen from whom the court shall select twenty-three grand jurors to serve in said court, who shall serve for each sitting thereof for six months and until another grand jury has been impanelled in their stead.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 3 - Drawing and Summoning of Grand Jurors

Section 3. Grand jurors shall be drawn, summoned and returned in the same manner as traverse jurors; and, if drawn at the same time with traverse jurors, the number of persons required whose names are first drawn shall be returned as grand jurors, and those whose names are afterward drawn shall be returned as traverse jurors. In Middlesex county, the selection and management of grand jurors shall be governed by chapter two hundred and thirty-four A and other applicable provisions of the General Laws.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 3a - Suffolk County; Impanelling Grand Jurors

Section 3A. On the day when veniremen are summoned pursuant to section one, section two, section two A, section two B, section two C, section two D, section two E or section two F to attend court for the formation of a grand jury, the clerk of courts in any county, or in Suffolk county the clerk of the superior court for criminal business, shall cause the name of each person so summoned, and who appears and who has not been excused or set aside, to be written on separate ballots, substantially of uniform size, and shall cause such ballots to be placed in a box provided therefor. The clerk in open court, after shaking the ballots thoroughly, shall draw them out in succession until he has drawn the names of twenty-three grand jurors.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 4 - Deficiency of Grand Jurors

Section 4. If there is a deficiency of grand jurors, writs of venire facias may be issued to the constables of such towns as the court orders to return forthwith the further number of grand jurors required. In Middlesex county, letters of venire shall be issued to the jury commissioner as set forth in chapter two hundred and thirty-four A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 5 - Impanelling and Oath

Section 5. The clerk of the court shall prepare an alphabetical list of the names of all persons returned as grand jurors, and, when they are to be impanelled, the first two persons named thereon shall be first called, and the following oath shall be administered to them:
You, as grand jurors of this inquest for the body of this county of , do solemnly swear that you will diligently inquire, and true presentment make, of all such matters and things as shall be given you in charge; the commonwealth's counsel, your fellows' and your own, you shall keep secret; you shall present no man for envy, hatred or malice, neither shall you leave any man unpresented for love, fear, favor, affection or hope of reward; but you shall present things truly, as they come to your knowledge, according to the best of your understanding; so help you God.
The other jurors shall then be called in such divisions as the court considers proper, and the following oath shall be administered to them:
The same oath which your fellows have taken on their part, you and each of you on your behalf shall well and truly observe and keep; so help you God.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 11 - Re-Summoning at Same Sitting

Section 11. If the grand jury are dismissed before the court is adjourned without day, they may be summoned to attend again in the same sitting, at such time as the court orders.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 14a - Right to Counsel; Grand Jury Proceedings

Section 14A. Any person shall have the right to consult with counsel and to have counsel present at every step of any criminal proceeding at which such person is present, including the presentation of evidence, questioning, or examination before the grand jury; provided, however, that such counsel in a proceeding before a grand jury shall make no objections or arguments or otherwise address the grand jury or the district attorney. No witness may refuse to appear for reason of unavailability of counsel for that witness.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 15 - Discharge of Accused Person Not Indicted

Section 15. The grand jury shall, during its session, make daily return to the court of all cases wherein it has finally determined not to present an indictment against an accused person held in custody pending its action, and such person shall thereupon forthwith be discharged by order of the court unless he is held on other process. Whoever is held in custody on a charge of crime shall be discharged if he is not indicted before the end of the second sitting of the court at which he is held to answer, unless the court finds that the witnesses for the prosecution have been enticed or kept away, or are detained and prevented from attending the court by illness or accident, and except as provided in the following section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 19 - Name of Accused Person; Description by Fictitious Name; Entry of True Name

Section 19. If the name of an accused person is unknown to the grand jury, he may be described by a fictitious name or by any other practicable description, with an allegation that his real name is unknown. An indictment of the defendant by a fictitious or erroneous name shall not be ground for abatement; but if at any subsequent stage of the proceedings his true name is discovered, it shall be entered on the record and may be used in the subsequent proceedings, with a reference to the fact that he was indicted by the name or description mentioned in the indictment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 20 - Time and Place of Commission of Crime

Section 20. The time and place of the commission of the crime need not be alleged unless it is an essential element thereof. The allegation of time in the caption shall, unless otherwise stated, be considered as an allegation that the act was committed before the finding of the indictment, after it became a crime, and within the period of limitations. The name of the county and court in the caption shall, unless otherwise stated, be considered as an allegation that the act was committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the court. All allegations of the indictment shall, unless otherwise stated, be considered to refer to the same time and place.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 22 - Description of Written Instrument; Variance

Section 22. If an allegation relative to a written instrument consisting wholly or in part of writing, print or figures is necessary, it may describe such instrument by any name or designation by which it is usually known, or by the purport thereof, without setting out a copy or facsimile of the whole or of any part thereof; and no variance between such recital or description and the instrument produced at the trial shall be material, if the identity of the instrument is evident and the purport thereof is so described as not to prejudice the defendant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 23 - Description of Money

Section 23. If an allegation relative to any bullion, money, notes, bank notes, checks, drafts, bills of exchange, obligations or other securities for money of any country, state, county, city, town, bank, corporation, partnership or person is necessary, it may describe it as money, without specifying any particulars thereof; and such descriptive allegation shall be sustained by proof of any amount of bullion, money, notes or other securities for money as aforesaid, although the particular nature thereof shall not be proved.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 24 - Description of Value or Price

Section 24. The value or price of property need not be stated, unless an essential element of the crime. If the nature, degree or punishment of a crime depends upon the fact that the property exceeds or does not exceed a certain value, it may be described, as the case may be, of more than that value, or of not more than that value.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 25 - Description of Ownership

Section 25. If an indictment for a crime involving the commission or attempted commission of an injury to property describes the property with sufficient certainty in other respects to identify the act, it need not allege the name of the owner.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 26 - Description of Public Place

Section 26. If one element of the criminality of an act is its commission in a public place, and if such place is not more particularly defined in the statute, the act may be alleged generally to have been committed ''in a public place''.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 27 - Description of Animal

Section 27. In an indictment for the larceny of an animal, or for any other crime in respect thereof, it may be described by the name by which it is commonly known, without stating its age or sex or whether it is alive or dead.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 28 - Description of Judicial Proceedings

Section 28. If it is necessary to set forth the judicial proceedings in any case then or formerly pending in any court, civil or military, or any proceedings before a justice of the peace or any other magistrate, only the substance of said proceedings or such part thereof as shall constitute in whole or in part the crime charged need be alleged.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 30 - Intent to Injure or Defraud; General Allegation

Section 30. If an intent to injure or defraud is an essential element of a crime, an intent to injure or defraud may be alleged generally, without naming the person, corporation or government intended to be injured or defrauded. Proof of an intent to injure or defraud any person or body corporate shall be competent to support the allegation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 32 - Continuing Offenses

Section 32. An allegation that a crime was committed or that certain acts were done during a certain period of time next before the finding of the indictment shall be a sufficient allegation that the crime alleged was committed or that the acts alleged were done on divers days and times within that period.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 33 - Unnecessary and Immaterial Allegations

Section 33. Presumptions and conclusions of law, matters of which judicial notice is taken and allegations not required to be proved need not be alleged. An indictment shall not be considered defective or insufficient because it omits to allege that the crime was committed, or the act was done ''traitorously'', ''feloniously'', ''burglariously'', ''wilfully'', ''maliciously'', ''negligently'', ''unlawfully'' or otherwise similarly to describe the crime, unless such description is an element of the crime charged, or because it omits to allege that the crime was committed or done with ''force and arms'', or ''against the peace'', or against the form of the statute or statutes, or against a by-law, ordinance, order, rule or regulation of any public authority, or because it omits to state or misstates the title, occupation, estate or degree of the defendant or of any other person named in the indictment, or of the name of the county, city, town or place of his residence, unless such omission or misstatement tends to the prejudice of the defendant, or by reason of describing a fine or forfeiture as enuring to the use of the commonwealth instead of to the use of the county, city or town, or by reason of any misstatement as to the appropriation of any fine or forfeiture, or by reason of its failure to allege or recite a special statute or a by-law or ordinance of a city or town or order of the mayor and aldermen or selectmen or rules or regulations of any public board of officers.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 34 - Immaterial Defects

Section 34. An indictment shall not be dismissed or be considered defective or insufficient if it is sufficient to enable the defendant to understand the charge and to prepare his defense; nor shall it be considered defective or insufficient for lack of any description or information which might be obtained by requiring a bill of particulars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 35 - Variance; Prejudice

Section 35. A defendant shall not be acquitted on the ground of variance between the allegations and proof if the essential elements of the crime are correctly stated, unless he is thereby prejudiced in his defence. He shall not be acquitted by reason of an immaterial misnomer of a third party, an immaterial mistake in the description of property or the ownership thereof, failure to prove unnecessary allegations in the description of the crime or any other immaterial mistake in the indictment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 37 - Negativing Excuses, Exceptions or Provisos

Section 37. An excuse, exception or proviso not stated in the enacting clause of a statute creating a crime or stated only by reference to other provisions of the statute need not be negatived in the indictment unless necessary for a complete definition of the crime. If any statute shall prescribe a form of indictment in which an excuse, exception or proviso is not negatived, it shall be taken that it is not necessary to a complete definition of the crime that they should be negatived. If a statute creating a crime permits an act, therein declared to be criminal, to be performed without criminality under stated conditions, such conditions need not be negatived.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 38 - Allegations, Bill of Particulars, Presumption and Proof in Prosecutions Involving Controlled Substances

Section 38. In a prosecution under any provision of chapter ninety-four C, for unlawfully manufacturing, dispensing or distributing a controlled substance in violation of any provision of said chapter, it shall be sufficient to allege that the defendant did unlawfully manufacture, dispense or distribute, as the case may be, such alleged substance, without any further allegations, without naming the person to whom it dispensed or distributed, or quantity of the substance; but the defendant shall be entitled to a bill of particulars. In such a prosecution, a defendant relying upon a prescription, written order, receipt, registration, appointment or authority, or exemption as a defense or justification shall prove the same, and until he has proved it the presumption shall be that he is not so justified or authorized.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 39 - Construction of Certain Words Used in Indictment

Section 39. The words used in an indictment may, except as otherwise provided in this section, be construed according to their usual acceptation in common language; but if certain words and phrases are defined by law, they shall be used according to their legal meaning.
The following words, when used in an indictment, shall be sufficient to convey the meaning herein attached to them:
Adultery.
—Sexual intercourse by a married person with a person not his spouse or by an unmarried person with a married person.
Affray.
—Fighting together of two or more persons in a public place to the terror of the persons lawfully there.
Aggravated Rape.
—Sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse by a person with another person who is compelled to submit by force and against his will or by threat of bodily injury; and either such sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse results in or is committed with acts resulting in serious bodily injury, or is committed by a joint enterprise, or is committed during the commission or attempted commission of an offense defined in section fifteen A, fifteen B, seventeen, nineteen or twenty-six of chapter two hundred and sixty-five, section fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen or eighteen of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, or section ten of chapter two hundred and sixty-nine.
False Pretences.
—False representations made by word or act of such a character, or made under such circumstances and in such a way, with the intention of influencing the action of another, as to be punishable.
Forgery.
—The false making, altering, forging or counterfeiting of any instrument described in section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-seven, or any instrument which, if genuine, would be a foundation for or release of liability of the apparent maker.
Fornication.
—Sexual intercourse between an unmarried male and an unmarried female.
Murder.
—The killing of a human being, with malice aforethought.
Rape.
—Sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse by a person with another person who is compelled to submit by force and against his will or by threat of bodily injury, or sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with a child under sixteen years of age.
Robbery.
—The taking and carrying away of personal property of another from his person and against his will, by force and violence, or by assault and putting in fear, with intent to steal.
Stealing. Larceny.
—The criminal taking, obtaining or converting of personal property, with intent to defraud or deprive the owner permanently of the use of it; including all forms of larceny, criminal embezzlement and obtaining by criminal false pretences.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 41 - Indictment for Criminal Dealing With Personal Property

Section 41. In an indictment for criminal dealing with personal property with intent to steal, an allegation that the defendant stole said property shall be sufficient; and such indictment may be supported by proof that the defendant committed larceny of the property, or embezzled it, or obtained it by false pretences.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 42 - Prosecutions for Buying, Receiving or Aiding in Concealment of Stolen Property

Section 42. In prosecutions for buying, receiving or aiding in the concealment of stolen property known to have been stolen, it shall not be necessary to allege or prove that the person who stole the property has been convicted.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 43 - Indictment for Perjury

Section 43. In an indictment for perjury alleged to have been committed in a criminal case an allegation of the substance of the crime shall be sufficient; if alleged to have been committed in a civil case, an allegation of the nature of the controversy in general terms shall be sufficient. In both cases, the court or magistrate before whom the oath or affirmation was taken shall be alleged, but no part of the proceeding in which, or the commission or authority of the court or person before whom, the perjury was committed need be alleged.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 44 - Indictment for Subornation of Perjury

Section 44. If, in an indictment for subornation of perjury or for attempting to incite or procure another person to commit perjury, it is alleged that perjury has been committed, an allegation of the perjury as provided in the preceding section and an allegation that the defendant wilfully incited or procured said person to commit said perjury shall be sufficient. If it is not alleged that such perjury has been committed, an allegation of the substance of the crime with which the defendant is charged shall be sufficient, without allegations as to matters or things which by the preceding section are declared to be unnecessary.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 45 - Indictment for Unnatural and Lascivious Acts

Section 45. In an indictment under section thirty-five of chapter two hundred and seventy-two, an allegation that the defendant committed an unnatural and lascivious act with the person named or referred to in the indictment shall be sufficient.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 47 - Arraignment in Capital Cases; Sentence; Assignment of Counsel

Section 47. If a prisoner, under indictment for a capital crime, pleads guilty, upon being arraigned, the court shall award sentence against him; if he does not plead guilty, the court may assign him counsel and take all other measures preparatory to a trial, which shall, subject to the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure, be held as soon after the finding of the indictment as the other official duties of the justices will admit and the circumstances of the case require.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 47a - Defenses or Objections; Time of Motion

Section 47A. In a criminal case, any defense or objection based upon defects in the institution of the prosecution or in the complaint or indictment, other than a failure to show jurisdiction in the court or to charge an offense, shall only be raised prior to trial and only by a motion in conformity with the requirements of the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure. The failure to raise any such defense or objection by motion prior to trial shall constitute a waiver thereof, but a judge or special magistrate may, for cause shown, grant relief from such waiver. A defense or objection based upon a failure to show jurisdiction in the court or the failure to charge an offense may be raised by motion to dismiss prior to trial, but shall be noticed by the court at any time.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 53 - District Attorneys; Authority and Duty as to Transferred Cases

Section 53. If a case is transferred for plea or trial and sentence pursuant to the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure, the district attorney for the county to which the case is transferred or the district attorney for the county from which the case is transferred shall have the same authority and duty in the case as if it had not been transferred, depending upon which of the district attorneys is to try the case.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 54 - Custody and Delivery of Prisoner

Section 54. If a change of venue is ordered, the sheriff having custody of the prisoner shall forthwith deliver him to the sheriff of the county to which the venue has been changed, who shall receive and safely keep him as if the indictment had been found in such county.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 55 - Compensation of Counsel of Prisoner

Section 55. A justice of the court, sitting at the trial or other proceedings upon an indictment for murder, may allow reasonable compensation for the services of counsel assigned to defend the prisoner if he is otherwise unable to procure counsel, and such compensation shall be paid by the county where the indictment is found.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 56 - Expenses of Counsel of Prisoner

Section 56. The reasonable expenses incurred and paid by counsel assigned by the court for the defense of a person indicted for murder, who is otherwise unable to procure counsel, shall be paid by the commonwealth after approval by a justice sitting at the trial or other proceedings of the case.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 57 - Venue for Prosecution of Crimes Committed Near Boundary Line of Counties, etc.; Crimes Committed on Sea

Section 57. A crime committed on or within one hundred rods of the boundary line of two counties may be alleged to have been committed, and may be prosecuted and punished, in either county; and if committed on or within fifty rods of the boundary line of two judicial districts, it may be alleged to have been committed, and may be prosecuted and punished, in either district. A crime committed upon the sea within one league of the shore may be prosecuted and punished in an adjacent county.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 57a - Venue in Cases Where Crime Was Committed Without County or Territorial Jurisdiction of Court

Section 57A. A defendant shall not be discharged for want of jurisdiction if the evidence discloses that the crime with which he is charged was actually committed without the county or the territorial jurisdiction of the court in which he is being tried; provided, that the attorney general or the district attorney petitions to the court before proceeding with the trial for leave to proceed, stating that he is in doubt from the state of the evidence then in his possession as to whether or not the crime was committed within the county or the territorial jurisdiction of the court, and the court after hearing said petition orders the trial to proceed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 58 - Larceny; Venue

Section 58. Larceny, whether at common law or as defined by section thirty of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, may be prosecuted and punished in any county where the defendant had possession of the property alleged to have been stolen.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 58a - Buying, Receiving, Concealing or Aiding in Concealment of Stolen or Embezzled Property; Venue

Section 58A. The crime of buying, receiving or concealing a stolen motor vehicle or trailer, as defined in section twenty-eight of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, and the crime of buying, receiving or aiding in the concealment of stolen or embezzled property, as defined in section sixty of said chapter two hundred and sixty-six, may be prosecuted and punished in the same jurisdiction in which the larceny or embezzlement of any property involved in the crime may be prosecuted and punished.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 58a1/2 - Computer Offenses; Venue

Section 58A1/2. The crimes described in sections thirty-three A and one hundred and twenty F of chapter two hundred and sixty-six and section one hundred and twenty-seven of said chapter two hundred and sixty-six when the personal property involved is electronically processed or stored data, either tangible or intangible, and data while in transit, may be prosecuted and punished in any county where the defendant was physically located at the time of the violation, or where the electronic data was physically located at the time of the violation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 58b - Embezzlement or Fraudulent Conversion or Appropriation by Fiduciaries; Venue

Section 58B. The crime of embezzlement or fraudulent conversion or appropriation by a fiduciary of money, goods or property held or possessed by him, as set forth in section fifty-seven of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, including the fraudulent disposition or destruction of such property, may be prosecuted and punished in the county wherein is located the probate court which appointed the fiduciary or in any county where the deed or other instrument in writing creating the trust under which he served or acted was recorded or in any county where he had held or possessed the property as aforesaid after embezzling or fraudulently converting or appropriating the same, as well as in any county where he committed the act of embezzlement or fraudulent conversion or appropriation or other fraudulent disposition or destruction of property held or possessed by him as aforesaid.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 59 - Obtaining Money or Personal Chattel by False Pretences; Venue

Section 59. The crime of obtaining money or a personal chattel by a false pretence, and the crime described in section thirty-one of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, may be alleged to have been committed, and may be prosecuted and punished, in any county where the false pretence was made, written or used, or in or through which any of the property obtained was carried, sent, transported or received by the defendant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 59a - Transmission of False Reports, Location of Explosives, etc.; Venue

Section 59A. The crime described in section fourteen of chapter two hundred and sixty-nine may be prosecuted and punished in the territorial jurisdiction in which the communication originates or is received.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title II - Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Chapter 277 - Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial › Section 60 - Homicide if Injury Is in One County and Death in Another; Venue

Section 60. If a mortal wound is given, or if other violence or injury is inflicted, or if poison is administered, in one county, by means whereof death ensues in another county, the homicide may be prosecuted and punished in either county.