Chapter 263

Section 1. Whoever is arrested by virtue of process, or whoever is taken into custody by an officer, has a right to know from the officer who arrests or claims to detain him the true ground on which the arrest is made; and an officer who refuses to answer a question relative to t…

Section 1A. Whoever is arrested by virtue of process or is taken into custody by an officer and is charged with the commission of a felony shall be fingerprinted according to the system of the department of state police and photographed. The fingerprints and photographs shall be …

Section 2. An officer who arrests or takes into or detains in custody a person, pretending to have a process if he has none, or pretending to have a different process from that which he has, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for …

Section 3. No action, except for use of excessive force, shall lie against any officer other than the arresting officer, by reason of the fact that, in good faith and in the performance of his duties, he participates in the arrest or imprisonment of any person believed to be guil…

Section 4. No person shall be held to answer in any court for an alleged crime, except upon an indictment by a grand jury or upon a complaint before a district court, the housing court of the city of Boston, the western division of the housing court department, the northeastern d…

Section 4A. A defendant charged in the district court with an offense as to which he has the right to be proceeded against by indictment shall have the right, except when the offense charged is a capital crime, to waive that right, whereupon the court shall have as full jurisdict…

Section 5. A person accused of crime shall at his trial be allowed to be heard by counsel, to defend himself, to produce witnesses and proofs in his favor and to meet the witnesses produced against him face to face.

Section 5A. A person held in custody at a police station or other place of detention, charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, shall have the right, at his request and at his expense, to be examined immediately by a physician select…

Section 6. A person indicted for a crime shall not be convicted thereof except by confessing his guilt in open court, by admitting the truth of the charge against him by his plea or demurrer or by the verdict of a jury accepted and recorded by the court or, in any criminal case o…

Section 7. A person shall not be held to answer on a second indictment or complaint for a crime of which he has been acquitted upon the facts and merits; but he may plead such acquittal in bar of any subsequent prosecution for the same crime, notwithstanding any defect in the for…

Section 8. If a person has been acquitted by reason of a variance between the indictment or complaint and the proof, or by reason of a defect of form or substance in the indictment or complaint, he may be again arraigned, tried and convicted for the same crime on a new indictment…

Section 8A. A person shall not be held to answer in a district court or the housing court of the city of Boston, the western division of the housing court department, the northeastern division of the housing court department, the southeastern division of the housing court departm…

Section 9. A person shall not be punished for a crime unless he has been legally convicted thereof by a court having competent jurisdiction of the cause and of the person.