Chapter 278

Section 1. At each session of the superior court for criminal business, the district attorney, before trials begin, shall make and deposit with the clerk, for the inspection of parties, a list of all cases to be tried at that session, and the cases shall be tried in the order of …

Section 10. If a crime is alleged to have been committed in the night time, night time shall be deemed the time between one hour after sunset on one day and one hour before sunrise on the next day; and the time of sunset and sunrise shall be ascertained according to mean time in …

Section 11. If a motion for a directed verdict of not guilty is denied and the case is submitted to the jury and a verdict of guilty is returned, the judge may on a renewed motion for a directed verdict of not guilty pursuant to the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure set a…

Section 11A. If a defendant is charged with a crime for which more severe punishment is provided for second and subsequent offenses, and the complaint or indictment alleges that the offense charged is a second or subsequent offense, the defendant on arraignment shall be inquired …

Section 12. If a person indicted for a felony is acquitted by the verdict of part of the crime charged, and is convicted of the residue, such verdict may be received and recorded by the court, and thereupon the defendant shall be adjudged guilty of the crime, if any, which appear…

Section 14. No prisoner or person under recognizance, acquitted by verdict or discharged because no indictment has been found against him, or for want of prosecution, shall be liable for any costs or fees or for any charge for subsistence while he was in custody.

Section 15. In a prosecution before a district court under the by-laws, ordinances, orders, rules or regulations of a city or town, the city solicitor, town counsel or other person appointed to represent such city or town may enter a nolle prosequi or do anything relative to such…

Section 16. The court may assign counsel to an inmate of any institution for the reformation of juvenile offenders who is to be tried for an offence alleged to have been committed therein; and shall, upon application, order the superintendent or other officer of such institution …

Section 16A. At the trial of a complaint or indictment for rape, incest, carnal abuse or other crime involving sex, where a minor under eighteen years of age is the person upon, with or against whom the crime is alleged to have been committed, or at the trial of a complaint or in…

Section 16B. The presiding justice of a district court may exclude the general public from the court room during the trial of any criminal proceeding involving husband and wife.

Section 16C. To protect the parties involved at a trial arising from a complaint or indictment for incest or rape, the trial judge may exclude all spectators from the courtroom in which such trial is being held, or from said courtroom during those portions of such trial when dire…

Section 16D. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:— ''Child witness'', a person who is under the age of fifteen years and who is alleged to have been a victim of, or a witness to an alleged violation of section thirteen B, 13…

Section 16F. In any criminal proceeding involving an alleged sex crime perpetrated upon a minor child, or in which a minor child is expected to testify as a witness to a sex crime, the court shall, in order to minimize stress on such child, take action to expedite trial and give …

Section 18. A defendant who is before the Boston municipal court or a district court or a district court sitting in a juvenile session or a juvenile court on a criminal offense within the court's final jurisdiction shall plead not guilty or guilty, or with the consent of the cour…

Section 2. Issues of fact joined upon an indictment or complaint shall, in the superior court, be tried by a jury drawn and returned in the manner provided for the trial of issues of fact in civil causes, unless the person indicted or complained against elects to be tried by the …

Section 23. At the trial of a criminal case in the superior court, upon indictment, or in a district court, the fact that the defendant did not testify at any preliminary hearing in the first court, or that at such hearing he waived examination or did not offer any evidence in hi…

Section 28. A defendant aggrieved by a judgment of the district court or of the superior court in any criminal proceeding may appeal therefrom to the supreme judicial court.

Section 28A. There shall be an appellate division of the superior court for the review of sentences to the state prison imposed by final judgments in criminal cases, except in any case in which a different sentence could not have been imposed, and for the review of sentences to t…

Section 28B. A person aggrieved by a sentence which may be reviewed may appeal to the appellate division for a review of such sentence. Upon the imposition of a sentence which may be reviewed, the clerk of the court shall notify the person sentenced of his right to appeal. The ap…

Section 28C. If the judgment is amended by an order substituting a different sentence or sentences or disposition of the case, the appellate division or any member thereof shall resentence the defendant or make any other disposition of the case in accordance with the order of sai…

Section 28E. An appeal may be taken by and on behalf of the commonwealth by the attorney general or a district attorney from the district court to the appeals court in all criminal cases and in all delinquency cases from a decision, order or judgment of the court (1) allowing a m…

Section 29B. If a defendant having a right to counsel in a criminal proceeding has not been represented by counsel or has not properly waived his right to counsel and has entered a plea of guilty, such defendant may withdraw such plea as a matter of right at any time prior to imp…

Section 29D. The court shall not accept a plea of guilty, a plea of nolo contendere, or an admission to sufficient facts from any defendant in any criminal proceeding unless the court advises such defendant of the following: ''If you are not a citizen of the United States, you ar…

Section 33E. In a capital case as hereinafter defined the entry in the supreme judicial court shall transfer to that court the whole case for its consideration of the law and the evidence. Upon such consideration the court may, if satisfied that the verdict was against the law or…

Section 34. No motion in arrest of judgment shall be allowed for a cause existing before verdict, unless it affects the jurisdiction of the court.

Section 35. In all trials in district courts, male and female prisoners shall not be placed at the same time in the same dock, unless they are complained of jointly.

Section 4. The following oath shall be administered to the jurors for the trial of all criminal cases which are not capital: You shall well and truly try the issue between the commonwealth and the defendant, (or the defendants, as the case may be,) according to your evidence; so …

Section 5. A juror who is conscientiously scrupulous of taking either of the oaths above prescribed shall be allowed to affirm.

Section 6A. At the arraignment of a defendant charged with violating the provisions of sections twenty-seven A, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, one hundred and eleven A and one hundred and thirty-nine of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, the court shall, upon a showing of need by the…

Section 7. A defendant in a criminal prosecution, relying for his justification upon a license, appointment, admission to practice as an attorney at law, or authority, shall prove the same; and, until so proved, the presumption shall be that he is not so authorized.

Section 8. The defendant in a prosecution for writing or publishing a libel may introduce in evidence the truth of the matter contained in the publication charged as libellous, and the truth shall be a justification, unless actual malice is proved.

Section 8A. In the prosecution of a person who is an occupant of a dwelling charged with killing or injuring one who was unlawfully in said dwelling, it shall be a defense that the occupant was in his dwelling at the time of the offense and that he acted in the reasonable belief …

Section 9. In the prosecution of crimes which relate to or affect real or personal estate, it shall be sufficient, and shall not be a variance, if it is proved on the trial that, at the time when the crime was committed, either the actual or constructive possession or the general…