Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Judge Matthew Nestor found Beverly Massachusetts police officer guilty of motor vehicle homicide following a jury waived trial in Peabody District Court. According to The Salem News, Officer Stuart Merry was retried on the charges after the first trial judge held that exculpatory evidence was unintentionally withheld from the defense team during the first trial. The Commonwealth appealed this ruling but The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court agreed that the Beverly police officer was entitled to a new trial. However, even following the retrial, Merry was found guilty and sentenced to three years probation and a fifteen year license loss.

In Massachusetts, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 90 § 24G provides that in order to be found guilty of motor vehicle homicide the Commonwealth must prove that a defendant operated a motor vehicle recklessly or negligently on a public way in such a manner that the lives and safety of the public might be endangered and by such operation caused the death of another person. The law on motor vehicle homicide encompasses tort law to the extent that a finding of ordinary negligence suffices to establish homicide by motor vehicle. Although the Commonwealth must prove all elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt negligence, for purposes of motor vehicle homicide, is determined by the same standard that is employed in tort law.

In the Merry case, the Commonwealth claimed that the officer's negligent operation of his police cruiser caused the death of sixty-one year old Bonny Burns as she sat in her car in front of her home on January 20, 2007. The defense claimed that Merry suffered a seizure prior to the crash causing the officer to become rigid and push the gas pedal almost all of the way to the floor. Following approximately thirty minutes of deliberations the District Court Judge found Merry guilty indicating that he believed that the prosecution sustained its burden of proof.

In Massachusetts, if you are charged with any type of criminal motor vehicle offense it is important that you have an experienced Massachusetts defense lawyer on your side. Conviction on these types of offenses not only may involve probation and/or incarceration but they can have collateral consequences with the Registry of Motor Vehicles.