Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 12/21/2000

Commonwealth v. Alvarez

Citations

433 Mass. 93
740 N.E.2d 610
2000 Mass. LEXIS 766

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

“Counsel’s failure to review or provide to the defense expert [relevant] medical records . . . fell measurably below that of an ordinary fallible lawyer” [emphasis supplied]
no reasonable tactical judgment in failing to obtain or review 10 defendant's medical evidence where such investigation would have aligned with defense at trial
new trial ordered for ineffective assistance of counsel because “the jury may have ruled differently” if medical evidence of defendant’s brain damage had been properly investigated, reviewed with the defense expert, and presented at trial
trial counsel ineffective for failing to fully examine defendant’s mental health records, which corroborated defendant’s testimony about her own mental health history, and therefore would have aided in establishing defense of lack of criminal responsibility defense
proper review of the defendant’s medical records before trial would have shown the extent of the defendant’s mental illness, which could have had a significant impact on the jury’s assessment of the evidence
trial counsel ineffective for failing to fully examine defendant's mental health records, which corroborated defendant's testimony about her own mental health history, and therefore would have aided in establishing defense of lack of criminal responsibility defense

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Sosman

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

19 cases in this archive cite this case.

Cites

8 cases in this archive are cited by this case.

Other cases with this name

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.