Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 7/14/2016

Commonwealth v. Epps

Citations

474 Mass. 743
53 N.E.3d 1247

How courts have described this case

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

noting that “a medical diagnosis of [abusive head trauma] is made only after consideration of all clinical data,” and that pediatricians “have a responsibility to consider alternative hypotheses when presented with a patient with findings suggestive of [abusive head trauma]”
\an evaluation of trial counsel's performance involves weighing the strength of an asserted defense 'relative to the availability and strength of other potential defenses'\
extent of necessary investigation depends on viability of potential defense relative to availability and strength of other potential defenses
ineffective assistance where trial counsel did not pursue third-party culprit defense and failed to rebut expert medical testimony with evidence that child's injuries may have been accidental
\Commonwealth's medical expert offered the opinion that injuries of the type and severity suffered by the child could not have been caused by the short falls described by the defendant\
trial counsel's failure to consult and call expert to rebut 3 the credibility of alleged victims' disclosures in child sexual abuse cases. See Commonwealth v. Andrade, 98 Mass. App. Ct. 395, 399 (2020

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Gants, Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Duffly, Hines

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

21 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Cites

18 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.