Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 6/12/2009

Commonwealth v. Means

Citations

454 Mass. 81
907 N.E.2d 646
2009 Mass. LEXIS 180

How courts have described this case

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

strict protocols apply before defendant can be found to have waived or forfeited his right to counsel
“judge must ensure by careful inquiry on the record” that waiver is made voluntarily and with understanding of magnitude of undertaking, and that defendant appreciates seriousness of charge and potential penalties
\The key to waiver by conduct is misconduct occurring after an express warning has been given to the defendant about the defendant's behavior and the consequences of proceeding without counsel.\
\The key to waiver by conduct is misconduct occurring after an express warning has been given to the defendant about the defendant's behavior and the consequences of proceeding without counsel.\
\Forfeiture is an extreme sanction in response to extreme conduct that imperils the integrity or safety of court proceedings\ that should be used only under \extraordinary circumstances\ as a \last resort in response to the most grave and deliberate misconduct.\

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Marshall

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Cited by

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

Cites

40 cases in this archive are cited by this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

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