Skip to main content

Commonwealth v. Souza

Citations

  • 461 N.E.2d 166
  • 390 Mass. 813
  • 1984 Mass. LEXIS 1313

How courts have described this case

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

  • unconstitutional for judge to enhance defendant’s punishment for exercise of right to plead not guilty
  • “[I]t is unconstitutional for a judge to enhance a defendant’s punishment based on his or her exercise of the right to plead not guilty, or appeal a conviction.”
  • substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice where judge took into consideration at sentencing defendant’s alleged perjury on the stand
  • judge presumed the defendant’s guilt and imposed a penalty for an untried criminal offense
  • sentence reduction by Appellate Division does not cure initial error
  • judge may not punish for untried offense

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Abrams, Hennessey, Liacos, Lynch, Nolan, O'Connor, Presents, Wilkins

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

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

Cites

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

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.