General Laws of Massachusetts - Chapter 277 Indictments and Proceedings Before Trial

• Massachusetts General Laws - Issuance of writs of venire facias for grand jurors; attendance at sittings of court - Chapter 277, Section 1
  The clerk of the courts for each county, except Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, Hampden, Norfolk, Plymouth and Worcester shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Completion of investigations by grand juries; notice; order - Chapter 277, Section 1A
  Upon a written notice by the attorney general or any district attorney made to any justice of the superior court that public necessity requires further...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Suffolk county; issuance of writs of venire facias for grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 2
  The clerk of the superior court for criminal business in Suffolk county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Issuance of writs of venire facias for special grand jury - Chapter 277, Section 2A
  The clerk of the courts in any county, or in Suffolk county the clerk of the superior court for criminal business, shall, upon written request...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Middlesex county; issuance of letters of venire for grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 2B
  The clerk of courts in Middlesex county shall, not less than seventy days before the first Monday of January and July, respectively, issue letters of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Hampden county; issuance of writs of venire facias for grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 2C
  The clerk of the court for Hampden county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and May, and the second...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Plymouth county; issuance of writs of venire facias for grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 2D
  The clerk of the court for Plymouth County shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and May, and the second...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Worcester county; issuance of writs of venire facias for grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 2E
  The clerk of the court for Worcester county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and May, and the second...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Norfolk county; issuance of writs of venire facias for grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 2F
  The clerk of the court for Norfolk county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and July respectively, issue writs...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Essex county; issuance of writs of venire facias for grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 2G
  The clerk of the court for Essex county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and May, and the second...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Bristol county; issuance of writs of venire facias for grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 2H
  The clerk of the court for Bristol county shall, not less than twenty-eight days before the first Mondays of January and July respectively, issue writs...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Drawing and summoning of grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 3
  Grand jurors shall be drawn, summoned and returned in the same manner as traverse jurors; and, if drawn at the same time with traverse jurors,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Suffolk county; impanelling grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 3A
  On the day when veniremen are summoned pursuant to section one, section two, section two A, section two B, section two C, section two D,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Deficiency of grand jurors - Chapter 277, Section 4
  If there is a deficiency of grand jurors, writs of venire facias may be issued to the constables of such towns as the court orders...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Impanelling and oath - Chapter 277, Section 5
  The clerk of the court shall prepare an alphabetical list of the names of all persons returned as grand jurors, and, when they are to...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Affirmation in lieu of oath - Chapter 277, Section 6
  If a person who is returned as a grand juror is conscientiously scrupulous of taking the oath prescribed, he may affirm.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 33 - Chapter 277, Section 7 to 10
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Re-summoning at same sitting - Chapter 277, Section 11
  If the grand jury are dismissed before the court is adjourned without day, they may be summoned to attend again in the same sitting, at...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 33 - Chapter 277, Section 12 13
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Grand juror serving as traverse juror - Chapter 277, Section 14
  No member of the grand jury which has found an indictment shall serve upon the jury for the trial thereof.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Right to counsel; grand jury proceedings - Chapter 277, Section 14A
  Any person shall have the right to consult with counsel and to have counsel present at every step of any criminal proceeding at which such...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Discharge of accused person not indicted - Chapter 277, Section 15
  The grand jury shall, during its session, make daily return to the court of all cases wherein it has finally determined not to present an...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1970, 888, Sec. 7 - Chapter 277, Section 16
  Repealed, 1970, 888, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 33 - Chapter 277, Section 17
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Circumstances of the act - Chapter 277, Section 18
  The circumstances of the act may be stated according to their legal effect, without a full description thereof.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Name of accused person; description by fictitious name; entry of true name - Chapter 277, Section 19
  If the name of an accused person is unknown to the grand jury, he may be described by a fictitious name or by any other...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Time and place of commission of crime - Chapter 277, Section 20
  The time and place of the commission of the crime need not be alleged unless it is an essential element thereof. The allegation of time...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Means - Chapter 277, Section 21
  The means by which a crime is committed need not be alleged in the indictment unless an essential element of the crime.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Description of written instrument; variance - Chapter 277, Section 22
  If an allegation relative to a written instrument consisting wholly or in part of writing, print or figures is necessary, it may describe such instrument...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Description of money - Chapter 277, Section 23
  If an allegation relative to any bullion, money, notes, bank notes, checks, drafts, bills of exchange, obligations or other securities for money of any country,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Description of value or price - Chapter 277, Section 24
  The value or price of property need not be stated, unless an essential element of the crime. If the nature, degree or punishment of a...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Description of ownership - Chapter 277, Section 25
  If an indictment for a crime involving the commission or attempted commission of an injury to property describes the property with sufficient certainty in other...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Description of public place - Chapter 277, Section 26
  If one element of the criminality of an act is its commission in a public place, and if such place is not more particularly defined...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Description of animal - Chapter 277, Section 27
  In an indictment for the larceny of an animal, or for any other crime in respect thereof, it may be described by the name by...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Description of judicial proceedings - Chapter 277, Section 28
  If it is necessary to set forth the judicial proceedings in any case then or formerly pending in any court, civil or military, or any...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Criminal responsibility - Chapter 277, Section 29
  An allegation that the defendant committed the act charged shall be a sufficient allegation that he was criminally responsible therefor.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Intent to injure or defraud; general allegation - Chapter 277, Section 30
  If an intent to injure or defraud is an essential element of a crime, an intent to injure or defraud may be alleged generally, without...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Alternative allegations - Chapter 277, Section 31
  Different means or different intents by or with which a crime may be committed may be alleged in the same count in the alternative.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Continuing offenses - Chapter 277, Section 32
  An allegation that a crime was committed or that certain acts were done during a certain period of time next before the finding of the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Unnecessary and immaterial allegations - Chapter 277, Section 33
  Presumptions and conclusions of law, matters of which judicial notice is taken and allegations not required to be proved need not be alleged. An indictment...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Immaterial defects - Chapter 277, Section 34
  An indictment shall not be dismissed or be considered defective or insufficient if it is sufficient to enable the defendant to understand the charge and...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Variance; prejudice - Chapter 277, Section 35
  A defendant shall not be acquitted on the ground of variance between the allegations and proof if the essential elements of the crime are correctly...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 35 - Chapter 277, Section 35A
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Scope of word “oath” - Chapter 277, Section 36
  The word “oath” as used in an indictment shall include an “affirmation”.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Negativing excuses, exceptions or provisos - Chapter 277, Section 37
  An excuse, exception or proviso not stated in the enacting clause of a statute creating a crime or stated only by reference to other provisions...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Allegations, bill of particulars, presumption and proof in prosecutions involving controlled substances - Chapter 277, Section 38
  In a prosecution under any provision of chapter ninety-four C, for unlawfully manufacturing, dispensing or distributing a controlled substance in violation of any provision of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Construction of words used in indictment - Chapter 277, Section 39
  The words used in an indictment may, except as otherwise provided in this section, be construed according to their usual acceptation in common language; but...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 37 - Chapter 277, Section 40
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Indictment for criminal dealing with personal property - Chapter 277, Section 41
  In an indictment for criminal dealing with personal property with intent to steal, an allegation that the defendant stole said property shall be sufficient; and...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Prosecutions for buying, receiving or aiding in concealment of stolen property - Chapter 277, Section 42
  In prosecutions for buying, receiving or aiding in the concealment of stolen property known to have been stolen, it shall not be necessary to allege...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Indictment for perjury - Chapter 277, Section 43
  In an indictment for perjury alleged to have been committed in a criminal case an allegation of the substance of the crime shall be sufficient;...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Indictment for subornation of perjury - Chapter 277, Section 44
  If, in an indictment for subornation of perjury or for attempting to incite or procure another person to commit perjury, it is alleged that perjury...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Indictment for unnatural and lascivious acts - Chapter 277, Section 45
  In an indictment under section thirty-five of chapter two hundred and seventy-two, an allegation that the defendant committed an unnatural and lascivious act with the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 37 - Chapter 277, Section 46
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Arraignment; sentence; assignment of counsel - Chapter 277, Section 47
  If a prisoner, under indictment for a capital crime, pleads guilty, upon being arraigned, the court shall award sentence against him; if he does not...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Defenses or objections - Chapter 277, Section 47A
  In a criminal case, any defense or objection based upon defects in the institution of the prosecution or in the complaint or indictment, other than...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1932, 180, Sec. 44 - Chapter 277, Section 48 49
  Repealed, 1932, 180, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1936, 161, Sec. 1 - Chapter 277, Section 50
  Repealed, 1936, 161, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 40 - Chapter 277, Section 51 52
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - District attorneys; authority and duty as to transferred cases - Chapter 277, Section 53
  If a case is transferred for plea or trial and sentence pursuant to the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure, the district attorney for the county...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Custody and delivery of prisoner - Chapter 277, Section 54
  If a change of venue is ordered, the sheriff having custody of the prisoner shall forthwith deliver him to the sheriff of the county to...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Compensation of counsel of prisoner - Chapter 277, Section 55
  A justice of the court, sitting at the trial or other proceedings upon an indictment for murder, may allow reasonable compensation for the services of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Expenses of counsel of prisoner - Chapter 277, Section 56
  The reasonable expenses incurred and paid by counsel assigned by the court for the defense of a person indicted for murder, who is otherwise unable...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Prosecutions of crimes committed near boundary line of counties, etc.; crimes committed on sea - Chapter 277, Section 57
  A crime committed on or within one hundred rods of the boundary line of two counties may be alleged to have been committed, and may...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Venue in cases where crime was committed without county or territorial jurisdiction of court - Chapter 277, Section 57A
  A defendant shall not be discharged for want of jurisdiction if the evidence discloses that the crime with which he is charged was actually committed...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Larceny - Chapter 277, Section 58
  Larceny, whether at common law or as defined by section thirty of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, may be prosecuted and punished in any county...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Buying, receiving, concealing or aiding in concealment of stolen or embezzled property - Chapter 277, Section 58A
  The crime of buying, receiving or concealing a stolen motor vehicle or trailer, as defined in section twenty-eight of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, and...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Computer offenses; place of prosecution - Chapter 277, Section 58A1/2
  The crimes described in sections thirty-three A and one hundred and twenty F of chapter two hundred and sixty-six and section one hundred and twenty-seven...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Embezzlement or fraudulent conversion or appropriation by fiduciaries - Chapter 277, Section 58B
  The crime of embezzlement or fraudulent conversion or appropriation by a fiduciary of money, goods or property held or possessed by him, as set forth...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Obtaining money or personal chattel by false pretences - Chapter 277, Section 59
  The crime of obtaining money or a personal chattel by a false pretence, and the crime described in section thirty-one of chapter two hundred and...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Transmission of false reports, location of explosives, etc. - Chapter 277, Section 59A
  The crime described in section fourteen of chapter two hundred and sixty-nine may be prosecuted and punished in the territorial jurisdiction in which the communication...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Homicide if injury is in one county and death in another - Chapter 277, Section 60
  If a mortal wound is given, or if other violence or injury is inflicted, or if poison is administered, in one county, by means whereof...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Crime committed at sea, etc., resulting in death in county - Chapter 277, Section 61
  If a mortal wound is given, or if other violence or injury is inflicted, or if poison is administered, on the high seas or on...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Crime committed in commonwealth resulting in death outside commonwealth - Chapter 277, Section 62
  If a mortal wound is given, or if other violence or injury is inflicted, or if poison is administered, in any county of the commonwealth,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Violations of chapter 209A; jurisdiction - Chapter 277, Section 62A
  Any criminal violation of chapter two hundred and nine A may be prosecuted and punished in the territorial jurisdiction in which the violation was committed...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Stalking; jurisdiction - Chapter 277, Section 62B
  The crime of stalking, as set forth in section forty-three of chapter two hundred and sixty-five, may be prosecuted and punished in any territorial jurisdiction...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Venue for prosecution of violations of Sec. 35A of chapter 266 - Chapter 277, Section 62C
  A violation of section 35A of chapter 266 may be prosecuted and punished in: (1) the county in which the residential property for which a...
• Massachusetts General Laws - General provisions - Chapter 277, Section 63
  An indictment for murder may be found at any time after the death of the person alleged to have been murdered. An indictment or complaint...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Limitation of new indictment against corporation after abatement or defeat of former indictment - Chapter 277, Section 64
  If an indictment, duly found and returned within the time limited by law against a corporation to recover a pecuniary penalty, is abated or otherwise...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Service of copy of indictment for murder on prisoner, etc. - Chapter 277, Section 65
  After the finding of an indictment for murder, the defendant, if in custody, shall forthwith be served by the sheriff or his deputy with a...
• Massachusetts General Laws - List of jurors to prisoners; process for witnesses - Chapter 277, Section 66
  A prisoner indicted for a crime punishable with death or imprisonment for life, upon demand by him or his counsel upon the clerk, shall have...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Furnishing person in custody, etc., with copy of indictment - Chapter 277, Section 67
  Whoever, having been indicted for felony, is under recognizance or in custody to answer therefor shall be entitled to a copy of the indictment and...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Issuance of subpoenas by attorney general and district attorneys - Chapter 277, Section 68
  The attorney general and district attorneys may issue subpoenas under their hands for witnesses to appear and testify on behalf of the commonwealth, and such...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 42 - Chapter 277, Section 69
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Recognizance of witnesses - Chapter 277, Section 70
  A justice of a court of record may at any time order a witness for the commonwealth in a criminal case or in a case...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 42 - Chapter 277, Section 70A
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Placing cases on file; statement of reasons - Chapter 277, Section 70B
  Except as otherwise provided by law, a criminal case shall not be placed on file, on motion of a district attorney or assistant district attorney,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Civil infractions - Chapter 277, Section 70C
  Upon oral motion by the commonwealth or the defendant at arraignment or pretrial conference, or upon the court’s own motion at any time, the court...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 42 - Chapter 277, Section 71 to 72A
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Compensation for confinement of persons discharged - Chapter 277, Section 73
  Any person in the commonwealth kept in confinement awaiting trial for more than six months after having been indicted, and finally acquitted or discharged without...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 42 - Chapter 277, Section 74 to 77
  Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Criminal proceedings as no bar to civil action - Chapter 277, Section 78
  No proceedings against a person for a crime shall bar a civil action which might otherwise be maintained by a person aggrieved by the commission...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Application of annexed forms; schedule - Chapter 277, Section 79
  The provisions of this chapter, and the forms hereto annexed, shall apply as well to complaints as to indictments, and such forms shall be sufficient...

Last modified: September 11, 2015