SUPREME
JUDICIAL COURT ANNOUNCES MEMBERS OF
NEW COMMITTEE TO
STUDY PROCEDURES GOVERNING REVIEW
OF PRIVILEGED INFORMATION IN CRIMINAL CASES
Boston--The
Supreme Judicial Court today announces the formation of
a Committee to study and suggest alternatives to the current
procedure that must be followed if a defendant in a criminal
case seeks access to documents that may be protected by
a statutory privilege. The current procedure, or protocol,
was established in Commonwealth v. Bishop,
416 Mass. 169 (1993) and modified in Commonwealth v. Fuller,
423 Mass. 216 (1996). The Court established the protocol
in an effort to strike the proper balance between defendants'
constitutional rights to examine and present all evidence
relevant to their defense and society's interests, expressed
in the form of statutory privileges, in protecting confidential
relationships. The Committee will make recommendations
to the Court as to whether the protocol should be retained
in its present form, or revised in whole or in part. The
Committee will make its recommendations to the Court within
a matter of months.
Associate
Justice Martha B. Sosman will chair the Committee. The
members include representatives of those with a role in
the protocol: judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, victim/witness
advocates, health care providers, and the Department of
Social Services. A list of members is attached.
Committee to Study the Bishop/Fuller
Protocol
Martha B. Sosman, chair
Jeanmarie Carroll, Norfolk District
Attorney's Office
Francis D. Dibble, Jr., Bulkley,
Richardson and Gelinas, LLP
Carol A. Donovan, Committee
for Public Counsel Services
Janet E. Fine, Executive Director,
Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance
Honorable Daniel A. Ford, Associate
Justice, Superior Court
Marguerite T. Grant, Middlesex
District Attorney's Office
Dean M. Hashimoto, M.D., Associate
Professor, Boston College Law School
Thomas M. Hoopes, Kelly, Libby
and Hoopes, PC
Honorable R. Marc Kantrowitz,
Associate Justice, Massachusetts Appeals Court
Honorable Diane M. Kottmyer,
Associate Justice, Superior Court
Virginia A. Peel, General Counsel,
Department of Social Services
Susan H. Vickers, Founding Director,
Victim Rights Law Center
Carolyn V. Wood, Legal Counsel,
Partners HealthCare Systems, Inc.
