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.