Judgment of Not Guilty as a Matter of Law, Voiding 1989 Conviction

John Doe was charged with indecent assault and battery and was tried for this crime back in 1989.   The jury found the defendant not guilty of the charged offense but found him guilty of what was believed to be a lesser included offense – simple assault and battery.   He was sentenced to two and a half years in the House of Correction.  This conviction remained on Mr. Doe’s record for over 25 years.  Mr. Doe, a non-citizen, wanted to clear his record so he could get his citizenship.

Prior to White & Associates, P.C., taking over the case, a post-conviction attorney filed a motion for a new trial.  This motion was denied.  White & Associates was then brought in to try to vacate the conviction or reduce the penalty.   Attorneys Veronica White and Max Bauer prepared a memorandum to the court arguing that the law had been misinterpreted at the time of the trial; a change in the law in 1986 had established that simple assault and battery was not a lesser included offense of indecent assault and battery.   Therefore, Attorneys White and Bauer argued in their memorandum, Mr. Doe should have been found not guilty as a matter of law.   Immediately after receiving their legal memorandum, the supervising prosecutor for the Commonwealth was persuaded that Attorneys White and Bauer were correct.

Attorney Bauer presented this argument to the judge and the Commonwealth gave the court its agreement.   The court then allowed Mr. Doe’s motion for a judgment of not guilty as a matter of law, declaring "the jury’s finding of guilty is null and void.”