1. Home
  2. Browse Decisions
  3. Mass.
  4. 398 Mass.
  5. 398 Mass. 288 (1986)
 

COMMONWEALTH v. DelVERDE

398 Mass. 288 (1986)

496 N.E.2d 1357

COMMONWEALTH vs. FREDERICK D. DelVERDE.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Essex.

August 21, 1986.

Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Carmen A. Frattaroli & Robert A. Ledoux for the defendant.

Dyanne Klein Polatin, Assistant District Attorney (Kevin M. Mitchell, Assistant District Attorney, with her) for the Commonwealth.

The following submitted briefs for amici curiae:

William J. Leahy & Brownlow M. Speer for Committee for Public Counsel Services.

David C. Casey, Matthew Feinberg & John Reinstein for Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts & another.

Robert H. Weber & David Engle for Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee.

Earl Howard & Stan Dietzler-Goldman for Department of Mental Health.

Present: HENNESSEY, C.J., WILKINS, LIACOS, ABRAMS, NOLAN, LYNCH, & O'CONNOR, JJ.

ABRAMS, J.

In this case, we are asked to extend the doctrine of substituted judgment to permit an incompetent criminal defendant to enter a plea of guilty to a charge of manslaughter. Such permission, we are told, would uphold the integrity of the incompetent individual, allow him to exercise rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the Commonwealth, and relieve him of a fate of permanent and uncertain incarceration.

Let's get started

Leagle.com

Welcome to the leading source of independent legal reporting
Sign on now to see your case.
Or view more than 10 million decisions and orders.

  • Updated daily.
  • Uncompromising quality.
  • Complete, Accurate, Current.

Listed below are the cases that are cited in this Featured Case. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case.

Cited Cases

  • No Cases Found

Listed below are those cases in which this Featured Case is cited. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case.

Citing Cases