MPG: Gateway

Welcome to MASSACHUSETTS CRIMINAL LAW: A PROSECUTOR'S GUIDE Online.

On this site, you will find the full text of the 41st edition of the Prosecutor's Guide. The Guide presents a timely and comprehensive analysis of Massachusetts criminal law and its practice in the courts of the Commonwealth. It is fully updated each fall and during the year as new developments in the law warrant. Please consult our What's New page for the most recent changes. In addition, this online text is linked to a database of Massachusetts court decisions maintained by the Trial Court Law Libraries at masscases.com.

The text also cites and discusses significant criminal law cases decided by the Supreme Court, the federal Courts of Appeals, and state appellate courts from around the country. The principal focus, however, is on Massachusetts criminal law and its practice in the courts of the Commonwealth.

Access to the Guide is by annual subscription. If you are not yet a subscriber, please take the tour of a sample chapter from the Guide.

Please Note: If you are an employee of the Massachusetts Trial Court or an Assistant District Attorney, you have unlimited access to the Prosecutor's Guide web site thanks to licenses purchased on your behalf by the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Library and the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, respectively. Please contact your office IT Department for access instructions.

Also law students at the following institutions have access through your school Law Library: Harvard, Suffolk, Boston College, Northeastern, Western New England School of Law, New England Law | Boston, Boston University, and the University of Massachusetts.

Please note:
8/19/22: "Admissions and Confessions" has been updated to note the Supreme Court's recent decision in Vega v. Tekoh (a Miranda violation will not support a claim for damages under the Fed. Civil Rights Act), as well as new Massachusetts cases touching on the confession corroboration requirement, waivers by juveniles, and the use of noncustodial pre-arrest statements at trial. 8/1/22: Judge Stearns has revised the chapter on "Firearms Offenses" to assess the substantial impact of the Supreme Court's decision in New York Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen on Massachusetts gun licensing laws and to make some predictions of forthcoming legislative tweaks to the existing law. He also discusses the important case of Commonwealth v. Rossetti and its impact on sentencing for certain gun offenses. Please see What's New for further details.

Please note:

8/19/22: "Admissions and Confessions" has been updated to note the Supreme Court's recent decision in Vega v. Tekoh (a Miranda violation will not support a claim for damages under the Fed. Civil Rights Act), as well as new Massachusetts cases touching on the confession corroboration requirement, waivers by juveniles, and the use of noncustodial pre-arrest statements at trial.

8/1/22: Judge Stearns has revised the chapter on "Firearms Offenses" to assess the substantial impact of the Supreme Court's decision in New York Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen on Massachusetts gun licensing laws and to make some predictions of forthcoming legislative tweaks to the existing law. He also discusses the important case of Commonwealth v. Rossetti and its impact on sentencing for certain gun offenses.

Please see What's New for further details.