SENATE DOCKET, NO. 925        FILED ON: 1/13/2009

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1551

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act Relative to the Trial List in Criminal Cases..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1:  Section 1 of Chapter 278 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out section 1 and inserting in place thereof the following section:

Section 1.  The district attorney in each district shall, in the exercise of his sole responsibility and discretion, determine what criminal cases are to be tried and prioritize the order of those trials, notwithstanding any other statute or rule of court.  At the beginning of each monthly court session, the district attorney shall deposit with the clerk, for the inspection of parties, a list of all such cases to be tried at that session.  The cases shall be tried in the order of such trial list, unless otherwise agreed by the parties or ordered by the court upon motion of a party and for cause shown.  Cases may be added to such list by agreement of the parties or if ordered by the court upon motion of the district attorney or of the defendant. No criminal case shall proceed to trial unless the district attorney so moves; the court shall have no authority to order a case to trial over the objection of the district attorney or upon his refusal to move for trial.  No case may be dismissed because of the district attorney's failure or refusal to move for trial.  No case shall be dismissed on grounds of timeliness of prosecution except upon a judicial finding that the Commonwealth has violated the defendant’s right to a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment to the United State Constitution, art. XI of the Declaration of Rights of the Massachusetts Constitution, or Rule 36 (b) of the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure.