The ongoing crisis in Massachusetts prompted by the refusal of some private defense attorneys to take on new cases has left several hundred criminal cases on the brink of being dismissed, according to the state’s trial court system.
With the so-called Lavallee protocol in place since early July, both the Boston Municipal Courts and District Courts in Suffolk and Middlesex Counties have been holding hearings for defendants held for more than seven days without lawyers. But now those courts will be responsible for holding hearings for out-of-custody defendants whose cases have been pending without lawyers for 45 days.
Unlike those who have been held, the protocol calls for those cases to be dismissed. The first of the 45-day hearings is set to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning via Zoom for defendants in the Boston Municipal Courts…