Commonwealth v. Garrett

The claimed misconduct was based on allegations that a Boston police officer whose brother was a columnist for The Boston Globe gave to the latter the defendant’s juvenile record in violation of G. L. c. 119, § 60A. That record was published in an editorial column on the day after the defendant was arrested. A judge of the Boston Municipal Court refused to dismiss the charges, and a Superior Court judge denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss and his request to conduct a hearing as to where the columnist had obtained his information. The judge, instead, asked the jury whether they “[knew]…