Buckley v. Quincy Division of the District Court Department

This action, brought under G. L. c. 211, § 3, raises several issues relative to the power of the Quincy District Court to modify the terms and conditions of probation originally imposed after a plea of guilty in a jury-of-six session in the Dedham District Court. The plaintiff claims that conditions of probation can only be modified pursuant to Mass. R. Crim. P. 29, 378 Mass. 899 (1979), and that the Quincy District Court’s failure to comply with that rule rendered the modification of the terms of his probation invalid. The plaintiff further argues that, even if rule 29 is inapplicable, the…