Ludwig v. Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts long ago established a “two-tier” system of trial courts for certain *620crimes. A person accused of such a crime is tried in the first instance in the lower tier. No trial by jury is available there. If convicted, the defendant may take a timely “appeal” to the second tier and, if 'he so desires, have a trial de novo by jury. The issues here presented are (1) whether, where the Constitution guarantees an accused a jury trial, it also requires that he be permitted to exercise that right at the first trial in the lower tier, and (2) whether the Massachusetts…