Commonwealth v. Rosenberg

In 1984, at the age of fourteen, the defendant, Jack Matthew Rosenberg, was placed in the custody of the Department of Youth Services (department), after he pleaded guilty to delinquency by reason of murder and kidnapping. As the defendant approached his eighteenth birthday, the department issued an order extending his commitment. Following a bench trial and a jury-waived trial de novo, the order was confirmed. In 1988, the department issued another order extending commitment. See G. L. c. 120, § 19 (1988 ed.) (requiring new order within two years). The order was confirmed after a bench trial…