Barclay v. Early

The plaintiff, Robert Barclay, appeals from the dismissal for want of prosecution of his civil lawsuit to compel the District Attorney for Worcester County to conduct deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing that has already been rejected repeatedly in postconviction rulings in his criminal case. Concluding that the dismissal for want of prosecution without an opportunity to be heard several months after the District Attorney asked for a hearing to be rescheduled was an abuse of discretion, we reverse.

1. Background. In 1997, a Worcester County jury convicted the plaintiff of murder in the first…