Commonwealth v. Clark

After being indicted on fifteen separate larceny counts, the defendant, Richard Clark, a lawyer, pleaded guilty to all counts and was adjudicated a common and notorious thief. G. L. c. 266, § 40. As Justice Lemuel Shaw explained, “[t]he effect of the [common and notorious thief] statute is to consolidate the . . . convictions, and to render one judgment upon them, as upon one substantive offense.” Commonwealth v. Tuck, 20 Pick. 356, 357 (1838). The question raised by the instant case is whether such a consolidated offense should be governed by the Truth in Sentencing Act, St. 1993, c. 432,…