Commonwealth v. Ruddock

On May 1, 1985, there was an anti-apartheid student demonstration at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. While participating in the demonstration, the defendant damaged a 1984 Plymouth Turismo automobile which belonged to an officer in the university police department. About a week after the incident, another university officer brought a complaint against the defendant under G. L. c. 266, § 127, as appearing in St. 1982, c. 229, § 2, 1 charging that he caused malicious injury to the car. After a bench trial, the defendant was found not guilty on that charge but guilty of the lesser…