Commonwealth v. Sylvester

The issue in this appeal is whether plea counsel was constitutionally ineffective under the right to counsel guaranties of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution or art. 12 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights when counsel advised the defendant in 2002 that he would need to “register” if he decided to plead guilty to indecent assault and battery, a sex offense under G. L. c. 6, § 178C, without explaining the consequences of sex offender registration. We conclude that plea counsel was not constitutionally ineffective in rendering this advice in 2002, although we leave for…