Commonwealth v. Greene

The court correctly states that “a [knowing and voluntary] guilty plea makes irrelevant all nonjurisdictional defects in the proceedings. ” Ante at 145. The court then correctly acknowledges that here there were no claimed jurisdictional defects “in the traditional sense.” Ante at 146. See Police Comm’r of Boston v. Municipal Court of the Dorchester Dist., 374 Mass. 640, 662 (1978), citing Paige v. Sinclair, 237 Mass. 482, 483-484 (1921); Hopkins v. Commonwealth, 3 Met. 460, 462 (1842). The court concludes, however, that since the defendant’s challenge is to the statutory authority of the…