Commonwealth v. Welch

Convicted in a bench trial in the District Court of violating a G. L. c. 209A order,1 the defendant on appeal claims that his motions for a required finding of not guilty should have been allowed because the Commonwealth failed to prove that the protective order was valid and that the defendant had knowledge of the terms of the order. We agree and reverse.

In order to “establish a violation of G. L. c. 209A, § 7, the Commonwealth must prove that (1) a valid G. L. c. 209A order was entered by a judge and was in effect on the date of the alleged violation; (2) the defendant violated the order;…