Supreme Court to revisit decision that led to drug, gun convictions being overturned

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reports the court will once again take up the issue of certifications by lab technicians being introduced into court without testimony by the technicians themselves.

Last year, the court ruled 5-4 in a Boston case that this was unconstitutional. Since then, the Massachusetts Appeals Court has overturned a number of convictions in cases where it said the certification played a key role in guilty findings.

Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a Virginia case in which such documents helped convict somebody who had declined to seek testimony from the expert who prepared them. David Souter, one of the five justices who ruled against arguments by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, retired after the Melendez-Diaz decision.