Garden v. Commonwealth

Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the denial of Tyrone Garden’s petition under G. L. c. 211, § 3, challenging the retroactive application of an extended statute of limitations for aggravated rape and related charges. The court held that the statute of limitations defense and the petitioner’s remaining claims could be addressed through ordinary pretrial proceedings, trial, and appeal, so extraordinary relief was unavailable.

Holdings

1. A statute-of-limitations defense in a criminal case can be adequately addressed through ordinary pretrial proceedings, trial, and appeal; therefore, G. L. c. 211, § 3, cannot be used to obtain interlocutory review of the denial of such a defense.

Questions Presented

1. Whether extraordinary relief under G. L. c. 211, § 3, was available to review the denial of the petitioner's pretrial statute-of-limitations motions.
2. Whether the petitioner demonstrated under S.J.C. Rule 2:21 that the statute-of-limitations issue could not adequately be reviewed through the ordinary course of trial and appeal.

Disposition

affirmed