Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2005

Votta v. Police Department

Votta v. Police Department
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Decided April 28, 2005
444 Mass. 1001; 826 N.E.2d 199; 2005 Mass. LEXIS 171

Votta v. Police Department

Opinion of the Court

A judge in the District Court found the petitioner responsible for a civil motor vehicle infraction. That finding was affirmed by the Appellate Division of the District Court and by the Appeals Court. Police Dep’t of Billerica v. Votta, 58 Mass. App. Ct. 1111 (2003). The Appeals Court also denied the petitioner’s request for a rehearing. The petitioner did not seek further appellate review from this court.

The single justice correctly denied the G. L. c. 211, § 3, petition because the claims made in the petition could have been (indeed, apparently were) raised at the hearing in the District Court and on appeal. The petitioner did not seek further review. Our general superintendence power under G. L. c. 211, § 3, is extraordinary and to be exercised sparingly, not as a substitute for the normal appellate process or merely to provide an additional layer of appellate review after the normal process has run its course.

Judgment affirmed.

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