Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2011

Dempsey v. Chief of Police of Somerville

Dempsey v. Chief of Police of Somerville
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Decided December 13, 2011
461 Mass. 1003; 958 N.E.2d 832; 2011 Mass. LEXIS 1152

Dempsey v. Chief of Police of Somerville

Opinion of the Court

John Dempsey appeals from a judgment of a single justice of this court denying, without a hearing, his petition for extraordinary relief under G. L. c. 211, § 3. “In seeking relief under G. L. c. 211, § 3, it was the petitioner's] burden to create a record — not merely to allege but to demonstrate, i.e., to provide copies of the lower court docket entries and any relevant pleadings, motions, orders, recordings, transcripts, or other parts of the lower court record necessary to substantiate [his] allegations — showing both a substantial claim of violation of a substantive right and that the violation could not have been remedied in the normal course of a trial and appeal or by other available means.” Gorod v. Tabachnick, 428 Mass. 1001, 1001, cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1003 (1998), and cases cited. The single justice neither erred nor abused his discretion, as the record neither substantiates Dempsey’s claims nor establishes any basis for extraordinary relief.

Judgment affirmed.

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