Opinion
14-P-465
03-13-2015
COMMONWEALTH v. HARRY HENTON.
NOTICE: Summary decisions issued by the Appeals Court pursuant to its rule 1:28, as amended by 73 Mass. App. Ct. 1001 (2009), are primarily directed to the parties and, therefore, may not fully address the facts of the case or the panel's decisional rationale. Moreover, such decisions are not circulated to the entire court and, therefore, represent only the views of the panel that decided the case. A summary decision pursuant to rule 1:28 issued after February 25, 2008, may be cited for its persuasive value but, because of the limitations noted above, not as binding precedent. See Chace v. Curran, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 258, 260 n.4 (2008).
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 1:28
We have reviewed the procedural history of the defendant's case carefully and are satisfied, as the Commonwealth states in its brief, that none of the single justices of this court erred or otherwise abused his or her discretion in denying the defendant's various motions seeking leave to file a late notice of appeal. See Mass.R.A.P. 15(c), 365 Mass. 859 (1974), and 14(b), as amended, 378 Mass. 939 (1979). Given our conclusion, the defendant's appeal is not properly before us. We nonetheless observe that the defendant's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel cannot be decided on the record before us. See Commonwealth v. Zinser, 446 Mass. 807, 810 (2006). We affirm the February 10, 2014, order of a single justice of this court indicating that no further action will be taken in this case, and deny the defendant's motion for costs and fees.
So ordered.
By the Court (Trainor, Brown & Vuono, JJ.),
The panelists are listed in order of seniority.
Clerk Entered: March 13, 2015.