SJC hears argument over whether Commonwealth may appeal habeas grants in SDP cases

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard argument Tuesday in SJC No. 13748, Edward Pierce v. Commonwealth, over whether the Commonwealth may appeal orders granting habeas corpus relief in sexually dangerous-person (SDP) cases and whether the court should overrule the so-called Wyeth rule that generally bars government appeals from such habeas allowances.

Counsel for the respondent, Mary Murray, said appellate review is necessary to protect public safety and prevent the manipulative use of habeas petitions to evade appellate review. "All are best served by appellate review of orders discharging SDP...regardless of whatever title is given to the procedural mechanism below," Murray told the court. She argued Wyeth should be overruled because it "encourages the manipulative use of the petition for writ of habeas corpus to thwart the Commonwealth's right to challenge the legal correctness of orders."

The petitioner's counsel, Joseph Keneally, countered that habeas was appropriate in this case because, counsel argued,…