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Appeals court weighs whether trial counsel's choices denied Anthony Austin chance to present favorable risk evidence

Massachusetts Appeals Court · February 4, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Edward O'Brien argued that trial counsel's failure to call a defense expert and to highlight recent prison‑treatment records and risk‑label context created a substantial risk of miscarriage of justice in Anthony Austin's civil‑commitment proceedings.

Edward O’Brien, arguing for appellant Anthony Austin, told the Massachusetts Appeals Court that Austin — held under civil commitment statutes and serving an indeterminate sentence — was denied the opportunity to present material expert and record evidence at trial. O’Brien said trial counsel failed to call a defense expert, Dr. Bard, and did not press recent prison‑treatment records showing improved…

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