Lawrence Moniz
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Lawrence Moniz is an associate juvenile court justice for the Bristol Juvenile Court in Bristol County, Massachusetts.[1] He was nominated to the court by former Governor Deval Patrick on April 29, 2008.[2] Moniz may serve on the court until he turns the mandatory retirement age of 70.[3]
Biography
Moniz received his undergraduate degree from Providence College and his J.D. from the Suffolk University Law School.[2] Before he joined the Bristol Juvenile Court in 2008, Moniz was a partner at the firm of O’Boy and Moniz in Taunton, Massachusetts.[2]
Noteworthy cases
Involuntary manslaughter sentence for Michelle Carter
On August 3, 2017, Moniz sentenced Michelle Carter to two and a half years in Bristol County jail after her June 2017 conviction on involuntary manslaughter. Moniz suspended 15 months of the sentence and stayed the sentence pending an appeal in higher court. Carter faced up to 20 years in prison for encouraging her friend Conrad Roy III to commit suicide through phone calls and text messages. Roy committed suicide in 2014 by suffocating himself with carbon monoxide.[4] Moniz said, "This court must and has considered a balancing between rehabilitation, the promise that that rehabilitation would work and a punishment for the actions that have occurred."[4]
Carter's attorney, Joseph Cataldo, said that an appeal would take place following Moniz's stay of the sentence. An appeal was filed with the court on August 30, 2017.[5] He said that Roy's suicide was a tragedy but was not directly connected to Carter's actions. Prosecutor Maryclare Flynn told Moniz that Carter's actions led directly to Roy's death because she encouraged Roy to continue with his suicide attempt even after he called her on the evening of his death. No text or call records were available from the night of Roy's death, though texts between Carter and a friend three months later were used to connect her comments to the suicide.[4]
Massachusetts does not expressly prohibit efforts to encourage suicide. Moniz's sentence is notable for treating Carter's words as sufficient for a manslaughter conviction, which typically requires an unlawful act leading to an unintentional death. Cataldo told local media that he believed an appeal would overturn the sentence because Carter's texts are insufficient evidence of manslaughter.[4]
See also
- Massachusetts Juvenile Courts
- Courts in Massachusetts
- Bristol County, Massachusetts
- Judicial selection in Massachusetts
External links
- Massachusetts Court System, "Juvenile Court Justices"
- Massachusetts Court System, "Juvenile Court Department"
Footnotes
- ↑ Massachusetts Court System, "Juvenile Court Justices," accessed March 19, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Boston Herald.com, "Patrick nominates 3 to different state courts," April 29, 2008
- ↑ Judicial selection in Massachusetts
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The New York Times, "Michelle Carter Gets 15-Month Jail Term in Texting Suicide Case," August 3, 2017
- ↑ Boston Herald, "Michelle Carter's defense files notice of appeal in suicide text case," August 31, 2017
Federal courts:
First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Massachusetts • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Massachusetts
State courts:
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court • Massachusetts Appeals Court • Massachusetts Superior Courts • Massachusetts District Courts • Massachusetts Housing Courts • Massachusetts Juvenile Courts • Massachusetts Land Courts • Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts • Boston Municipal Courts, Massachusetts
State resources:
Courts in Massachusetts • Massachusetts judicial elections • Judicial selection in Massachusetts
