Criminal cases are prosecuted by the district attorney's office on behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth. They are used for violations of the law that carry criminal penalties.32
Any person can file a criminal complaint. If the state Sanitary Code has been violated, the Board of Health can also file a criminal complaint. For more about criminal complaints and Sanitary Code violations, see Chapter 8: Getting Repairs Made. For a list of criminal laws most frequently violated by landlords, see Chapter 14: Taking Your Landlord to Court.
To file a criminal complaint, go to a housing or district court and ask the court staff for a criminal complaint.33 Fill it out and return it to the clerk. There is no charge to file a criminal complaint.
The clerk will schedule a hearing called a show-cause hearing for the next available court date. If it is an emergency and your physical safety is in immediate danger, ask the clerk to schedule a show-cause hearing that day. You can also call the police and ask that a criminal complaint be filed against your landlord.
The Show-Cause Hearing
A show-cause hearing is used by a clerk or magistrate to determine whether your complaint should be officially issued by the court. A show-cause hearing is less formal than a court hearing. At the hearing, the clerk will ask you to state the facts in your complaint. If the landlord is present, the clerk will then ask the landlord for her version of events. The clerk must then decide whether the facts taken at face value match what are known as the "legal elements" of a crime. The clerk does not decide who is telling the truth or the guilt or innocence of your landlord. If the clerk finds that the law may have been violated, she should issue a complaint.
In the district court, and in housing cases in particular, some clerks will not issue a criminal complaint immediately. Instead, the show-cause hearing will be postponed, for example, to give the landlord time to make the repairs and avoid criminal liability. Sometimes clerks will repeatedly delay issuing a criminal complaint. If this occurs, complain to the presiding judge of the court.
Arraignment and Thereafter
If the clerk issues a criminal complaint, a court date will be set to arraign the landlord. At an arraignment, the person charged with a crime appears before a judge and enters a plea of guilty, not guilty, or nolo contendere(which means the charges are not contested). A district attorney will be assigned to prosecute the case. The case will be called Commonwealth v. The Name of Your Landlord.
After the arraignment, a pre-trial conference date is set. The judge may allow the landlord time to remove the grounds for the complaint. At the pre-trial conference, the case will be settled ("plea bargained"), postponed for another pre-trial conference, or a trial date will be set. Again, this date may be postponed several times as the judge gives the landlord time to remove the underlying grounds for the complaint. If the landlord does resolve the issue in the complaint, the district attorney may dismiss or settle the case. If not, a trial will be held and the landlord may be fined or even face jail under some statutes. See Chapter 14: Taking Your Landlord to Court for landlord-tenant statutes with criminal consequences.
Endnotes
32 . G.L. c. 218, §§26-37.
33 . G.L. c. 185C, §19 (housing court procedure); G.L. c. 218, §35A (process for criminal misdemeanor complaints).
Produced by Faye B. Rachlin Created July 2008
