Opinion
No. 93-3014
November 26, 1996
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON PLAINTIFF'S REQUEST FOR RULING AS IT PERTAINS TO THE BMC JUDGMENT
Although M.G.L.c. 231, §§ 102C and 104 seem to suggest that a District Court decision is prima facie evidence in a subsequent Superior Court trial in the same action in remand, removal and retransfer cases, and M.G.L.c. 231, § 97 seems to suggest that the Superior Court should proceed on a trial de novo basis after an appeal from a District Court decision, the Supreme Judicial Court indicated, even in a case which could not have originally been brought in the Superior Court, that: "(1) the Municipal Court decision has prima facie effect only at a Superior Court retrial of the same case; (2) only the ultimate decision of the Municipal Court judge . . . and none of his subsidiary findings, is admissible in the Superior Court retrial; and (3) the Municipal Court decision is prima facie evidence at a Superior Court retrial as to all the issues raised by the pleadings in the case." Adams, Harkness Hill, Inc. v. Northeast Realty Corp., 361 Mass. 552 (1972) (judgment of BMC would be prima facie evidence on retrial in cicumstances where, although called a "removal," it appears to have been an "appeal" of a case brought in the BMC which could not have been "removed" because the jurisdictional amount was not claimed) ; see also O'Brion, Russell Co. v. LeMay, 370 Mass. 243 (1976) (Municipal Court finding prima facie evidence in subsequent motion for summary judgment in Superior Court). Dwyer v. Piccicuto, 25 Mass. App. Ct. 910, 911 (1987), which is cited by Luciano in her memorandum, does not indicate the contrary except with regard to summary process actions.
Moreover, this has been the universal practice for at least many decades and is the position taken by all of the commentators who have considered it. As stated in Marc G. Perlin and John M. Connors, Handbook of Civil Procedure in the Massachusetts District Court, § 11.19 at 231 (2d ed. 1990), "[w]hen a case is appealed to Superior Court (both in cases commenced in District Court and in cases remanded to District Court), the decision, including the amount of damages assessed, of the District Court is `prima facie evidence upon such matters as are put in issue by the pleadings.'" Id.; see also Lisa Stern Taylor, Esq. and Jeffrey B. Loeb, Esq., Appellate Practice in Massachusetts: Preserving Appellate Rights in the Massachusetts District Court, at 7-1 — 7-2 (MCLE 1994); John M. Connors, How to Appeal from Civil Trials in the District Court, 1-3 (MCLE 1996). While the law in this area is somewhat unclear, this Court sees no justification in either law or logic to depart from the long-standing practice.
ORDER
Accordingly, the plaintiff's motion to exclude the District Court judgment is DENIED.
___________________________ Thayer Fremont-Smith Justice of the Superior Court
DATED: November 26, 1996