Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 263, § 6 (2026)

Conviction; manner; waiver of jury trial

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 6. A person indicted for a crime shall not be convicted thereof except by confessing his guilt in open court, by admitting the truth of the charge against him by his plea or demurrer or by the verdict of a jury accepted and recorded by the court or, in any criminal case other than a capital case, by the judgment of the court. Any defendant in a criminal case other than a capital case, whether begun by indictment or upon complaint, may, if he shall so elect, when called upon to plead, or later and before a jury has been impanelled to try him upon such indictment or complaint, waive his right to trial by jury by signing a written waiver thereof and filing the same with the clerk of the court. If the court consents to the waiver, he shall be tried by the court instead of by a jury, but not, however, unless all the defendants, if there are two or more charged with related offenses, whether prosecuted under the same or different indictments or complaints shall have exercised such election before a jury has been impanelled to try any of the defendants; and in every such case the court shall have jurisdiction to hear and try such cause and render judgment and sentence thereon. Except where there is more than one defendant involved as aforesaid, consent to said waiver shall not be denied in the district court or the Boston municipal court if the waiver is filed before the case is transferred for jury trial to the appropriate jury session, as provided in section twenty-seven A of chapter two hundred and eighteen.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 67 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1926–2025 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Greene, 508 N.E.2d 93 (Mass. 1987).

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Commonwealth v. Greene, 508 N.E.2d 93 (Mass. 1987). · cites it 18× “The Commonwealth claims that under G.L.c. 263, § 6 (1984 ed.), the judge in the bench session was within his authority to transfer the cases of both codefendants to the jury session of the District Court.”

Commonwealth v. Colon-Cruz, 470 N.E.2d 116 (Mass. 1984). · cites it 8× “277, § 47; [17] G.L.c. 263, § 6; [18] Mass. R. Crim. P. 12 (a) (1), 378 Mass.”

Commonwealth v. Collado, 690 N.E.2d 424 (Mass. 1998). · cites it 9× “1 The Appeals Court vacated Collado’s conviction on the ground that the jury waiver was ineffective under G. L. c. 263, § 6, and Mass. R. Grim. P. 19 (a), 378 Mass.”

Commonwealth v. Francis, 876 N.E.2d 862 (Mass. 2007). · cites it 5× “The judge denied the motion on the basis of G. L. c. 263, § 6, which precludes defendants from waiving a jury trial in capital cases.”

Commonwealth v. Osborne, 840 N.E.2d 544 (Mass. 2006). · cites it 6× “He has contended on appeal that the waiver of his right to trial by jury was ineffective, and his conviction therefore invalid, because he did not sign a written waiver as required by G. L. c. 263, § 6, and Mass. R. Crim. P. 19 (a), 378 Mass.”

Commonwealth v. Thompson, 696 N.E.2d 105 (Mass. 1998). · cites it 5× “278, § 11 A, in refusing to empanel a new jury to try the habitual criminal indictment, and that his ensuing jury waiver was ineffective under G. L. c. 263, § 6, because it was made after the empanelment of the jury.”

Commonwealth v. Hubbard, 926 N.E.2d 1178 (Mass. 2010). · cites it 7× “In an unpublished memorandum of decision and order pursuant to its rule 1:28, the Appeals Court reversed and vacated the judgments, concluding that the defendant’s convictions were invalid because he did not sign a written waiver of his right to a jury trial in accordance with…”

Commonwealth v. Hood, 452 N.E.2d 188 (Mass. 1983). · cites it 2× “12 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights; and G.L.c. 263, § 6, and G.L.c. 218, § 27A. Even if the right to present evidence supporting a defense is not constitutionally required, cf.”

Commonwealth v. Waweru, 102 N.E.3d 391 (Mass. 2018). · cites it 4× “The defendant requested a jury-waived trial, but his request was denied pursuant to G. L. c. 263, § 6, which does not provide defendants in a capital case the ability to waive their right to a jury trial.”

Commonwealth v. Smith, 531 N.E.2d 556 (Mass. 1988). · cites it 2× “For instance, by statute and rule a defendant's right to a jury trial can be waived only by the defendant's personal execution of a written waiver, G.L.c. 263, § 6 (1986 ed.), Mass. R. Crim.”

Commonwealth v. Dussault, 883 N.E.2d 1243 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008). · cites it 2× “We established a bright-line rule in Ciummei that to effectively waive his right to a jury trial, a defendant must sign a written waiver form pursuant to G. L. c. 263, § 6, 2 and the trial judge must conduct a colloquy to assure himself that the defendant’s waiver was voluntary,…”

Commonwealth v. Wheeler, 678 N.E.2d 168 (Mass. App. Ct. 1997). · cites it 4× “*850 G. L. c. 263, § 6. 1 Trial went forward that same day.”

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