Mass. Gen. Laws » Part IV Title I Chapter 265
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 13D (2026)

Assault and battery upon public employees; attempt to disarm police officer; assault and battery upon a police officer; penalties

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

[ First paragraph effective until March 3, 2026. For text effective March 3, 2026, see below.]

  Section 13D. Whoever commits an assault and battery upon any public employee when such person is engaged in the performance of his duties at the time of such assault and battery, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than ninety days nor more than two and one-half years in a house of correction or by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than five thousand dollars.

[ First paragraph as amended by 2025, 79, effective March 3, 2026. For text effective until March 3, 2026, see above.]

Whoever commits an assault and battery, including assault and battery by means of a bodily substance, upon any public employee, public transit worker or any transit worker contracted or employed to operate public transit services, when such person is engaged in the performance of their duties at the time of such assault and battery, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 90 days nor more than 2 1/2 years in a house of correction or by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, or both. For the purposes of this section, "bodily substance" shall mean any human secretion, discharge or emission including, but not limited to, blood, saliva, mucous, semen, urine or feces.

An officer authorized to make arrests may arrest any person upon probable cause and without a warrant if the person has committed an offense under this section upon a public employee when the public employee was operating a public transit vehicle and the officer may keep the person in custody during which period the officer shall seek the issuance of a complaint and request a bail determination with all reasonable promptness.

Whoever commits an offense under this section and which includes an attempt to disarm a police officer in the performance of the officer's duties shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 10 years or by a fine of not more than $1,000 and imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 2 1/2 years.

Whoever commits an assault and battery upon a police officer when such officer is engaged in the performance of the officer's duties at the time of such assault and battery and who by such assault and battery causes serious bodily injury to the officer shall be punished by a term of imprisonment in the state prison for not less than 1 year nor more than 10 years, or house of correction for not less than 1 year, nor more than 2 1/2 years. No sentence imposed pursuant to this section shall be for less than a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 1 year and a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $10,000 may be imposed but not in lieu of the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment. A prosecution commenced under this paragraph shall not be placed on file or continued without a finding and a sentence imposed upon a person convicted of violating this paragraph shall not be suspended or reduced, nor shall such person be eligible for probation, parole, work release, furlough or receive any deduction from the person's sentence for good conduct until such person shall have served said mandatory minimum term of imprisonment. For purposes of this section, the term "serious bodily injury" shall mean bodily injury which results in a permanent disfigurement, protracted loss or impairment of a bodily function, limb or organ or substantial risk of death.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 123 cases (17 in the last 5 years), 1975–2026 · leading case: United States v. Faust, 853 F.3d 39 (1st Cir. 2017).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
United States v. Faust, 853 F.3d 39 (1st Cir. 2017). · cites it 3× “Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 13D (providing that anyone guilty of "an assault and battery upon any public employee .”
Commonwealth v. Beal, 52 N.E.3d 998 (Mass. 2016). · cites it 3× “265, § 13A (a), and assault and battery upon a public employee, G. L. c. 265, § 13D. As he did at trial, the defendant argues that the certified copies of convictions, which were the only evidence the Commonwealth introduced, were insufficient to prove that he committed two…”
United States v. Fernandez, 121 F.3d 777 (1st Cir. 1997). · cites it 5× “1 because the criminal statute defining his offense (Mass.Gen.L. ch. 265, § 13D) criminalizes both violent and non-violent conduct.”
Commonwealth v. Gordon, 974 N.E.2d 645 (Mass. App. Ct. 2012). · cites it 3× “269, § 10(n) (Count 3); assault and battery on a police officer, in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 13D (Count 4); and resisting arrest, in violation of G.”
United States v. Dancy, 640 F.3d 455 (1st Cir. 2011). · cites it 2× “The Massachusetts ABPO and ABDW crimes are punishable by terms of imprisonment of more than one year, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 13D (setting two-and-one-half-year maximum term for assault and battery on a public employee, which includes ABPO); § 15A(b) (setting ten-year maximum…”
Commonwealth v. Borges, 482 N.E.2d 314 (Mass. 1985). · cites it 2× “See G.L.c. 265, § 13D (1984 ed.). Thus, the purpose of the misconduct, i.”
Commonwealth v. Correia, 737 N.E.2d 1264 (Mass. App. Ct. 2000). · cites it 5× “The defendant was tried and convicted by a Boston Municipal Court jury on a charge of assault and battery on a *456 public employee, a violation of G. L. c. 265, § 13D. 1 In this appeal, the defendant claims the judge erred in his instructions, in an evidentiary ruling, and in…”
United States v. Santos, 363 F.3d 19 (1st Cir. 2004). · cites it 2× “At sentencing, the district court concluded that Santos was a career offender based on two prior convictions — one for assault and battery on a police officer (Mass. Gen.L. ch. 265, § 13D 1 ) and another for *21 simple assault and battery (Mass.”
Durant Blake, A/K/A Terrel Carner, A/K/A Durant Stanley v. Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Gen. of the United States, 481 F.3d 152 (2d Cir. 2007). · cites it 2× “Blake principally claims that the BIA erred in holding that his 1990 conviction for assault and battery on a police officer under Massachusetts law, see Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 13D, constitutes a “crime of violence” under 18 U.”
Commonwealth v. Richards, 340 N.E.2d 892 (Mass. 1976). · cites it 3× “272, § 53; drinking intoxicating liquor in public in violation of a city ordinance; assault and battery on a police officer, G. L. c. 265, § 13D. James A. Richards: disorderly person, G.”
Commonwealth v. Colon, 958 N.E.2d 56 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011). · cites it 2× “We hold that a certified record of conviction is sufficient when the predicate offense is assault and battery on a police officer (ABPO), G. L. c. 265, § 13D (two of the predicate offenses here), but that it is not when the predicate offense is assault and battery, G.”
Rivera v. Thompson, 879 F.3d 7 (1st Cir. 2018). “See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, §§ 13D, 15, 15A(b).”
Show all 123 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.