Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 14 (2026)

Mayhem; punishment

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 14. Whoever, with malicious intent to maim or disfigure, cuts out or maims the tongue, puts out or destroys an eye, cuts or tears off an ear, cuts, slits or mutilates the nose or lip, or cuts off or disables a limb or member, of another person, and whoever is privy to such intent, or is present and aids in the commission of such crime, or whoever, with intent to maim or disfigure, assaults another person with a dangerous weapon, substance or chemical, and by such assault disfigures, cripples or inflicts serious or permanent physical injury upon such person, and whoever is privy to such intent, or is present and aids in the commission of such crime, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than twenty years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and imprisonment in jail for not more than two and one half years.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 70 cases (9 in the last 5 years), 1975–2026 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Hogan, 387 N.E.2d 158 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979).

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Commonwealth v. Hogan, 387 N.E.2d 158 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). · cites it 6× “265, § 15A) and mayhem (G. L. c. 265, § 14), 2 and among them argue numerous assignments of error.”

Commonwealth v. Donoghue, 499 N.E.2d 832 (Mass. App. Ct. 1986). · cites it 6× “265, § 18A) and mayhem (G. L. c. 265, § 14). His contentions concern: (1) the denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized in a warrantless nighttime entry of his dwelling; (2) the adequacy of the mayhem indictment to charge a crime; and (3) the correctness of the judge’s…”

Commonwealth v. Ogden O., 864 N.E.2d 13 (Mass. 2007). · cites it 3× “Following a jury trial, the juvenile was adjudicated delinquent on complaints charging him with mayhem, in viola *799 tian of G. L. c. 265, § 14, and with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (flammable liquid), in violation of G.”

Commonwealth v. Appleby, 402 N.E.2d 1051 (Mass. 1980). · cites it 2× “265, § 15A, with G.L.c. 265, § 14 (mayhem: "with malicious intent to maim or disfigure" and "by such assault disfigures") and G.”

State v. Quintana, 2008 WI 33 (Wis. 2008). · cites it 2× “15 Only a few modern day criminal codes retain the stand alone crime of mayhem.”

Commonwealth v. Davis, 406 N.E.2d 417 (Mass. App. Ct. 1980). · cites it 2× “The defendant was indicted for the crimes of mayhem (G. L. c. 265, § 14), and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon “to wit, [t]eeth” (G.”

Commonwealth v. Franchino, 810 N.E.2d 1251 (Mass. App. Ct. 2004). · cites it 2× “3 Further, we observe that, as to the question of the sufficiency of the evidence, the defendant apparently has relied in his brief on the statutory elements of mayhem, G. L. c. 265, § 14; the defendant, however, as noted, was charged under G.”

Commonwealth v. Gomes, 22 N.E.3d 897 (Mass. 2015). “A Superior Court jury found the defendant guilty of mayhem, in violation of G. L. c. 265, § 14; assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, in violation of G.”

Ginsberg v. Blacker, 852 N.E.2d 679 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006). “While naked hands (and other body parts) are not, as matter of Massachusetts law, dangerous weapons, it has been acknowledged that they may be used to inflict “disabling or disfiguring injuries,” serious enough to *145 warrant a conviction for mayhem (under G. L. c. 265, § 14).…”

Commonwealth v. Martin, 683 N.E.2d 280 (Mass. 1997). · cites it 2× “G. L. c. 265, § 14. 3 That portion provides for criminal responsibility for “whoever, with intent to *722 maim or disfigure, assaults another person with a dangerous weapon, substance or chemical, and by such assault disfigures, cripples or inflicts serious or permanent physical…”

Commonwealth v. Robinson, 529 N.E.2d 156 (Mass. App. Ct. 1988). · cites it 4× “*442 The defendant seeks reversal of his conviction on indictment 111069 because the judge instructed the jury on mayhem (G. L. c. 265, § 14), a crime greater than the one charged.”

Commonwealth v. St. Pierre, 387 N.E.2d 1135 (Mass. 1979). “The indictments for mayhem tracked the first branch of the statute (G. L. c. 265, § 14 14 ) in alleging that the defendants "with malicious intent to maim and disfigure, did disable the left arm of one William Reilly”; the indictments for the assault and battery carried the…”

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