Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 279, § 3A (2026)

Motion of district attorney for sentence

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 3A. Not later than seven days after a plea of guilty or after a verdict of guilty and in any event before adjournment of the sitting at which such plea or verdict has been taken and recorded in a case of felony wherein no question of law has been reported for decision by the supreme judicial court, the district attorney shall move for sentence; provided, that nothing herein shall preclude the district attorney from again making such a motion in any case where the imposition of sentence is delayed under section forty-seven.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases, 1975–2018 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Brown, 92 N.E.3d 1189 (Mass. 2018).

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Commonwealth v. Brown, 92 N.E.3d 1189 (Mass. 2018). “See G. L. c. 279, § 3A. The judge's decision was not an unreasonable delay where the sentencing hearing was still held earlier than required by statute.”

Commonwealth v. McInerney, 401 N.E.2d 821 (Mass. 1980). · cites it 3× “In an accompanying affidavit the defendant contended that the district attorney had failed to comply with G. L. c. 279, § 3A, 2 and had deprived him of a claimed constitutional right to speedy sentencing.”

Commonwealth v. Simmons, 863 N.E.2d 549 (Mass. 2007). “59, 65-66 (1980); G. L. c. 279, § 3A (district attorney shall move for sentencing within seven days of guilty plea or verdict); Mass.”

Katz v. Commonwealth, 399 N.E.2d 1055 (Mass. 1979). “G. L. c. 279, § 3A, providing that a district attorney shall move for a felony sentence not later than seven days after plea or verdict; Mass.”

United States v. Hines, 802 F. Supp. 559 (D. Mass. 1992). “The "judgment" is the sentence which the court may elect to impose after the state has moved for sentence pursuant to Mass.Gen.L. ch. 279, § 3A. As the government correctly points out, the statutory sentencing dispositions enacted by the Massachusetts Legislature in chapter 279,…”

Commonwealth v. Denham, 396 N.E.2d 1015 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). “123A, § 5, because it did not move for sentence on that conviction within the seven-day period contemplated by G. L. c. 279, § 3A. The point might have had a measure of validity during the period when the relevant statutory provisions on the definitive commitment of SDPs…”

Commonwealth v. Burkett, 326 N.E.2d 731 (Mass. App. Ct. 1975). · cites it 2× “On March 15, 1974, the defendant filed a motion to grant appropriate relief for failure of the district attorney to comply with G. L. c. 279, § 3A. That motion was denied on March 22 (and an exception taken), and the defendant was sentenced to five to seven year terms (to be…”

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