Mass. Gen. Laws » Part IV Title II Chapter 279
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 279, § 4B (2026)

Notice to victim of sentencing proceedings; oral or written statements

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 4B. Before disposition in any case where a defendant has been found guilty of any felony or any crime against the person or crime where physical injury to a person results, excluding any crime for which a sentence of death may be imposed, and which involves an identified victim whose whereabouts are known, the district attorney shall give the victim actual notice of the time and place of sentencing and of the victim's right to make a statement to the court, orally or in writing at the victim's option, as to the impact of the crime and as to a recommended sentence. Before disposition, the court shall allow any victim who elects to make such an oral statement the opportunity to do so in the presence of the defendant. Before disposition, the district attorney shall file any such written statement with the court and shall make it available to the defendant.

If the victim is unable to make an oral or written statement because of his mental, emotional, or physical incapacity or his age, his attorney or a designated family member shall be provided the notice and the opportunity to make a statement prescribed in this paragraph.

Before said disposition the office of the district attorney shall cause to be prepared a written statement as to the impact of the crime on the victim, which shall be filed with the court as part of the presentence report and made available to the defendant. The statement shall include the following: (1) the name of the victim; (2) documentation of the net financial loss, if any, suffered by the victim or a family member as a result of the crime; (3) in cases where the crime has had an impact on the victim's personal welfare or family relationship or has had a psychological impact on the victim or his family, a statement of such impact.

The court shall allow the defendant to have the opportunity to rebut the victim's oral or written statement and the district attorney's written statement if the court decides to rely upon such statements or parts thereof in imposing sentence.

No sentence shall be invalidated because of failure to comply with the provisions of this section. This section shall not be construed to create any cause of action or any right of appeal on behalf of any person.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases, 1985–2012 · leading case: Commonwealth v. McIntyre, 767 N.E.2d 578 (Mass. 2002).
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Commonwealth v. McIntyre, 767 N.E.2d 578 (Mass. 2002). · cites it 2× “258B, § 3 (a) (affording victims of crime fundamental right “to request that restitution be an element of the final disposition of a case,” defined in § 1 as “the sentencing or determination of penalty or punishment to be imposed upon a person convicted of a crime”)', G. L. c.…”
Commonwealth v. Nawn, 474 N.E.2d 545 (Mass. 1985). “See G. L. c. 279, § 4B, fourth par. Because the defendant was not afforded any meaningful opportunity to challenge the amount of money ordered to be repaid, we vacate the sentence and remand for a new sentencing proceeding.”
Commonwealth v. Del Verde, 496 N.E.2d 1357 (Mass. 1986). “Glueck, ed. 1933); M.G. Schimm, Foreword, 23 Law & Contemp.”
Commonwealth v. Doucette, 967 N.E.2d 1136 (Mass. App. Ct. 2012). “G. L. c. 279, § 4B. The defendant’s primary objection is to the judge’s statement that he would apply the same standards that the original judge applied at the initial sentencing, namely that he would “tak[e] into account what happened to the victims” and that he “acknowledge[d]…”
Commonwealth v. Clerico, 620 N.E.2d 799 (Mass. App. Ct. 1993). “258B, § 3, and G. L. c. 279, § 4B (granting family members of homicide victims the right to inform the court of the impact of the crime and to recommend a sentence).”
Commonwealth v. Cathy C., 833 N.E.2d 1189 (Mass. App. Ct. 2005). “258B, § 3(p); G. L. c. 279, § 4B. During these final stages of a criminal trial, G.”
Commonwealth v. Banker, 489 N.E.2d 1029 (Mass. App. Ct. 1986). “See G. L. c. 279, § 4B. The difference is between punishing the defendant for trauma caused by the crime and punishing him for a consequence incidental to his claim of a constitutional right to have a jury decide his guilt.”
Commonwealth v. Burdick, 694 N.E.2d 1307 (Mass. App. Ct. 1998). “The defendant’s contentions on appeal relate exclusively to the sentences and the hearing thereon, at which the prosecutor read the former wife’s victim impact statement (G. L. c. 279, § 4B), which pleaded with the court for protection from the defendant.”
Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 30 Mass. L. Rptr. 441 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2012). “The purpose of this statement, unlike the victim impact statement made to the court at the time of sentencing (G.L.c. 279, §4B), is to serve as one of the “criminal history factors indicative of a high risk of reoffense and degree of dangerousness posed to the public.”
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.