Commonwealth v. Davis
Appeals Court of Massachusetts
10 Mass.App.Ct. 190, 406 N.E.2d 417 (1980)
- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
In the course of a barroom brawl, Davis (defendant) bit off a piece of his antagonist's ear. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts (plaintiff) prosecuted Davis for assault and battery "by means of a dangerous weapon," which the indictment identified as Davis's teeth. At trial, Davis moved for a directed verdict, on the grounds that human teeth cannot constitute a dangerous weapon. After the judge denied Davis's motion, the jury convicted Davis and he appealed to the Appeals Court of Massachusetts.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Greaney, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.