LibGuides: Boston College Innocence Program: Secondary Sources

Finding Secondary Sources

There are a few main strategies for finding good secondary sources like treatises, practice guides, articles, and forms:

Search Secondary Sources on Lexis and Westlaw for your keywords, filtering for your jurisdiction to find the most on-point results.
Browse Secondary Sources on Lexis and Westlaw for your jurisdiction and by topic (e.g., Criminal Law or Evidence). If you can't find an on-topic source for your jurisdiction, then a national source that isn't focused on a specific jurisdiction might be useful. Sometimes browsing helps give you context that searches cannot, and browsing can also be useful when you don't have clear search terms.
Search the internet for research guides on your topic. Many law libraries create guides like this one aimed at pointing researchers to the best resources on given topic.
Ask an expert! Your professor, supervisor, or librarians (email us at lawresearchhelp@bc.edu) likely will have suggestions.

Massachusetts Superior Court Criminal Practice Manual (MCLE)
See, in particular, Chapter 23 (Post-Trial Events), which includes discussion of Motions for New Trial.
CPCS Training Manual for Criminal Defense (MCLE)
See, in particular, Chapter 15 (Appeals).
Criminal Practice & Procedure (Massachusetts Practice Series)
See, in particular, Chapter 42 (Rule 30—Postconviction Relief). Westlaw and print.
LexisNexis Practice Guide: Massachusetts Criminal Law
See, in particular, Chapter 9 (Post-Sentencing Procedures).
Suppression Matters Under Massachusetts Law
The premier MA source for analyzing, preparing, and judging motions to suppress evidence, statements, and identifications.
Massachusetts Guide to Evidence
Prepared annually by the Supreme Judicial Court’s Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Evidence Law. Covers privileges, hearsay, witness testimony and more. For the clinic, one helpful portion is Section 1113 for an overview and case law on the permissible bounds of opening statements and closing arguments.

Joseph F. Lawless, Prosecutorial Misconduct
Covers prosecutorial misconduct from charging to presentation of evidence to closing arguments, citing thousands of precedential cases and standards of legal and ethical conduct. Similar to Westlaw title below.
Bennett L. Gershman, Prosecutorial Misconduct
Covers prosecutorial misconduct from charging to presentation of evidence to closing arguments, citing thousands of precedential cases and standards of legal and ethical conduct. Similar to Lexis title above.
Scientific Evidence
Explains the latest forensic techniques and scientific concepts used in collecting and evaluating evidence. Covers law on admissibility, constitutional limitations, discovery, expert testimony, laboratory reports, and chain of custody, and then analyzes the most frequently encountered scientific evidence, including DNA.
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
This treatise focuses exclusively on ineffective assistance claims, including state and federal constitutional standards for ineffectiveness.

BC Libraries subscribe to many articles databases and journals from law to the social sciences and far beyond.

Here are a few of the most efficient methods to use for a thorough article search:

BC Libraries Catalog
Search the Articles tab for the article title, author, or your keywords. This searches for articles across databases, including HeinOnline, JSTOR, and many social science databases.
Google Scholar
A good option for a broad search across scholarly literature. This will capture articles freely available online, as well as those in subscription databases (which you'll usually be able to access with your BC credentials).
Westlaw Law Reviews & Journals
Includes most law reviews and many practitioner journals.
Lexis Law Reviews and Journals
Includes most law reviews and many practitioner journals.
All BC Research Databases (A-Z List)
You can filter this database list by Subject (e.g., Psychology, Social Work, or Sociology & Anthropology) or by Database Type (e.g., Articles, News, or Data/Statistics) in order to do more targeted searches of specific databases.