John H. Cunha Jr

    John H. Cunha Jr., a partner at the Boston firm of Cunha & Holcomb, P.C., focuses on litigation, particularly criminal defense, trial and appellate.  Jack is a former criminal clinical instructor at Suffolk and Harvard Law Schools.  He represents clients charged with a broad variety of offenses, including many homicide trials and appeals. 
    In one of two federal RICO cases in which he prevailed at trial, U.S. v. Green, his Daubert challenge to so-called ballistics testimony precluded government “experts” from testifying that they had determined crucial evidence from a shooting scene matched a handgun linked to his client.  Jack also litigated Com. v. Patterson post-conviction, in both the trial and appellate courts, in which his Daubert/Lanigan challenge succeeded in excluding “simultaneous” fingerprints, the key evidence against his client charged with the murder of a Boston police detective, resulting in the release of his client.  He also brought two Daubert/Lanigan challenges in the Superior Court to so-called ballistics evidence. 
    In 2012, Jack secured not guilty verdicts at trial for his client on all charges in the nationally publicized “Mattapan Massacre” case, in which his client was charged with four murders, home invasion, armed robbery, and other crimes. 
    He has lectured for the National Institute of Justice, Federal Defender/Criminal Justice Act/state bar association trainings nationwide, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc., the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL), and other CLE programs.  He is a current Board member and past President of MACDL.