Leventhal v. Dockser

William J. Leventhal v. William B. Dockser & others (and a companion case)

Leventhal v. Dockser, 261 N.E.2d 64 (Mass. 1970)

Court: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · State Highest Courts
Decided: July 3, 1970
Citations: 261 N.E.2d 64358 Mass. 799

Cited by 12 1 descriptions by later courts

Opinion of the Court

Text extracted by OCR from a scanned original; check the original for exact wording.

The plaintiff appeals from orders sustaining “with leave to amend denied” demurrers to the declarations in both actions. Both declarations are in three counts. The demurrers were properly sustained. The accounts for abuse of criminal process fail to allege that the defendants either directed the criminal process or had control or influence over those in charge of the prosecution. See Wood v. Graves, 144 Mass. 365, 367, 368-369 ; McLean v. Naumkeag Trust Co. 268 Mass. 437, 439 . The counts, characterized by the plaintiff in his briefs as being for “extortion” and “coercion and duress,” do not state facts supporting a cause of action. The allegations in all the counts “are but generalizations and conclusions which do not sufficiently inform the defendants of the facts so that they might know what they would be called upon to meet.” Lloyd v. Howes, 350 Mass. 19, 21 , and cases cited. The refusal to grant leave to amend was within the discretion of the judge. Keljikian v. Star Brewing Co. 303 Mass. 53, 56 . Foster v. Shubert Holding Co. 316 Mass. 470, 477 . Desmond v. Boston Elev. Ry. 319 Mass. 13, 16 . Lloyd v. Howes, supra, at 21 , and cases cited. No abuse of discretion has been shown. See Bartley v. Phillips, 317 Mass. 35, 41-44 . The orders sustaining the demurrers in both cases are affirmed.

So ordered.

How later courts describe this case

Explanatory parentheticals written by citing courts — 1 in all; the most informative distinct ones are shown.

(condition of performance bond not actuated where developer fails to commence work)

River Vale v. E & R OFF. Interiors, 575 A.2d 55 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1990)

Cited by 12 cases

View all citing references →

Relies on it most ⓘ

Leventhal v. Dockser282 N.E.2d 680 (Mass. 1972)
Yacubian v. United States952 F. Supp. 2d 334 (D. Mass. 2013)
Lusek v. Guerreiro14 Mass. L. Rptr. 391 (2002)
Jones v. Brockton Public Markets, Inc.340 N.E.2d 484 (Mass. 1975)
Commonwealth v. Leventhal307 N.E.2d 839 (Mass. 1974)
Frank J. Linhares Co., Inc. v. Reliance Ins. Co.357 N.E.2d 313 (Mass. App. Ct. 1976)

Most recent

Yacubian v. United States952 F. Supp. 2d 334 (D. Mass. 2013)
Lusek v. Guerreiro14 Mass. L. Rptr. 391 (2002)
Bisognano v. Jain4 Mass. L. Rptr. 671 (1996)
River Vale v. E & R OFF. INTERIORS575 A.2d 55 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1990)
Commonwealth v. Leventhal2 Mass. Supp. 311 (1981)
Ferraro v. First Safety Fund National Bank416 N.E.2d 225 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 7

Depth	Case	Cited by
	Lloyd v. Howes, 212 N.E.2d 857 (Mass. 1965)	4
	Bartley v. Phillips, 57 N.E.2d 26 (Mass. 1944)	248
	Wood v. Graves, 11 N.E. 567 (Mass. 1887)	58
	Keljikian v. Star Brewing Co., 20 N.E.2d 465 (Mass. 1939)	57
	Foster v. Shubert Holding Co., 55 N.E.2d 772 (Mass. 1944)	37
	Desmond v. Boston Elevated Ry. Co., 64 N.E.2d 357 (Mass. 1946)	28
	MacLean v. Naumkeag Trust Co., 167 N.E. 748 (Mass. 1929)	16

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