John Cunha

Jack Cunha is a partner at the Boston firm of Cunha & Holcomb, P.C., focusing on litigation, particularly criminal defense, trial & appellate, state & federal. Jack defends people charged with a broad variety of offenses, ranging from misdemeanors to murder and RICO prosecutions, as well as appeals, including Cleveland v. United States, sub nom. Muscarello v. United States, 524 U.S. 125 (1998). His successes include many homicide trials, such as his successful defense in the so-called Mattapan Massacre case. In one of the RICO cases in which he prevailed, U.S. v. Green, his 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 in the trial and appellate courts, in which his advocacy led to exclusion of “simultaneous” fingerprints, the key evidence against his client charged with the murder of a Boston police detective. He lectur nationally to criminal defense lawyers, e.g., at the National Institute of Justice, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the Federal Defenders national training seminars, and other states' CLE programs. He served as President of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2009-2011. He is a former instructor at Harvard Law School. Specialties: Criminal Defense, state & federal courts, trial and appellate Public Corruption defense Civil Litigation Personal Injury - Plaintiff