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Massachusetts: post-conviction forms and deadlines.
These are the four forms a woman convicted in Massachusetts can use to ask a court to look at her conviction or sentence again, with the deadline we found for each. Download them, or ask us to mail them to her in prison, free. Not sure which applies? Find her step first.
Motion for new trial / release from unlawful restraint
This state has no official statewide form. She can still file. The petition can be typed or neatly handwritten, as long as it includes what the state’s rule requires. How to write it without a form → First, ask the court clerk whether the court that convicted her has its own form.
Most states allow only one post-conviction petition, so a claim left out may be lost. The federal one-year clock keeps running until this petition is filed. Ask the court in writing to appoint a lawyer, and write to an innocence organization before she files.
Petition for writ of habeas corpus
Some federal courts use their own version of this form. Check the court’s website before filing.
Appeal to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court (sentence review)
Motion to revise or revoke sentence
The Appellate Division can increase a sentence as well as reduce it. In Superior Court, Rule 61A lists what the motion must include: county, docket number, date of judgment, sentence, the facts and grounds, and every earlier appeal and motion. Serve the prosecutor. All grounds must be in the motion or they may be waived. The Committee for Public Counsel Services screens post-conviction cases for appointed counsel.
All Massachusetts court forms: state court forms page →
We will mail them to her.
Write to us and we will print the Massachusetts forms and mail them to her at no cost.
Ask us to mail them →Or email help@womensinnocenceclinic.com. Print our guide for her. Each facility sets its own mail rules. If her facility returns our mail, we will let you know.
Send us:
- Her full legal name
- Her ID or DOC number
- Her facility’s name and full mailing address
- The state, county and case number
- Her sentencing date, and her appeal and filing dates
- Which forms she needs
- Your name, your relationship to her, and how to reach you
Last checked Sept. 24, 2026 against the rule or statute cited above. Forms, rules and deadlines change, and exceptions apply. Deadlines are copied from each state’s rule, in the rule’s own words. Confirm every deadline with the court clerk or a lawyer before filing. This is information, not legal advice.