On October 23, 2026, the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the conviction of Thomas P. Mattson for assault and battery on a person over sixty. The panel (Massing, Grant & Wood, JJ.) issued a Rule 23.0 summary decision in Commonwealth v. Mattson (25-P-522), rejecting all nine claims raised on appeal.
Mattson describes himself as a “First Amendment journalist” who records government interactions and posts them online. On August 19, 2022, Salem police and firefighters responded to a medical emergency near the Salem post office. Sixty-nine-year-old Walter Herbert had called 911 after seeing a young man collapse. Mattson arrived with a cell phone and body camera and began filming. Herbert told him to stop; the two argued; Herbert approached face-to-face; and Mattson allegedly pushed him, causing Herbert to fall backward. Mattson reportedly shouted, “Don’t spit in my face ever, you motherfucker.” An emergency responder intervened. Mattson recorded the entire encounter.
Prosecutors initially charged more serious offenses, including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and with injury. Just before jury selection they dismissed the higher charges, leaving only the simple assault-and-battery-on-a-person-over-sixty count under G. L. c. 265, § 13K(a ½). The jury convicted Mattson on October 29, 2024.
On appeal Mattson challenged the pre-trial dismissal of charges, limits on cross-examination about Herbert’s pending cases, alleged Brady violations, speedy-trial rights, probable cause, retaliatory and selective prosecution, ineffective assistance of counsel, and cumulative error. The court found one error—the restriction of bias cross-examination—but held it harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the defendant’s own video provided overwhelming corroboration of the push. All other claims were rejected for lack of merit, insufficient record support, or proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The judgment was therefore affirmed.
The decision is a non-precedential summary order directed primarily to the parties.