Upon a determination by a court that a person accused of murder in the first or second degree is indigent, the chief counsel or his designee may assign the case to either the public defender division or the private counsel division, subject to the approval of the justice making the determination of indigency.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211D, § 8
Assignment of case of indigent accused of murder
Official source: Massachusetts Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Massachusetts statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.