Governor Baker Nominates Attorney Diane Freniere and First Assistant District Attorney Sharon Donatelle to Superior Court
BOSTON – Governor Charlie Baker has nominated Diane C. Freniere and Sharon E. Donatelle to serve as Associate Justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court. Attorney Freniere has 26 years of experience and concentrates her practice in white collar criminal defense, regulatory compliance and complex civil litigation; Attorney Donatelle has served as the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office since 1992, where she currently serves as First Assistant.
“Attorneys Freniere and Donatelle have earned respected reputations in the Superior Court for their legal skills, commitment to serving the public and implementing justice,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “I am pleased to nominate them for the Governor’s Council’s advice and consent. If confirmed, the Superior Court will benefit greatly from their wisdom, judgment and common sense.”
“I am confident these talented women will use their experience and abilities to provide additional leadership to the Superior Court, if confirmed by the Governor’s Council,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “Their dedication and impressive careers of increasing levels or responsibility render them well-suited to continue their public service as judges in the Commonwealth.”
Judicial nominations are subject to the advice and consent of the Governor’s Council. Applicants for judicial openings are reviewed by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and recommended to the governor. Governor Baker established the JNC in February, 2015 pursuant to Executive Order 558, a non-partisan, non-political Commission composed of volunteers from a cross-section of the Commonwealth's diverse population to screen judicial applications. Twenty-one members were later appointed to the JNC in April, 2015.
The Superior Court is a statewide court of general jurisdiction - handling both criminal and civil actions. The court’s 82 justices sit in 20 courthouses in all 14 counties of the Commonwealth. The Superior Court has original jurisdiction in civil actions over $25,000, and in matters where equitable relief is sought. It also has original jurisdiction in actions including labor disputes where injunctive relief is sought, has exclusive authority to convene medical malpractice tribunals, has appellate jurisdiction over certain administrative proceedings, and may hold sittings for naturalization in any city or town. The court has exclusive original jurisdiction of first degree murder cases and original jurisdiction of all other crimes.
For more information about the Massachusetts Superior Court, visithttp://www.mass.gov/courts/
About Diane C. Freniere
Diane Freniere currently serves as Of Counsel for Markun Zusman Freniere Compton, LLP. Freniere began her legal career as an intellectual property and litigation associate at Hale and Dorr, LLP from 1991 until 1994. She then went on to serve in the public sector for more than 19 years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO), District of Massachusetts. While at the USAO, Freniere served as a line prosecutor in the Economic Crime, Health Care Fraud and Public Corruption units. Additionally, she served in management at the USAO, supervising all of the white collar crime units and serving as the Executive Assistant United States Attorney. Attorney Freniere graduated cum laude from Boston College Law School in 1991 and received her Bachelor of Science in Manufacturing Engineering with honors from Boston University’s College of Engineering in 1985. Prior to her legal career, Freniere served as both an active duty and reserve officer in the United States Air Force. Attorney Freniere lives with her family in Wellesley.
About Sharon E. Donatelle
Sharon Donatelle currently serves as the First Assistant District Attorney for the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office; she is responsible for daily operations of the office and maintains the Superior Court caseload of first degree murders while reviewing all indictment decisions. She started her career in the Plymouth County DA’s Office in 1992; as a District Court Prosecutor, Donatelle tried bench and jury of six cases involving misdemeanors and five-year felonies. She has also served as the Chief of the Family Protection Unit for the Plymouth County DA’s Office, a unit designed to investigate and prosecute all child and elder abuse cases and cases against the disabled. She is an adjunct instructor at Boston University School of Medicine, Division of Graduate Medical Sciences, serves as a Board of Bar of Overseers hearing committee member and serves as a member of the DPH S.A.N.E. Adolescent Task Force. Donatelle earned her Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School in 1991 and her Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Saint Michael’s College in 1982. She resides with her family in Sharon.
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