Criminal Law
Boston Criminal lawyer Blog 
Up-to-date information and news on criminal law in the State of Massachusetts. Published by Boston criminal lawyers .
Post Frequency: 2.1/day Last Entry: September 08, 2010 at 15:00:47 Recent Entries: 593
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Attorney Sam?s Take: The MA Landscape Of Bullying, Assault and Harassment For Students And Parents
Posted on September 08, 2010?And so students and their families alike are awakening to the passing of the season. Summer is exiting Massachusetts, and school is beginning. This time, though, things are a bit more serious. First of all, as discussed yesterday, the Boston area seems to be in the middle of a dramatic increase in murder cases...
Attorney Sam Greets MA Students With News Of Murder, Robbery, Bullying And Prostitution
Posted on September 07, 2010Welcome back everybody! I hope you had a great Labor Day Weekend. A particular welcome back to the student?s returning to schools in the Boston area. As you kids may have heard, and I will discuss in more detail tomorrow, there are new laws and procedures in place to deal with the problem of bullying...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Truth, Witnesses And The Murder Of A Boston Pizza Delivery Man
Posted on September 04, 2010SPECIAL SATURDAY EDITION This has been a bad stretch for the Boston area in terms of homicides. Police believe they have solved the 43rd murder this year as compared to 38 killings last year at this time. The pizza delivery killing was the fifth murder in Boston in the last week...
Boston's Attorney Sam Sends His Regrets Re: Murder Investigation Into Pizza Homicide And "Truth"
Posted on September 03, 2010This daily criminal law blog has been short-ciruited today due to internet failure. However, it will reappear tomorrow (yes, even though it is Saturday) with the planned discussion of murder investigations, witnesses and pizza delivery. Oh, yes. And do we mean by "truth" in the criminal justice system? Until then...
Attorney Sam Continues To Discuss Recent SJC Ruling In Murder Appeal And Criminal Investigations (Part Two)
Posted on September 02, 2010Yesterday, we discussed the mechanics of this matter. Basically, we addressed the difference between a criminal appeal and a motion for a new trial as well as why it may have made sense for the defense attorney, prosecutor and SJC to take the action that they did...
A Boston Criminal Attorney Discusses SJC?s Ruling In Murder Appeal Motion (Part One)
Posted on September 01, 2010The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (?SJC?), the Commonwealth?s highest court , situated in Boston, has rejected a motion by Calvin C., convicted in the 2005 Bourneside murders,(hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) to stay his appeal so that he could seek a new trial based on evidence he said showed he was framed...
Boston-Based Attorney General Investigates Reported Political White Collar Crime
Posted on August 31, 2010It would appear that Boston-Based Attorney General Martha Coakley?s office is on the trail of what it believes to be an upcoming white collar criminal prosecution. The target is Representative Brian P. Wallace of South Boston (hereinafter, the ?Target?)...
Seminary Student Pleads Not Guilty to Massachusetts Breaking and Entering and Unlawful Wiretap
Posted on August 31, 2010A 24-year-old Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary has pleaded not guilty to charges of unlawful wiretap and breaking and entering in the daytime with intent to commit a felony. Daniel G. Richards was arrested on Sunday. Richards is accused of breaking into another student?s dorm room and videotaping her without her consent...
MA Convicted Car-Jacker And Murderer Fights Conviction, Blaming Lawyers In Federal Court
Posted on August 30, 2010The Death Penalty has long been a controversial issue. Nowhere is that more true than in good ol? Massachusetts. You see, the Commonwealth, like most states, has two criminal justice systems running through it ? state and federal. The crime of murder, which often carries capital punishment sentences, is usually handled in state court...
Sentenced to Death for Massachusetts Murder and Carjacking, Gary Lee Sampson Wants a New Trial
Posted on August 29, 2010The Massachusetts criminal defense team for Gary Lee Sampson is scheduled to appear in court on Monday to argue that their client should get a new trial. Sampson, who a federal judge sentenced to death in 2003 for the murder of three people, contends that his constitutional rights were violated because his trial lawyers at the time were ineffective...
SJC Ruling Could Overturn Christopher McCowen?s Convictions for Massachusetts Rape and Murder in Slaying of Christa Worthington
Posted on August 28, 2010The state Supreme Judicial Court will likely issue a ruling in the next few weeks on Christopher McCowen?s appeal to have his Massachusetts murder and rape convictions in the slaying of fashion writer Christa Worthington overturned. McCowen?s criminal defense team is arguing that it was wrong to allow the a substitute pathologist to testify about findings in an autopsy that another doctor had performed and they are now citing a recent SJC ruling that overturned the murder conviction of Eric J...
Attorney Sam?s Take: The Corrupting Of MA Political, Prosecutorial And Police Investigations And Arrests
Posted on August 27, 2010The Boston Criminal Law Blog has had a fairly police-intensive week this week. We began with A police chase in which an officer accidently struck and killed a pedestrian (which, if we had done it would probably be treated as a homicide) and then with of law enforcement investigations and actions in cases of murder, vandalism, armed robbery and, ?worst of all?, the ?scourge? of prostitution...
Recent MA Homicides, Robberies And Deadly Police Chases Make Renewed Pressure On Prostitution And Craigslist Timely
Posted on August 26, 2010As expected, criminal justice history repeats itself in Massachusetts and its neighboring states. As discussed in earlier blogs, we have a new ?Craigslist Robber? and our original ?Craigslist Killer? has made the news again by robbing the Commonwealth of another high profile trial...
Attorney Sam Warns Students About Criminal Investigations After Lynn MA School Is Vandalized
Posted on August 25, 2010September is a-coming. It would appear that it will soon be time, once again in Massachusetts, for those school-time hijinks like bullying, assault and vandalism. And police investigations. Well, it looks like some people just can?t wait. No, not a high school or college campus crime this time...
A Boston Defense Attorney Discusses Police SWAT Investigation Into Armed Robbery
Posted on August 24, 2010Big happenings in the Boston area! A police investigation into a robbery with a gun! What could be more exciting than a big SWAT team operation? The Bad Guys are usually cornered and lives hang in the balance as the Good Guys take control and take whatever Bad Guys still exist after the stand-off into custody...
A Boston Criminal Attorney Wonders If A Police Cruiser Hitting And Killing In A Pedestrian With An SUV Is Vehicular Homicide
Posted on August 23, 2010Now, given my sardonic view on things, it would not surprise you to check out this once-again daily blog one day to find me describing a scene wherein somebody was speeding down the road and, having run down an innocent pedestrian, got out of his car and started pulling on the semi-flattened gentleman, begging him to get up...
Attorney Sam?s Take: ?Mr. Investigator, The Marihuana Is Mine, But The Cocaine, Heroin and Ecstasy aren?t. Really!?
Posted on August 20, 2010Ok, here is the scene. You are visiting your old pal Donny Dealer in Boston. You, being a good ol? ?party animal?, brought a bit of marihuana so you guys can party. Donny was only too happy to party with you. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to you, there has been an investigation going on regarding Donny and a his other friends, Mickey Mule and Greg Grower...
Boston?s Sherriff?s Department Defends Against Blame And Investigates The Death Of Alleged Murderer Markoff
Posted on August 19, 2010The news to which we have referred a couple of times this week has remained in the news all week. Namely, Phillip Markoff, the alleged Craigslist Killer, apparently took his own life at the Nashua Street Jail in Boston. His attorney has expressed surprise and sadness and the local D...
Teenager Pleads Guilty to Boston Assault of Classmate in Hotel Room
Posted on August 19, 2010A Canadian teenager accused of sexually assaulting a boarding room classmate during a 2007 class trip to Boston has pleaded guilty to one count of Massachusetts assault and battery. Armin Ruzbie, 19, was one of four 11th grade students accused of entering the hotel room of the male victim, then 16, at the Midtown Hotel on November 16, 2007...
South Boston Man Faces Homicide Charges After Throwing Beer Mug; Needs Experienced Lawyer
Posted on August 18, 2010Homicide can occur during the most unlikely of events. As a Boston criminal defense attorney, not to mention a Brooklyn prosecutor, I have seen my fill of events in which people acted in ways that they admittedly should not have and were left with totally unexpected results...
Salem MA Genius Adds Probation Violation And Fraud To Previous OUI And White Collar Criminal Woes
Posted on August 17, 2010Leave it to the good folks of Salem, MA, to find an original, if macabre, way out of a legal problem! Unfortunately, such bright ideas , when tried in the criminal justice system in lieu of just getting a good attorney, do not tend to meet with ultimate success...
A Boston Defense Attorney Discusses MA Tales Of Murder, Robbery And Craigslist
Posted on August 16, 2010The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog acknowledges that this was a bad weekend for Craigslist. Of course, some others would be quick to suggest it was a bad weekend for escorts. Let?s just say it was an eerily coincidental weekend for alleged criminals who prey upon Craigslist advertisers...
Brockton Man Accused of Massachusetts Armed Robbery and Kidnapping of Escorts He Found through Craigslist
Posted on August 15, 2010Luther M. Henderson has been arraigned on charges of Brockton, Massachusetts armed kidnapping, armed robbery, and witness intimidation. The 35-year-old man is accused of robbing a female escort that he had contacted through Craiglist at gunpoint. On July 9, Henderson allegedly offered to pay her for her sexual services...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Excitement With Assault, Battery And Weapons On A Fine Boston Evening
Posted on August 13, 2010Hey, the weather this weekend is supposed to be really nice. Are you looking for a fun activity for a summer?s evening here in Boston? Well, might the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog suggest an evening at the fights? No, I am not referring to wrestling or boxing or even a movie like ?The Boxer? or ?Rocky XVI?...
Acton MA Mother Charged With Homicide After Investigation Into Child?s Death
Posted on August 11, 2010Christina H., 23, of Acton (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?), was arraigned yesterday, beside her attorney, in connection with the death of her 13-month-year-old son. She pleaded not guilty to charges that she beat him to death inside her Great Road home this past May...
Celebrity Criminal Cases: Charlie Sheen Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor Third-Degree Assault and Lindsey Lohan Goes to Rehab After Serving Jail Time for Violating Probation for DUI
Posted on August 11, 2010Unlike most nonfamous civilians, when a celebrity is charged with a crime, the case tends to make national headlines. In recent celebrity news, TV actor Charlie Sheen reached a plea agreement to resolve the domestic violence charges against him. The 44-year-old actor was initially charged with second-degree assault and menacing and criminal mischief last December following an altercation with wife Brooke Mueller...
Former Big Dig Bigwig Faces Allegations Of OUI, Leaving The Scene And A Default Warrant
Posted on August 10, 2010Former Massachusetts Turnpike chairman Matthew Amorello (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) has fallen into ever-deepening holes of trouble on the criminal justice battlefield. First, he was arrested for drunk driving this past weekend. Well, not really just drunk driving...
Fall River MA City Councilor Is Arrested In Prostitution Sting ? A Boston Criminal Attorney?s Viewpoint
Posted on August 09, 2010The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog is so proud to announce that, thanks to local law enforcement, the good people of Fall River can sleep soundly tonight, knowing that they have once again been kept safe by intrepid police work. By this, of course, I refer to the brave and brilliant criminal investigation that has led to the arrest of 24 foul demons for the crime against nature known as prostitution...
Franklin MA Ex-Prostitute Violates Probation By Striking Police Officer With Vehicle
Posted on August 06, 2010The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has discussed the seemingly newly ?in vogue? crime of striking police officers with motor vehicles. Usually, these collisions turn out to be accidental. Sometimes, under the law, they are seen as either deliberate acts or the results of drunk driving...
Quincy MA Woman Arrested For Drug Distribution...In Court!
Posted on August 05, 2010A fine and dutiful lass from Quincy got into a bit of trouble yesterday at the local district court. Now, after trying to pass some contraband to her boyfriend, through his lawyer, she needs an attorney herself. Melissa A., 20, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) found herself in the Commonwealth bracelets of shame after she allegedly smuggled a hypodermic needle into the courthouse in her bra as part of a scheme to pass heroin and cigarettes to her jailed boyfriend, police said...
Massachusetts Involuntary Manslaughter Trial of Lakeisha Gadson in Accidental Shooting of Her Son is Under Way
Posted on August 04, 2010In what her Boston criminal defense lawyer is calling the ?second-most painful thing to ever happen to her,? Lakeisha Gadson is on trial for the Massachusetts involuntary manslaughter of her 8-year-old son. Liquarry Jefferson was accidentally shot by his cousin, now 10, in 2007 with a handgun owned by the victim?s half-brother, Jayquan McConnico, then 15...
Roxbury MA Homicide Of Child Re-lived In Gun Trial Against Mother.
Posted on August 04, 2010One thing that you get enough of as a Boston criminal lawyer is human drama. An example is the 10-year-old boy who accidentally fatally shot his cousin in 2007 in Roxbury. He has now testified at the trial of the boy's mother, who is now facing an involuntary manslaughter charge for not properly storing the gun used in the shooting...
Cohasset MA Mother And Son Charged Giving Alcohol To Juveniles ? A Boston Criminal Attorney?s View
Posted on August 03, 2010Here is another one in a series of people being prosecuted for having parties wherein juveniles are allegedly given alcohol. As mentioned last week, ?tis the season apparently. Specifically, Elizabeth M., 50, and her son Taylor, 18, of Cohasset ( hereinafter, collectively, the ?Defendants?) now face charges in Quincy District Court...
MA Bullying Victim?s Dad Suggests Leniency In Sentencing Of Students
Posted on August 02, 2010Here is something a Boston Criminal Lawyer does not see every day. The father of a tragically deceased daughter, who?s death the Commonwealth is looking use as a tool of political expediency, is showing the compassion. You remember the word ?compassion?, don?t you? It is the word I used when discussing the tragedy and the problem of bullying in the first place...
Principal Face Massachusetts Child Pornography Charges
Posted on July 31, 2010The principal of the Cambridge Montessori School has been charged with a Massachusetts sex crime. David B. Harris is charged with dissemination of child pornography and possession of child pornography. The Massachusetts criminal case against the private school principal comes after a two-month probe involving a number of law enforcement agencies...
MA Couple Are Charged With Giving Alcohol To Juvenile After Deadly Traffic Accident
Posted on July 28, 2010Well, we began this week on the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog discussing crimes that occur in the summer. Yesterday, I was reminded of a companion crime to drunk driving and too much partying. Two Palmer residents now face criminal charges that they supplied alcohol to a 17-year-old boy who later died in a dirt bike accident...
Accused by His Ex- of Domestic Violence and Child Endangerment, Mel Gibson Claims He is the Victim of Extortion
Posted on July 28, 2010It wasn't too long ago that movie star and director Mel Gibson was a box office king who was well-respected for his directing and beloved by fans. Now, however, his reputation has taken another beating following the release of several audio recordings of a man that sounds like Gibson allegedly yelling out expletives and abusive statements, making unreasonable demands, and threatening to harm his now ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, who is the mother of his youngest child...
I Am Being Investigated For A Crime In Boston ? Too Soon To Call A Defense Lawyer?
Posted on July 27, 2010As a Boston-area criminal defense attorney, I often find myself, when meeting a prospective client, wanting to ask, ?Why in the world didn?t you contact me earlier?? I usually don?t, of course. What is done is done and there are usually enough other urgent issues on the table to discuss...
Summer crimes ? Disorderly conduct, assault and battery, drunk driving?. a criminal attorney?s view.
Posted on July 26, 2010Crime, itsel, is not particularly seasonal. It happens all the time in the Boston area. However, through my years as a Boston criminal defense attorney, I have noted that certain crimes seem to occur more often during certain seasons. Summer is a season where there is often a spike in certain crimes, for example...
Two Worcester Men Accused of Stealing Car Charged with Massachusetts Kidnapping
Posted on July 24, 2010Jaime Collazo and Christopher Colecchi have been arrested and arraigned in a Massachusetts criminal case involving a stolen car that had two sleeping children in it. The alleged car theft and kidnapping are said to have occurred early on the morning of July 12...
A Boston Defense Attorney Reviews A Deadly Case Of Domestic Violence
Posted on July 24, 2010This blog has discussed many stories about family disputes which get out of hand. Some have resulted in assaults which cause great injury. Others have been known to result in death?whether intentional or accidental. This one, though, seems to have taken domestic violence to an unusual level...
Massachusetts Bullying Indictments And Legislation Controversy Are Revisited In New Reports
Posted on July 22, 2010Gee, it seems like only yesterday that this Boston criminal defense attorney was going against the grain and calling the indictment of six kids from South Hadley a senseless exercise of political grandstanding?or words to that effect. Don?t believe that I saw what everybody else was heralding as ?heroic? as folly? Check out my postings since January as well as my comments on the equally ?heroic? legislation on both the blog and Fox25! Now, a couple of developments have some people reconsidering the events...
Another Clergy Sex Crimes Case Inspires Reflections On Years Of Boston Criminal Defense
Posted on July 21, 2010Sex cases are a funny thing. That is, ?funny? as in ?strange?. In a country wherein we say that we prize the presumption of innocence, we really don?t act like we like said presumption very much. Currently, I am handling a high profile case about child pornography...
Supreme Judicial Court Overturns Massachusetts Murder Conviction of West Springfield Widow
Posted on July 20, 2010The Supreme Judicial Court has overturned Joann Sliech-Brodeur?s Massachusetts first-degree murder conviction. Sliech-Brodeur was convicted of killing her husband Joseph Brodeur, who was stabbed 34 times with a kitchen knife and may have sustained blunt force head trauma from a ?pry bar? on July 28, 2004...
A Boston Criminal Lawyer Wonders How Latest Drunk Driving Accident Will Effect Law
Posted on July 20, 2010Yesterday, as you may have read through various print and other media outlets, I had occasion to drive to North Adams, Massachusetts on a new case. As I traveled the various hours, I was reminded again and again through the radio how I was actually taking my life in my hands...
Psychiatric Patient on Trial for Boston Rape Has Diminished Mental Capacity, Says His Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer
Posted on July 14, 2010The criminal trial of Vernon Thompson on two counts of Massachusetts rape is now under way. Thompson, 40 is accused of sexually assaulting a Newton teenager while he was a psychiatric patient at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain in 2008. He is accused of taking the girl, then 14, to an area of the hospital where there were no security cameras and sexually assaulting her...
Wellesley Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Boston Manslaughter and Aggravated Assault and Battery Charges in Fetus Death
Posted on July 12, 2010Ayanna Woodhouse is charged with Boston aggravated assault and battery and manslaughter in the death of a six-month-old fetus. The 25-year-old woman was indicted on Friday by a Suffolk County Grand Jury. They rendered their decision after hearing testimony from medical experts who said that under normal circumstances the baby could have lived outside the womb...
A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Asks: Could Swapping Criminal Defendants Be The Solution?
Posted on July 11, 2010Usually, the ?Attorney Sam?s Take? postings take place on Fridays. However, this past week, I was finishing a jury trial and so could not post in a timely manner. I did not feel I could not simply shelve this subject, though, because we may have solved a problem plaguing the criminal justice system?in Boston and beyond...
Baseball Bat Assault In Massachusetts Results In Felony Arrest
Posted on July 08, 2010Can a baseball bat be considered a dangerous weapon in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts? As a Boston attorney for longer than I am in the mood to admit, I have seen cases where a pen, a box and even a shoe is considered a dangerous weapon by the law...
Boston And The Rest Of The World Watch As Lindsay Lohan?s Probation For Drunk Driving Is Surrendered
Posted on July 07, 2010Today?s posting on the Boston criminal lawyer blog does not really involve Boston. It does involve criminal law, though. As well as show business. You may have heard snippets over the past months of Lindsay Lohan and her difficulties with the law...
Lawyers Needed For Massachusetts Vehicular Crimes During Holiday Weekend
Posted on July 06, 2010Massachusetts had more than its fair share of crimes this past holiday weekend. There were shootings in the Boston area, one homicide and, as one would expect from such a weekend, plenty of vehicular crimes. Criminal Defense attorneys will be needed...
A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Discusses Federal Court, Alleged Spies And Liberty
Posted on July 05, 2010This weekend, we have been celebrating the birth of our country. Even a Boston criminal defense attorney recognizes the importance in that. In the meantime, the Cambridge couple (hereinafter, the ?Defendants?) who were among 10 people arrested in three cities last week as part of an alleged Russian spy ring have been arraigned in Federal Court and await an opportunity to make bail and recover their freedom...
Cambridge Couple Are Arrested For Federal Crimes Of Espionage
Posted on July 01, 2010Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr is having a field day on this one. Who can blame him?: The surface-layer ironies here are numerous! ?Hey?, he muses, ?they don?t call it the Red Line for nothing.? The rollicking news that some Cambridge residents have been arrested and accused of being Russian spies should be enough to keep us in stitches with puns focusing on titles like ?Reds?, ?Ruskies? and ( of course) ?The People?s Republic Of Cambridge? for weeks to come...
A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Returns To Examine A Walpole Priest Arrested For Sexual Assault
Posted on June 30, 2010As a Boston criminal defense attorney, I don?t seem to be able to read a news story and simply let it be. Particularly when it involves our criminal justice system and its participants. After days of being unable to post the blog (again), I went looking for a story about which to write...
Psychiatrist Says Driver Charged in Massachusetts Pike Car Chase is Delusional
Posted on June 29, 2010A judge has ordered 29-year-old man facing numerous charges for his involvement in a 20-mile police pursuit on the Massachusetts Pike to Bridgewater State Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Alejandro Serra has pleaded not guilty to over a dozen charges, including five counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and operating with a suspended license...
Winchester Man Pleads Guilty to Massachusetts First-Degree Murders of His Wife, Two Children, and Mother-in-Law
Posted on June 27, 2010At his arraignment this month, Thomas J. Mortimer IV pleaded not guilty to four counts of Massachusetts first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife Laura Stone Mortimer, 2-year-old daughter Charlotte, 4-year-old son Thomas Mortimer V, and mother-in-law Ragna Ellen Stone...
Boston Dad Charged with Massachusetts Assault and Battery, Unarmed Robbery, Parental Kidnapping, and Larceny
Posted on June 25, 2010Bryan Harris, a South End resident, was arrested by police on Friday. The 26-year-old Boston man was charged with Massachusetts unarmed robbery, parental kidnapping, larceny over $250, assault and battery, and a dangerous weapon unlawfully carried. His arraignment is scheduled for Monday...
Boston-Area Man Is Charged With Robbing And Assaulting Elderly Woman In Wheelchair
Posted on June 23, 2010Sometimes, you find a case that seems to reveal a new low in criminal acts. As a Boston criminal defense attorney for many years, I have seen more than my fill. Allegedly, that is. A Brighton man was arrested Monday night for allegedly robbing a 67-year-old woman who uses a wheelchair for mobility purposes, according to police officials...
Assaults, Threats And Bullying In Boston Schools ? Will The Law Help? (Part Two)
Posted on June 22, 2010Yesterday, we began discussing the topic of bullying again. As if the topic were not enough, I was inspired by the Sunday Boston Globe front page article on the subject this past week. As a criminal defense attorney of some years, it is a subject that deeply troubles me...
Assaults, Threats And Bullying In Boston Schools ? Will The Law Help? (Part One)
Posted on June 21, 2010Yesterday, the Boston Globe?s front page reflected the start of a new series of articles on students, families and schools. It described the plight of Lexi, a 14-year-old girl who began classes at a new school in an ?affluent suburb? west of Boston. According to the story, Lexi?s torment began within the first few days, when a ?friend? texted her the message, ?Go online...
Amy Bishop Charged with Massachusetts First-Degree Murder in Brother?s 1986 Shooting Death
Posted on June 18, 2010Amy Bishop, the University of Alabama-Huntsville professor charged with killing three colleagues and injuring three others on February 12, is now charged with Massachusetts first-degree murder in the 1986 shooting death of her brother Seth Bishop. After originally finding that Bishop accidentally killed her 18-year-old brother, prosecutors reopened the case after the February incident...
Dorchester Teen Pleads Not Guilty to '09 Massachusetts Murder of Another Youth Outside YMCA
Posted on June 15, 201019-year-old Sherman Badgett is being held without bail. The Dorchester teenager has pleaded not guilty to charges of Massachusetts assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, first-degree murder, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Badgett is accused of fatally shooting Aaron Brown, also 19, on August 29, 2009 outside the Dorchester YMCA...
A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Recalls His Days As A Prosecutor (Part One)
Posted on June 14, 2010Confessions Of A Former Prosecutor - Introduction ...And so I sit to grab a moment of rest as I get home to my apartment after a day starting another trial. This time it is a rape case. Sex crimes cases are how I actually began in this work. My first year as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn was in the Sex Crimes and Special Victms Bureau...
Man to Plead Guilty to Involvement in '08 Springfield, Massachusetts Church Burning
Posted on June 12, 2010Benjamin F. Haskell, one of three white men who originally pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges in a civil rights violation related to the burning of a predominantly black Springfield church, is scheduled to plead guilty during a change of plea hearing on Wednesday...
A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney?s View Of Knowledge And Guilt In The Criminal Justice System
Posted on June 11, 2010As a Boston criminal defense attorney, there is an oft-said and ill-fated sentence claimed by clients. It reads, ??but I didn?t know that was illegal!? Unfortunately, such lack of knowledge does not usually matter. They really mean it when they say ?ignorance of the law is no excuse?...
WHITE COLLAR PLEA DEAL AT BOSTON FEDERAL COURT IN SENATORIAL EXTORTION CASE RESULTS FROM ATTORNEYS' NEGOTIATIONS
Posted on June 08, 2010Last week, the Boston legal community had alittle excitement which spread from Capitol Hill to the United States District Court. That?s right, the federal one. Many people are still debating it and question whether it should have happened. As for me, although I had not had a chance to blog on it yet, I was interviewed on WBZ radio (1030 on your a...
PLEA DEAL REACHED IN FEDERAL SENATORIAL EXTORTION CASE - A BOSTON ATTORNEY'S VIEW
Posted on June 08, 2010Last week, the Boston legal community had alittle excitement which spread from Capitol Hill to the United States District Court. That?s right, the federal one. Many people are still debating it and question whether it should have happened. As for me, although I had not had a chance to blog on it yet, I was interviewed on WBZ radio (1030 on your a...
Police Flier In Gang Murder Investigation Assumes Guilt
Posted on June 03, 2010It has often occurred to me during my years as a Boston area criminal defense attorney that, once one abolishes the presumption of innocence, many efforts on the part of law enforcement become much easier. It?s called being for ?law and order? as opposed to ?soft on crime? and is generally encouraged by society...
Assault And Disorderly Conduct Charges Result From Boston Courtroom Murder Trial Sentencing
Posted on June 01, 2010As a Boston-area criminal defense attorney, I face many ?There but for the grace of G-d go I? moments. As I have often discussed in these postings, I am constantly presented with lives that have been ruined by very bad moments. Such moments can change an otherwise on-track life into something of a living nightmare...
A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney?s Take On Carnage Around The Justice System
Posted on May 31, 2010Today is Memorial Day, a day in which we pause to remember the fallen. Generally, we remember those who have fallen in the armed services while they were defending and protecting our country from outside threats. I would like to take a moment to remember another category of protectors and defenders...
Church Choir Director Accused of Massachusetts Sex Crime
Posted on May 31, 2010Thomas DeBlois, a church choir director, was arrested on Saturday for alleged sexual misconduct. The 47-year-old Woburn man is charged with the Massachusetts enticement of a child. Now, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation, the Archdiocese of Boston has placed him on leave without pay...
Speak to Our Boston Criminal Defense Lawyers if You Are Arrested for Massachusetts DUI, OUI, or DWI Over the Memorial Day Weekend
Posted on May 29, 2010With so many people taking to the roads this holiday weekend, local and state police will be on the lookout for motorists that appear to be driving drunk. According to AAA Southern New England, there will likely be a 5.4% increase in travel this Memorial weekend over last year, with 32...
A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Sees Irony And Hope Re: Bullying And Assaults
Posted on May 25, 2010You know, even a Boston criminal defense attorney can start to lose faith. I mean, it has been great seeing my quotes in the paper and watching myself on TV again, don?t get me wrong. But, I really believe in the issues I write about in this blog and the subject of ?bullying? and what to do about it has really raised my ire...
A BOSTON CRIMINAL LAW ATTORNEY REVIEWS CRIMES AND CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS IN DISTRICT COURTS IN 2009
Posted on May 24, 2010The Boston Globe posted a ?snapshot? on May 13th reviewing how busy the various Massachusetts are in terms of criminal cases. You can view it here. As one can see, the number of criminal defendants handled by the different district courts varies widely...
Former TV Chef Pleads Not Guilty to Criminal Charge that He Attempted to Have His Wife Murdered
Posted on May 22, 2010Chef, former Food Network personality, and cookbook author Juan-Carlos Cruz has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and solicitation to commit murder. Cruz is accused of trying to kill his wife Jennifer Campbell. According to investigators, Cruz solicited two homeless men, David Walters and David Carrington, and tried to hire them to murder his kill Campbell...
Academic Voices From Adam Wheeler?s Past Display Surprise At The Fraud and Theft Charges Against Him
Posted on May 20, 2010The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has been discussing school campus related crimes of late. Most of these have had to do with the subject of bullying, a topic I just know we will be returning to. Yesterday, we briefly discussed a different kind of criminal behavior by a student...
Ex-Harvard Student Pleads Not Guilty to Identity Fraud, Larceny, and Other Massachusetts Criminal Charges in Alleged Fraud that Earned Him Admission, Grants, and Financial Aid
Posted on May 19, 2010Adam B. Wheeler, a former Harvard student who has been indicted for falsifying information that allowed him to get into the university and receive thousands of dollars in financial aid and grants, has pleaded not guilty to 20 criminal counts of identify fraud, larceny, pretending to hold a degree, and falsifying an endorsement or approval...
Boston Cab Driver and Brookline Gas Station Attendant Arrested in Times Square Bombing Plot
Posted on May 16, 2010Two Pakistani natives, one a Boston taxi driver and the other a Brookline gas station worker, were arrested on Thursday. Federal agents are trying to determine whether they knew that Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad was going to use the money they gave him to help fund his now failed bomb plot...
The Boston Criminal Law Blog Questions Investigations and Prosecutions As Former Teacher Is Found Not Guilty Of Various Sexual Assaults
Posted on May 13, 2010Today, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog sets its sight a bit further south. We look to Georgia and the case of Tonya Craft, the former kindergarten teacher who was charged with 22 counts of child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation...
Nine Boston Youths Are Charged With Assault And Battery In Bullying Attack Of Disabled Teen
Posted on May 12, 2010In the Boston area, nine young men, ages ranging from 15 to 21 are now in need of criminal defense attorneys. They are accused of horribly assaulting a 19 year old developmentally disabled teenager in Dorchester. They left him bloodied and screaming for help, the prosecutor said...
Campus Crime: University of Virginia Male Lacrosse Player Charged with First-Degree Murder in Death of Female Lacrosse Player
Posted on May 08, 201022-year-old George Huguely, a member of the University of Virginia?s lacrosse team, has been arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Yeardley Love, also age 22 and a member of the school?s women?s lacrosse team. According to police, Huguely and Love were romantically involved with each other and had just broken up...
?I Have Received A Criminal Complaint In The Mail! What Does This Mean? What Do I Do??
Posted on May 07, 2010It is a situation that we have discussed a number of times on the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog. Yet, particularly since the initial response to getting such a care package from the government is usually panic, it is worth revisiting. First of all, the good news...
The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Reveals A North Of Boston Drunk Driving Matter With A Twist
Posted on May 06, 2010Just to show you that the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog is not only focusing on kids these days and their foibles, such as attempted murder, we discuss today a slightly older gentleman in need of counsel?lots of it. The gentleman, Michael G., 31 (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) hails from Salem and was arrested in Swampscott for operating under the influence as well as one or five other charges...
Massachusetts Students Face Charges Of Assault, Attempted Murder And Alcohol Distribution
Posted on May 05, 2010Gee, it is hard to imagine that after our protectors and law-makers have made the world safe for kids by passing the Anti-bullying bill discussed last week and prosecuted ?the bad kids? as discussed ad nauseum, that kids could still be getting in trouble and even hurt! In connection, since the governor has not signed the Ant bullying Bill into law in Boston yet, how will prosecuting attorneys ever be able to prosecute the youthful wrong-doers? Guess what? It would appear that the laws already on the books actually suffice! For example, let?s take four Merrimack College students who have gotten into a tad of trouble at yet another underage drinking party...
John Odgren Receives Life In Prison Without Parole for Massachusetts Murder of Schoolmate
Posted on May 01, 2010Middlesex Superior Court Judge S. Jane Haggerty has sentenced John Odgren to life in prison without parole. Yesterday, a jury convicted the 19-year-old, who has Asperger?s syndrome and a history of mental illness, of Massachusetts first-degree murder...
A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Looks At The Question Of Whether The Antibullying Bill Is The Solution (Part Two)
Posted on April 30, 2010Well, it looks like the state Legislature has unanimously approved the new state law cracking down on bullying. It must be a great thing, right? After all, it passed unanimously! How could so many politicians in the Boston area be wrong? The legislation would require school employees to report all instances of bullying and require principals to investigate them...
Ex-Salem Resident Convicted of Attempted Boston Rape of Woman in Massachusetts General Hospital Bathroom
Posted on April 30, 2010A jury has convicted 40-year-old David Flavell of assault with intent to rape a Massachusetts General Hospital employee. The 40-year-old former Salem resident, who before this latest incident was already registered as a Level 3 sex offender, was accused of attacking the woman inside the Boston hospital?s lobby bathroom last October...
A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Must Ask?Is The Antibullying Bill, Now Leaping Over Legislative Hurdles, the Solution? (Part One)
Posted on April 29, 2010Oboy! It?s so exciting to solve age-old presumably unsolvable problems! Here in the Boston area, we seem to be doing just that. Can it be that our government is going to come up with really well-thought-out solutions and reduce the need for lawyers running around in civil and criminal courtrooms dealing with the fallout? Sure...
Dilemma Of A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney In A Murder Trial
Posted on April 28, 2010There were a few fireworks yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, Massachusetts. Attorneys argued over the topics of the defense attorney?s proposed summation. The Judge agreed with the Commonwealth and overruled the objections voiced by the defense...
T-Crash May Result In Alcohol Related Charges For Boston College Students
Posted on April 27, 2010Tempers sure are flaring now that it is known that no serious injuries resulted from the collision between a Green Line MBTA train smashed into a jeep! Transit officials are crying ?Foul!? against the athletes who had been in the jeep. Crimina-Defense-Attorne- Needing-type-Foul...
The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Returns To Multiple Assault, Battery And Disorderly Conduct Arrests
Posted on April 26, 2010As I was recovering from a blog-free week this weekend, folks in Lawrence, Massachusetts, were gearing up and creating work for various defense attorneys. In fact, according to the police, over 100 people were involved in the resulting melee. The brawl took place in a Lawrence nightclub, Club Rio, during the wee hours on Saturday...
Cameron Douglas, Son of Michael Douglas, Gets Reduced Sentence of Five Years in Prison for Drug Conviction
Posted on April 21, 2010Cameron Douglas, the eldest son of movie star Michael Douglas, is sentenced to five years in prison sentence. Earlier this year, the 31-year-old had pleaded guilty to distributing large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine. Although Cameron?s drug crime conviction comes with a minimum 10-year prison sentence, his father, mother, stepmother Catherine Zeta-Jones, grandfather Kirk Douglas, and other family members wrote to the court asking that the judge show leniency and reduce the young actor?s criminal sentence...
Nancy Kerrigan?s Brother Enters Not Guilty Plea to Manslaughter Charge Over His Father?s Death
Posted on April 18, 2010Mark Kerrigan, 45, has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charge of Massachusetts manslaughter. Mark is the brother of figure skating champion Nancy Kerrigan. Their dad, 70-year-old Daniel, died following an altercation with Mark at their Stoneham residence...
John Odgren?s Massachusetts Murder Trial is Underway
Posted on April 17, 2010The prosecution rests in John Odgren?s Massachusetts murder trial. The 19-year-old Princeton resident fatally stabbed 15-year-old James F. Alenson, fellow student at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School on January 19, 2007. Odgren, who was 16 at the time of the fatal stabbing, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity...
A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer?s Take On Bullying, Criminal Charges And Credibility (Part One)
Posted on April 16, 2010Earlier this week, when I said ? Tomorrow: Back To Bullying!? in the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog I had intended to be writing myself about the South Hadley Bullying/Indictments issue. Unfortunately, this week?s schedule made it impossible for me to do so...
A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney?s Take On Choosing Your Trial Lawyer(Part Two)
Posted on April 12, 2010On Friday, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog began describing things to consider when deciding on a defense attorney who will bring your case to trial. When we left off, I had been addressing those defense lawyers who, perhaps in an effort to combat perceived arrogance from the prosecution, approach the jury with an air of superiority...
A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney?s Take On Trial Counsel (Part One)
Posted on April 09, 2010The big day has arrived! It is your Constitutional right! You go on trial today! You just sat as the Boston prosecutor verbally toasted you on a stick in his opening statement. Now, you sit in anticipation as your lawyer approaches the jury panel...
Three Boys and Two Men Charged in Gang-Rape of 7-Year-Old
Posted on April 08, 2010Two adults and three underage teen boys have been charged in connection with the gang-rape of a 7-year-old girl. The alleged victim?s 15-year-old stepsister has been charged with aggravated assault, promoting prostitution, and other crimes related to the case...
Massachusetts Jury Being Selected In High School Murder Case
Posted on April 07, 2010Last week, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog spent the week discussing the issue of bullying and the over-reactive indictments paraded before a hungry audience by a local district attorney. Today, we return to high school. This time it is another high school though...
Boston District Attorney Declares Shooting Death Amid Gunfight Was Suicide, Not Homicide
Posted on April 06, 2010There comes a time when any Boston criminal defense attorney is knocked almost speechless. Almost. Fortunately, this one can still write when that happens. It would appear that the law enforcement entities have come together and resolved several of the questions posed in yesterday?s Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog...
Boston Police Shoot Alleged Gang Member In Possession Of Gun
Posted on April 05, 2010It is always a serious situation when an officer fires his or her weapon in the Commonwealth. This one is no different. Boston Police are continuing their investigation of a police-involved shooting in the Boston area (Dorchester) over the weekend which left 19-year-old Manuel D...
A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer?s Take On Anti-Bullying Laws
Posted on April 02, 2010This week, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has focused on what so many in Massachusetts and beyond have been talking about. The topic is ?bullying?. It is a somewhat vague term that schools and summer camps have endured since we decided to group kids together in one place...
12-Year-Old Could Be Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole if Convicted of First-Degree Murder
Posted on April 01, 2010A judge has ruled that 12-year-old Jordan Brown will be tried as an adult for the first-degree murder of his dad?s pregnant fiancé. If convicted, he would be the youngest American to serve a lifetime in prison without parole. Jordan is accused of using a ...
Investigations Into Massachusetts Bullying Indictments Continue To Spread Guilt
Posted on April 01, 2010People are furious in and out of Massachusetts. The people of Ireland are angry at South Hadley, Massachusetts. The people of South Hadley are ?enraged? at South Hadley High School. District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, daring da from Western Massachusetts, is angry at nine kids...
The Massachusetts Anti-Bullying Law Movement ? A Path To A Criminal Justice Solution?
Posted on March 31, 2010After writing yesterday?s Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, I went back to my daily business of practicing law. Then, I took a look at some of the latest news and commentaries regarding the indictments about which we ?spoke? yesterday as well as the pending legislation regarding bullying...
A Boston Lawyer?s View Of 9 Kids Indicted For Bullying (On Campus And Off) And Statutory Rape In Suicide Case
Posted on March 30, 2010The death of Phoebe Prince, 15, the South Hadley teenager who allegedly took her own life in response to a barrage of bullying (hereinafter, the ?Deceased?) is looming over Massachusetts criminal justice. It has inspired new lawmaking in the legislature and, yesterday, hit the criminal justice system hard...
Nine Teenagers Indicted in Connection with Massachusetts 15-Year-Old?s Bullying Suicide
Posted on March 30, 2010In Massachusetts, nine teenagers have been charged in connection with the death of Phoebe Prince. The 15-year-old was found hanging in her bedroom last January. The teenagers are accused of stalking, harassment, and bullying Prince at South Hadley High School and on Facebook...
United States And Massachusetts Supreme Courts Agree, Drug/Gun Cases Are Overturned And Prosecuting Attorneys Are Worried
Posted on March 29, 2010The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has often warned you that you want to have an experienced criminal defense attorney advise and, if necessary, defend you if you find yourself to be a target or a criminal defendant. I have given you many reasons for this...
Rebecca Riley?s Father is Convicted of Massachusetts First-Degree Murder
Posted on March 28, 2010Yesterday, a Plymouth County jury found Michael Riley, the 37-year-old dad of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley, guilty of her first-degree murder. He is sentenced to life in prison without parole. Per Massachusetts law, the verdict is going to be automatically appealed...
A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer's take on Vehicular Homicide And Very Bad Moments
Posted on March 26, 2010One moment. One very bad moment following a very bad decision. Boston criminal defense attorneys see it every day. That's all it takes to ruin, or even end, innocent lives....as well as guilty ones. It is a lesson that we witness played out on the Commonwealth streets this past Monday...
Kitty Killer Is Arrested On Drug Felonies
Posted on March 25, 2010Some people just can?t keep out of trouble. Allegedly. There are studies, performed both in and out of Massachusetts, that say that there are indicators of some people?s future behavior. For example, some studies indicate that someone who starts out in life torturing and killing animals end up killing people...
Attorney Is Sickened As Former Government Official Is Indicted And Convicted At Boston Federal Court
Posted on March 24, 2010I thought this was an ironic follow-up to Monday?s blog. It involves a former official for the US Department of Homeland Security. She was just convicted in Boston of encouraging her illegal immigrant housekeeper to remain in the country. She is Lorraine H...
Boston?s Logan Airport Is Scene Of Mystery Passenger And Pending Warrant
Posted on March 22, 2010Has anyone else noticed that air travel has become a bit more tense in recent years? Gee, you go to Boston's Logan International Airport and you would think it had been involved in a terrorist act sometime over the past ten years or something! In fact, sometimes you feel you should bring a lawyer along just in case...
Registered Sex Offender Arrested for Alleged Massachusetts Rape of Mentally Challenged Person
Posted on March 20, 2010A 41-year-old registered sex offender has been arrested on charges of Massachusetts indecent assault and battery on a mentally challenged person and rape. Peter J. Duart was jailed on Martha's Vineyard. He is a Level 2 sex offender. This means that Duart has been convicted of a sex crime that makes authorities think that he is in the mid level danger range when it comes to possibly offending again...
Attorney Sam's Take: Three Deaths On Massachusetts Streets In 48 Hours
Posted on March 19, 2010Well, this week has not been particularly good on the streets of Massachusetts. At least three deaths in two days alone! Lots of fodder for lawyers. ?Well, of course not, Sam?, you tell me. It was raining to almost biblical proportions!? Yes, well that ended on Monday...
Massachusetts Dentist Indicted After 8 Year Investigation For Assualt And Fraud
Posted on March 17, 2010Here?s a twist on the old saying, ?it?s like pulling teeth!? A former Massachusetts dentist will now need a criminal defense attorney to defend against charges of ?clipping? teeth.. I am referring to Michael C., 51, a dentist formerly of Fall River, but now of Maryland (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?)...
Scooby Doo Named In Ongoing Boston-Area Drug Investigation - Experienced Defense Attorney Needed
Posted on March 16, 2010I live in the Boston area and, as I have mentioned from time to time, have kids. When I am not ?fighting the good fight?, I try to spend some time with them. In this day and age, that will include some television. One of the shows we watch actually began when I was a kid?Scooby Doo...
Boston Baby?s Death Brings Murder Charges And Jail To Senior MIT Staffer
Posted on March 15, 2010?Sam?.what gives? You tell us that the next day?s Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog is going to be an unhappy one and then you disappear for the rest of the week? You call this ?daily????? I know, I know?sorry about that. Sometimes my responsibilities to my clients necessitate my irregular definition of the term ?daily?...
Middle School Teacher Turns Herself In after Sexual Relationship with Male Student
Posted on March 12, 2010A 33-year-old middle school teacher who says she had sex with a student has turned herself in to authorities. Amy Beck is charged with one count of oral copulation with a person under 16 and four counts of unlawful sex with a person under 16. Beck, a David Starr Jordan Middle School teacher, says she and 14-year-old student were sexually involved with each other from March to September 2009...
Boston Attorney General Indicts RMV Clerk For White Collar Crimes
Posted on March 09, 2010Yesterday, I had to go to a local Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Now, I am a lawyer. I have some idea of how some of these things should work. I am also somewhat knowledgeable about the system, bureaucracy and red tape, including how simple things can be made very unsimple...
Grand Jury Investigation Into Past Boston Sexual Assault Underscores Need For Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney?Quick!
Posted on March 08, 2010Lest you think that Amy Bishop is the only person being haunted by Ghosts of Boston-Area Criminal Allegations Past, let me discuss with you the case of Bob O. (hereinafter, the ?Target?). Suddenly, the Target needs a lawyer. A good one. An experienced one...
NFL Football Player Ben Roethlisberger Accused of Sexual Assault
Posted on March 06, 2010A second woman is now accusing Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of sexual assault. The alleged incident is said to have occurred at a Georgia nightclub early Friday morning close to where the NFL player owns a home. The football player and the alleged victim had been socializing with the same groups of people that evening...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Boston Federal Prosecution For Embezzlement Exemplifies Need For Experienced Criminal Defense Attorneys
Posted on March 05, 2010More bad choices in the Boston area. Another defendant who needed a lawyer. And now?another statistic. one more white collar conviction. Richard W., 42 (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) apparently worked as a practice assistant in the ear, nose and throat department of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center...
Boston-Area Parking Violation Results In Felony Assault With Weapon Charge
Posted on March 04, 2010Did you know that the Boston Criminal Law Blog is the number one read criminal law blog in Massachusetts? Thanks for that, by the way. Well, it looks like we need to tell our neighbors in Rhode Island about it too. After all, I began this week warning you about keeping your cool during?heated?situations...
Massachusetts Strip Club Said To Be Scene Of Disorderly Conduct And Assault & Battery On Police Officers
Posted on March 01, 2010Well, the Boston Criminal Law Blog is likely to a be a bit shorter this week as we prepare for major battle in the criminal justice trenches later this week. There is always time, though, to remind you that, even in the times of hottest temper, it pays to keep your cool...
Amy Bishop?s Parents Maintain that Fatal 1986 Massachusetts Shooting of Her Brother was an Accident
Posted on February 28, 2010Amy Bishop?s parents say that they will cooperate in the judicial inquest into the 1986 Braintree, Massachusetts fatal shooting of their son. However, they are adamant that Bishop shot him accidentally. Bishop, a 45-year-old University of Alabama Biology professor, is now charged with the fatal shooting deaths of three university staff members on February 12...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Massachusetts Campus Crime Report Seems To Contend That Sexual Assault Is Now ?Acceptable? In College
Posted on February 26, 2010Here is another arena in the Boston area where the hysterical cry of the Lawenorder Bird calls, ?Softoncrime! Softoncrime!? The bird, considered a symbol of justice to some is seen as a predatory bird by others. Criminal defense attorneys for example...
Assault, License Loss And OUI Charges Apparently Not Enough For Alleged Armed Carjacker
Posted on February 25, 2010Today, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog points out that there really can be ?heroes? as well as ?villains? in today?s modern, if not skeptical, age. It seems to also be a story of a suspect's alleged consistency. It was this past Monday. It began when a 34-year-old woman parked her Acura SUV at the Dock Square garage in the North End...
Massachusetts Kidnapper Faces Charges In Federal And Two State Courts
Posted on February 24, 2010Message from a Boston criminal defense attorney to Ms. Kimberly J., 38 (hereinafter, the :Defendant?) ? it is not as bad as you think. It is actually worse. The Defendant had been wanted by Massachusetts law enforcement in the alleged kidnapping Thursday of her half-sister?s one-year-old daughter...
Former NBA Player Jayson Williams Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Limo Driver?s Shooting Death
Posted on February 24, 2010Jayson Williams, the former New Jersey Nets player, has been sentenced to a five-year prison term for charges related to his covering up of the fatal shooting of Costas ?Gus? Christofi, a limo driver that he had hired. Williams accidentally shot the 55-year-old driver on February 14, 2002...
Massachusetts Vehicular Crimes Increase Penalties During Police Car Chases ? Take It From A Boston Defense Attorney
Posted on February 23, 2010Well, it has been awhile since the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog covered one of these. It just goes to show that with all the mkhigh profile cases like those of a certain never-to-be-tenured professor's alleged homicides, the Kerrigan family woes and assorted homicides we have been discussing lately, poor judgment is also demonstrated in the actual streets of the Commonwealth ...
Teen Charged in Hyannis Double Shooting Wasn?t Convincingly Identified, Says Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer
Posted on February 20, 201019-year-old Browning Mejia?s Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer is arguing that his client should never have been indicted over a January 15, 2009 shooting in Hyannis. The attorney claims that witnesses did not convincingly identify the teen. Mejia is accused of being one of two masked persons to shoot a parked car whose occupants were allegedly there to purchase drugs from him...
Boston Ghosts Of Criminal Past Continue To Haunt Prof. Amy Bishop, Now Accused Of Murders By Firearm
Posted on February 18, 2010It would appear that the people of the Boston area dodged the proverbial bullet when Professor Amy Bishop (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) moved out of state. According to Alabama law enforcement, co-faculty members were not so lucky. The Defendant stands accused at the moment of gunning down said members at a faculty meeting whereat it was revealed that she was not going to get tenure...
Former Boston Professor, Now Multiple Homicide Suspect, Is Linked To Previous Shooting And Bombing
Posted on February 16, 2010Have you heard the one about the professor who is accused of killing three colleagues at the University of Alabama on Friday? They say that Amy B., 44, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) had been a professor there since 2003. But did you know that she had come from Boston where she had other...
Biology Professor Charged in Fatal Shootings of University of Alabama Professors
Posted on February 14, 2010Amy Bishop Anderson, a University of Alabama biology professor, is charged with one count of capital murder in the deaths of two other professors and one professor?s assistant. Three other people, a staff member and two faculty members, were injured. The shooting happened on campus on Friday at around 4pm during a biology department meeting...
Attorney Sam?s Take: The Kerrigan Case ? Boston?s Latest Confrontation Between Homicide Prosecution And Human Emotion
Posted on February 12, 2010The Kerrigan family may have you alittle confused. The Boston Medical Examiner?s office says that the father (hereinafter, the ?Deceased?) died because of an assault by the brother (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?). The rest of the family is praising what a fantastic role model the Deceased was, but are standing by the Defendant...
Larceny Suspect From Boston Municipal Court Is Indicted On Fraud Charges
Posted on February 11, 2010George P., a 48-year-old man from Medford, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?), has been indicted by a Suffolk County Grand Jury in Boston. This means that if he has a court-appointed lawyer, he or she had best be ?superior court certified?. Somehow, though, given the charges...
Kerrigan Massachusetts Assault Ruled A Homicide
Posted on February 10, 2010Was it a surprise to you? The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog anticipated it just after the event and explained that it was likely to happen. The news is that,the cause of death of the 70-year-old father of Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan (hereinafter, the ?Deceased?) is being ruled a homicide...
Massachusetts Student Needs Experienced Lawyer In Assault Of Wall Case
Posted on February 08, 2010Last week, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog discussed cases involving assaults of various natures. Some involved drugs. Some involved the ultimate assault... homicide. This week, we begin with assault of a different kind. Here, no person was assaulted...
Michael Jackson?s Doctor Pleads Not Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter in Singer?s Death
Posted on February 08, 2010Conrad Murray, the personal physician of Michael Jackson, pleaded not guilty to a single felony charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of the famous performer. Bail was set at $75,000?three times more than the amount faced by most people who are charged with involuntary manslaughter...
Middlesex Superior Court Grand Jury Indicts Two Former Medford Soccer Coaches on Child Rape Charges
Posted on February 06, 2010A Middlesex Superior Court Grand Jury indicted Roger Lau and Thomas Heinz, both 26, on child rape charges yesterday. They are accused of raping the same girl. Prosecutors say that both men assaulted a girl from the under-14 Medford girls soccer league that they were coaching...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Does Michael Jackson Homicide Doc Read The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog?
Posted on February 05, 2010The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has regularly suggested how an experienced defense attorney can help you if there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest. It may be that Dr. Conrad Murray,( hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) the doctor who administered the fatal dose of Propofol to Michael Jackson and now is to face homicide charges is a reader! Well, if not, at least he is being similarly advised...
Massachusetts Gang Violence Results In Murder Conviction In Shooting Of Police Officer
Posted on February 04, 2010Gang violence in the Boston area. The battles are played out in the streets by gang members, law enforcement and innocent bystanders as well as the Commonwealth?s courtrooms with lawyers and judges. The homicide victim this time was a Revere Police Officer Daniel T (hereinafter, the ?Deceased?)...
Massachusetts High School Student Arrested For Assaulting Teacher And Intent To Sell Drugs
Posted on February 02, 2010It is not terribly unusual to hear about a case in which a student is accused of getting into a fight with another student. However, a Newton high school student has now been charged with Massachusetts assault and battery against someone else...a teacher...
Acquitted Of Murder In Boston, Shooting Suspect Needs Another Defense Attorney
Posted on February 01, 2010Kyle B., 28, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is in trouble again. Criminal Justice trouble. Massachusetts Murder trouble. The Defendant was arrested in Brockton Saturday and charged with the murder of a man outside of a local restaurant on January 5th...
Three People Arrested in Massachusetts ATM Theft Scam
Posted on January 30, 2010Police have arrested three men over their alleged involvement in a Massachusetts ATM theft scam. Ivaylo Hristov, Anton Venkov, and Vladislav Vladev are accused of being part of a fraud ring that allegedly has stolen, according to Quincy police, hundreds of thousands of dollars from numerous victims in the Greater Boston Area...
Massachusetts Murder ? By ? Drugs Trial Continues
Posted on January 28, 2010And so the trial of assumption and innuendo (at least, so far) continues in Brockton, Massachusetts. Attorneys battle it out as jurors hear different observations of the home of Carolyn R. (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) and the various family members...
Kerrigan And Attorney Await Results Of Massacusetts Grand Jury
Posted on January 27, 2010I know you?ve heard the story by now. Massachusetts is in the news again due to a celebrity crime story. This time, the celebrity, Nancy Kerrigan, isn?t really part of the story. But the rest of the family is. Mark Kerrigan, Nancy?s 45-year-old brother (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) has been accused of causing the death of their father, Daniel (hereinafter, ?Dad?)...
Massachusetts Homicide Charges Result From Restraining Order Violations
Posted on January 26, 2010Arraignments do not always take place in the courtroom, as Robert G., 19,(hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) learned yesterday. He was arraigned in a Worcester hospital bed on charges of killing his ex-girlfriend, 19-year-old Allison M. (hereinafter, the ?Deceased?)...
Brother of Nancy Kerrigan is Charged with Massachusetts Assault in Death of Their Father
Posted on January 26, 2010Mark Kerrigan, the brother of Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, has been charged with assaulting their father Daniel Kerrigan. The 70-year-old was found unresponsive on Sunday morning in his Stoneham residence following an argument between the two men...
Massachusetts Appeals Court Hears New trial Motion In Murder case
Posted on January 25, 2010The Massachusetts Appeals Court will be conducting a hearing on February 10th to determine whether a new trial should be granted to Corey R. (hereinafter,the ?Defendant?) for the 2001 killing of a school counselor, the Reverend Theodore N. Brown. This time, it is the prosecuting attorney who is pursuing the appeal...
Carolyn Riley?s Massachusetts Murder Trial Underway in Plymouth Superior Court
Posted on January 23, 2010The criminal trial of Carolyn Riley, who is charged with the overdose murder of her 4-year-old daughter Rebecca, is underway in Plymouth Superior Court. While the prosecutor is depicting Carolyn as someone who refused to get her daughter medical help after overdosing her with clonidine in an attempt to get Social Security disability pay, her defense attorney argues that Carolyn is a concerned mother who gave her daughter medicine, as prescribed by a doctor, to treat her bipolar disorder...
Attorney Sam?s Take: A Massachusetts Murder Trial. A Little Girl Is Dead. Attorneys Take Note!
Posted on January 22, 2010You know, sometimes a criminal defense attorney cannot help but get mad. For example, when a client whom the attorney is absolutely sure is innocent of charges is found guilty of them anyway, I get angry. Or cases wherein one of the many unfairness?s that are built into the criminal justice system raise their ugly heads, my passion is inflamed...
The Search And Seizure Of Two Massachusetts Drug Suspects (Part Three)
Posted on January 21, 2010For the last two days, the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog looked at two recent matters wherein Massachusetts defendants were stopped by law enforcement in their vehicles, wherein drugs were found. During the investigations, sometimes more drugs were found at various locations?sometimes it was a href="http://criminal...
The Search And Seizure Of Two Massachusetts Drug Suspects (Part Two)
Posted on January 20, 2010Yesterday, we began our examination of the arrest and sentencing of a Geraldo S., 32 of Marblehead (hereinafter, ?Defendant 1?). He recently pled guilty in a Massachusetts superior court and received a ten year sentence. We were looking at the story from a search and seizure angle...
The Search And Seizure Of A Marblehead Drug Suspect (Part One)
Posted on January 19, 2010While the rest of us were celebrating freedoms that are the legacy of heroes like the late Dr. Martin Luther King yesterday, one gentleman from the North of Boston was adjusting to the trade of his need of a defense attorney for a ten year term of imprisonment in Massachusetts prison...
Massachusetts Doctor Charged with Health Care Fraud
Posted on January 17, 2010In Boston on Thursday, Massachusetts Dr. Scott Reuben was charged with one count of health care fraud. Reuben used to serve as the chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center. Reuben has agreed to plead guilty and pay $420,000 in restitution. According to federal court records, the Longmeadow physician falsified medical research...
Lynn Suspect in 2000 Massachusetts Sex Crime Case Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Rape of Minor Charge
Posted on January 15, 2010A 41-year-old man who has been on Lynn authorities' 10 Most Wanted List for allegedly trying to rape a 13-year-old girl a decade ago has pleaded not guilty to charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14 and assault with intent to rape a child...
Attorney Sam's Take - How You Resolve Your Gun, Drug Or Assault Case In Massachusetts
Posted on January 15, 2010Ok, so you have gotten over the shock of being charged with a crime. You have gone to court in Boston a couple of times for a couple of court dates that feel accomplished nothing. Finally, you ask your attorney when this will all end. You get that sad but true answer??it depends?...
Boston AG Is Accused Of Mishandling Grand Jury Investigation And Bail Issues In Rape Case
Posted on January 14, 2010The game of politics is afoot again in the Boston area! This means that, as the race for the late Senator Kennedy?s seat comes to the wire, it is time for whatever mud can be thrown upon one?s opponent . Often, the accusations involve the criminal justice system...
Massachusetts Traffic Stop Becomes Fourth Assault And Battery Claim Against One Police Officer
Posted on January 12, 2010Today we discuss yet another tale wherein Massachusetts law enforcement officials are in need of a criminal defense attorney. It involves recent accusations against four such officers and an event arising out of a suspected racially motivated apprehension from this past November...
Juvenile Crime: Second Minor Pleads Guilty to Attack of 13-Year-Old Girl Shown on YouTube
Posted on January 09, 2010Another teenager has pleaded guilty to charges she attacked a 13-year-old girl. The assault was shot on video and posted on YouTube. Footage shows two girls shouting at and hitting another teen while other students stand by, cheering and laughing. The attack was allegedly planned in advance...
Massachusetts law enforcement official pleads guilty in federal white collar investigation
Posted on January 07, 2010For those of you who still hold fast to the fantasy that law enforcement never lies, prepare for a shock. Of course, this case does not feature law enforcement lying to convict a defendant. Instead, it is a Massachusetts law enforcement official lying to federal law enforcement who needs a criminal defense attorney...
Leaving The Scene Of An Accident In Massachusetts Brings The Need Of An Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney For Firefighter And Student
Posted on January 06, 2010You are driving around on a wintery Massachusetts night, maybe after a couple of drinks that you are sure did not effect you. All of a sudden there is a large bumping feeling and a sound that tells you that you have hit something. The temptation is to put the problem, whatever it may be, behind you and to get out of there fast...
Attorney Sam?s Take: You Have To Go To Massachusetts Court Tomorrow ; You Have Been Indicted (Part Three)
Posted on January 05, 2010Last week, we discussed two scenarios whereby you received a compulsory invitation to attend the Boston Municipal Court to answer charges for a variety of potential charges, including assault, drugs and OUI. Now, however, the matter has been raised to another level...
Following Charlie Sheen?s Arrest for Alleged Domestic Violence, Wife Brooke Mueller Wants Restraining Order Against Him Modified
Posted on December 31, 2009Brooke Mueller, the wife of actor Charlie Sheen, is seeking to have the restraining order against her husband modified. According to TMZ.com, she wants a judge to allow the two of them to be able to contact each other so they can work on the problems in their marriage...
Attorney Sam?s Take: You Have To Go To Massachusetts Court Tomorrow For That Assault Case (Part Two)
Posted on December 29, 2009So, yesterday, you weighed your options and you decided to follow the advice of the Boston Police Department rather than ol? Attorney Sam in dealing with the Clerk Magistrate?s Hearing. You just ambled in on your own, gave it your best shot, and walked out with a date to return to court for an arraignment...
Attorney Sam?s Take: You Have To Go To Court Tomorrow For That OUI Or Assault Case (Part One)
Posted on December 28, 2009You live in Boston. You arer relaxing at home, watching the children play with their new Christmas gifts before they break them. It is a Norman Rockwell scene?except for one tiny detail. You suddenly remember that invitation (summons) you received last week to witness Massachusetts jurisprudence (court) in action...
The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Previews Week Of Drugs, Arson and Arrests
Posted on December 24, 2009Due to the holiday season, and accompanying "end of year crunch" with emergency hearings and other court dates, the otherwise (mostly) daily schedule of the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog is being interrupted this and next week. However, we will be back in our daily format after the new year...
Parents of Balloon Boy Receive Jail Sentences for Media Hoax
Posted on December 24, 2009Richard and Mayumi Heene received their sentences for their roles in the balloon hoax involving their six-year-old son Falcon. Both of them pleaded guilty last month to criminal charges. Mayumi pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of knowingly filing a false report with emergency services and Richard pleaded guilty to a felony charge of knowingly and falsely attempting to influence a public servant...
East Boston Reacts To Federal Indictments And Bail Hearing In Drug Case
Posted on December 22, 2009A Boston federal drug case is keeping lawyers and politicians on their feet. Yesterday, there was a detention hearing for Lawrence T., 51, of wakefield (hereinafter, ?Defendant 1?). He stands accused of illegal sale of OxyContin. Defendant 1 has a co-defendant, John F...
On Massachusetts Probation, Child Rape Suspect Is Arrested For Second Sexual Assault While Out On Bail
Posted on December 21, 2009Okay, here is the unfortunate truth of the matter ? safeguarding Constitutional rights does not always bring happy results. Sometimes the cost is tragic. Most of the professionals involved in the criminal justice understand that. Massachusetts Kingston Police Chief Joseph Rebello is not one of those professionals apparently...
Tales Of Robbery, Rape And Drugs Will Return
Posted on December 18, 2009Dear readers, As you may have noticed, this daily criminal law blog has been rather sparse this week. this has been due to a conspiracy between court dates and internet failures. However, the Bostoncriminallawyerblog will return in full swing on Monday...
Former New Bedford Teacher is Not Guilty of Child Rape, Says Massachusetts Jury
Posted on December 16, 2009A jury has found Michael D. Holden, a former Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School teacher, not guilty of two counts of forcible rape of a child. The alleged victim, who is now 20-years-old, had accused Holden of driving her to a parking lot, and, while in his SUV, forcing her to have sex and perform oral sex on him in 2004...
Boston Drug-Trafficker Is Arrested On Outstanding Warrants And New Weapons + Forgery Charges
Posted on December 15, 2009Some folks in Boston will go to great lengths to avoid contacting a criminal defense attorney! Take the case of 36-year-old Francis V. (hereinafter the ?Defendant?) for example. He wanted to avoid court so much he chose self-mutilation over consulting an experienced defense attorney...
Attorney Sam?s Take: MA Rape, Robbery Or Assault Charges ? When To Talk To Police
Posted on December 14, 2009?Look, you seem like a good kid. Boston needs more people out there like you?productive citizens. I have no interest in jamming you up. Just tell me your side of things and I will talk to the District Attorney and see what we can work out.? You would be surprised how comforting those words seem when coming from the police officer who has you in the little room at the local police station talking about that nasty-sounding murder that everyone is upset about...
Couple Accused of Running Massachusetts Prostitution Parlor
Posted on December 12, 2009A couple has been arrested for allegedly owning and operating a prostitution parlor in Tyngsboro. Yuanchun Pi, 60, and Charles Stewart, 66, each face one count of maintaining a house of prostitution. Pi also is charged with one count of engaging in sexual conduct for a fee...
Attorney Sam?s Take: MA Default ? Bench Warrant And Arrest Warrant: What Is The Difference?
Posted on December 11, 2009Although it seems like the beginning of a horror novel, you know the scene pretty well by now. You are in your Massachusetts home in the evening just relaxing, watching reruns of Boston Legal. The knock come on the door and it is the police. Before you know it, someone from the home is dragged out the door wearing the Commonwealth Bracelets of Shame...
Whether For Assault, OUI or Any Kind Of Criminal Matter, An Outstanding MA Warrant Means Quick Jail Time- How A Lawyer Can Help
Posted on December 10, 2009It was 6:10pm of December first and Joshua S., 32, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) may have expected it was dinner-time. It wasn?t. It was arrest-on-outstanding-warrant and meet-your-lawyer-time. The Defendant, it seems, was found in the basement of a home when the Gloucester police showed up and found him...
Ex-Westboro Teacher and Coach Pleads Guilty to Massachusetts Possession of Child Pornography Charge
Posted on December 09, 2009A former Westboro middle school gym teacher and girls basketball coach is facing up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to one Massachusetts possession of pornography criminal charge. Brian Rossi, 37, was arrested last February after images of kids taking part in sexually explicit activities were discovered in his home during a search...
MA TEEN CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR ASSAULT ON BOSTON COLLEGE STUDENT HELD ON BAIL
Posted on December 08, 2009Bethany P., 21, of Londonderry, N.H. (hereinafter, the ?Victim?) will not be returning to her Boston College senior class this week. You see, she met up with a Weston lad?s SUV this weekend. The lad was allegedly Benjamin K., an 18 year old gentleman (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) who the Commonwealth claims was driving drunk...
Probation Official, Charged with Felony Larceny, Makes Incriminating Statements To Investigators
Posted on December 07, 2009...And once again we are reminded of this year?s movie The Watchmen, where the catchphrase was ?Who watches the Watchmen?? The setting is Boston?s northern neighbor, Salem, Massachusetts. The person is Marie M., 38, a former accounting clerk of Lawrence's Probation Department (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?)...
Lawrence Clerk Pleads Not Guilty to Massachusetts Larceny Charge Stemming from $2 Million Embezzlement Scheme
Posted on December 05, 2009Marie Morey, a Lawrence courthouse accounting clerk, has pled guilty to charges of larceny of property over $250 and filing/publishing a false written report. The 38-year-old woman is accused of developing and running an embezzlement scam that allowed her to steal over $2 million from the Lawrence probation department...
Boston District Attorney Celebrates Drug Defendant's Guilty Plea
Posted on December 03, 2009Well, it?s nice to see the Suffolk County District Attorney?s Office having a good time. Of course, Demetrius E., 27 of Dorchester (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) might not be laughing, though, should he read their recent press release celebrating his guilty plea in Boston?s Superior Court...
The Lesson Of The Tiger Woods Criminal Investigation? When Not To Talk To The Police
Posted on December 02, 2009Boston, along with the rest of the country, has been watching the events unfold in the Tiger Woods automobile accident matter. While the participants took turns not talking (law enforcement would not talk to the press and Tiger would not talk to anyone), I have been reminded of one of the most important lessons I learned many years ago as a young assistant district attorney...
Massachusetts Assault And Robbery Lead To Arrest For White Collar Crime And Possible Federal Prosecution
Posted on December 01, 2009Recovery from a long weekend, such as the Thanksgiving weekend we have just enjoyed, can mean different things to different people. For me, for example, it meant waking up yesterday not being able to get online and so not posting my blog (sorry about that, by the way)...
High School Football Player Pleads Not Guilty to Massachusetts Assault and Battery Charge for Head-Butting Opponent
Posted on November 30, 2009James LaShoto, a 17-year-old football player for Arlington High School, has pleaded not guilty to a Massachusetts assault and battery charge for head-butting Daniel Curtin, an Abington High School player during a September 19 game. He entered his plea last week in Cambridge District Court before being released on personal recognizance...
Massachusetts Police Officer Is On Trial For Assault and Battery With A Deadly Weapon
Posted on November 25, 2009Sometimes the memories of Thanksgivings past are ones you might prefer to forget. Take a particular North Adams police officer who was testifying at a criminal trial-his own, side by side with his criminal defense attorney. The events at issue took place last Thanksgiving...
Boston Doctor Held in Child Sex Ring Case
Posted on November 25, 2009Dr. John Mark Felton, a vice president of Acambis Inc., a Cambridge vaccine development company, is scheduled to be arraigned today. He is accused of traveling to Alaska to take part in a child sex ring. Felton is accused of intending to have sex with a 6?year-old boy in a tryst that had been arranged by the minor?s father...
Boston-Born Shooting Victim Becomes Homicide Casualty Of Street Crime
Posted on November 24, 2009There is a tragic scene taking place in north of Boston city of Lynn. It is playing out on the Victim side of the criminal justice equation. It will also likely mean bad news for a particular assailant when it is time for arrest and attorney- life without parole type of bad news...
Massachusetts Student Faces Both Misdemeanor And Felony Charges Stemming From Hit And Run Case
Posted on November 23, 2009Bruce Springsteen wrote a song claiming that ?Summer is here and the time is right for racing in the street?. Well, it is not summer and the time certainly isn?t right for street speeding. The lesson, however, is a little late in the learning for 17-year-old Michelle M...
A Night Out In Boston Results In Charges Of Rape, Attempted Murder And The Need For A Lawyer
Posted on November 19, 2009Chris W., a 22-year-old Hanson man (hereinafter referred to as the ?Defendant?) spent some time in court this week and undoubtedly got to meet a nice new criminal defense attorney. The visit was occasioned by some pretty serious felony charges. You see, apparently the Defendant and a young lady (hereinafter, the ?Complainant?) went to Boston Saturday night...
Woman Charged with Kidnapping Elizabeth Smart Pleads Guilty and Says Sorry
Posted on November 19, 2009Wanda Eileen Barzee, the woman charged with kidnapping teenager Elizabeth Smart in 2002, has pleaded guilty to federal charges of unlawful transportation of a minor and kidnapping. The 64-year-old says she will plead guilty to state charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping...
Charged With Embezzlement, Massachusetts Official Faces Felony Charges Of Larceny
Posted on November 18, 2009Joseph L., 43, of Derry, New Hampshire, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) was once a happy and successful man. A father of five, he built himself up from obscurity in Brockton to the purchasing director for North Andover, Massachusetts. Now, divorced and placed on leave, he is in need of a criminal defense attorney...
Boston-Area Prostitution Sting Endangers Child Custody As Well As Liberty
Posted on November 17, 2009On November 6, 2009, Cambridge police officers undertook an expertly planned and brilliantly executed sting operation despite the obvious danger. Their bravery and expertise paid off. Now, the streets are safer as a result of the four resulting arrests...
Lawrence Jury Finds Murder Defendant Guilty Despite Self-Defense Claim
Posted on November 16, 200919-year-old Lynn man Walter C. (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) faced Justice last week, attorney by his side, in Lawrence Superior Court. The verdict was guilty. The sentence was life in state prison. The charge was second-degree murder taking place in August, 2008...
Sixth Family Members Arrested for Child Sex Abuse
Posted on November 14, 2009Six family members have been arrested in connection with a child sex abuse investigation involving at least six alleged victims. The men who were arrested are Mohler brothers Burrell Edward, 53, David, 52, Jared Leroy, 48, and Roland Neil, 47, their 77-year-old father Burrell Edward Mohler, Sr...
Boston Criminal Lawyer Leaves Murder, Rape And Robbery Behind In Commonwealth
Posted on November 13, 2009Attorney Sam has left the Commonwealth today on a pending matter and so regrets to inform you that the weekly :Attorney Sam's Take will not be posted today. Both he, and it, will be back on Monday. In the meantime, have a good, safe and law-abiding weekend!
Theft Of Hot Dog Leads To Armed Robbery Charges And Plea Hearing
Posted on September 29, 2009Yesterday, as you may know, was the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. It is known as a day of atonement and many Jews, including this one, fast during the holiday. Perhaps it was because of the day?s lack of food that brought my attention to this particular news story...
Roman Polanski Says He Will Fight US Extradition for Sex with a Minor Charge
Posted on September 29, 2009Renowned film director Roman Polanski says he intends to fight efforts to extradite him to the United States on charges that he had sex with a minor in 1977. The 76-year-old filmmaker was apprehended in Switzerland last Saturday where he had arrived to accept a lifetime achievement award that the Zurich Film Festival was going to bestow upon him...
Drug Charges In Boston ? Can You Be At Risk?
Posted on September 25, 2009There are still many people out there in Boston and environs who think that it is possible to be ?arrest proof?. ?After all?, they reason, if I do not commit a crime, I have nothing to worry about, right?? Let an experienced attorney tell you?wrong...
13-Year-Old Newton Boy Facing Massachusetts Juvenile Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon Charges Over BB Gun Shooting at Middle School
Posted on September 24, 2009In Waltham District Court, Police have filed a complaint against a 13-year-old who is accused of shooting four students with a BB gun. The shooting incident happened in Newton, Massachusetts on Friday afternoon at the F.A. Day Middle School. The teenager faces four juvenile counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon...
Federal Investigation Targets Local Police Department, The Source Facing Charges Of Drugs And Violence
Posted on September 24, 2009The first signs of the investigation came several weeks ago. The FBI showed up at a local social club in Stoughton and surprised members by pulling two flat-screened televisions from the wall, checking the serial numbers on the back, and then taking them away...
High Bail Set ForHome Invaision Defendant Facing Assault, Kidnapping and Driving Charges In Two States
Posted on September 23, 2009John K.,27, of Malden (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is going to have to come up with a lot of money if he wants to go home?unless his lawyer puts in for a bail appeal. Last week, the Taunton District Court judge ordered that be held on $500,000 bail on charges stemming from a Rehoboth home invasion last week...
Boston Arrested Firefighter Acquitted Of Assaulting Police
Posted on September 22, 2009A recent Boston courtroom battle that hosted various law-enforcement characters, both past and present, has come to an end. When the jury returned, the verdict was ?Not Guilty?. Wayne A., (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) was a firefighter on trial for assaulting police officers in 2008...
Appeal Of An Infamous Rape Conviction In Boston's Supreme Judicial Court
Posted on September 21, 2009Paul Shanley, 78, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is a defrocked priest who was sentenced in 2005 to 12 to 15 years for raping a 6-year-old boy in a Boston suburb parish in the 1980s. Now, his attorneys are challenging the conviction. Most of the testimony by the complainant against the Defendant was said to be based on previously repressed memories...
Hofstra Gang Rape Victim Admits Sexual Encounter was Consensual
Posted on September 17, 2009Police say that the 18-year-old Hofstra University student who says she was gang raped by five men in a campus dorm has admitted that the sex was consensual. The four men who were arrested and each charged with five counts of first-degree rape are to be released from police custody...
Massachusetts Dad arrested for Domestic Drugging
Posted on September 17, 2009A gentleman from Plymouth began his week on Monday behind bars, looking for a criminal defense attorney. He stands charged with performing the type of deed that has been in the news lately connected to the death of pop icon Michael Jackson. Sean D. (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is now being held without bail...
Six Massachusetts Boys Who Pleaded Not Guilty to Beating Guatemalan Immigrant Could End Up in Department of Youth Services
Posted on September 16, 2009The parents of three of the six boys charged with severely beating a 30-year-old Guatemalan illegal immigrant are appealing school suspensions that have been imposed on their kids over the alleged Massachusetts assault incident. In Massachusetts, school principals are allowed to suspend a student who has been charged with a felony crime...
Apologetic Knife-Wielding New Yorker Arrested For Assault With A Dangerous Weapon
Posted on September 15, 2009You know, sometimes it just does not pay to have a conscience! I mean, some Commonwealths just cannot accept an apology without forcing you to get a lawyer. Take, for example, the case of 31-year-old Juan C., a New York gentleman (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?)...
Boston Law Student And Friends Are Arrested For Assault And Disorderly Conduct
Posted on September 14, 2009Beth G., 23, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) simply got confused. It can happen when academic pressures mount up. After all, she had been inundated with the legal system of the United States. Now, due to said confusion, she is about to get a first-hand lesson on Boston Criminal Justice...
Arrested For Armed Robbery Outside Boston, The Accused Has No Gun
Posted on September 11, 200923-year-old Michael R, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) had a bad time of it in Cambridge last night. According to the Commonwealth, he was involved in a robbery, before which he fired his gun off. It was an interesting approach, for which he has earned his place in the Boston-area blog and a lawyer...
Attorney Sam's Take: Can The Beatles Get You Arrested For Domestic Violence Or Other Crimes?
Posted on September 10, 2009First of all, allow me to establish that I am an ardent Beatles fan. Second, let me confess that I have been imbedded in the criminal justice system for about a quarter of a century. As such, there is a certain type of ?ear? that I have developed over the years to pick up criminal-justice-related tidbits...
Murder Suspect Arrested On Multiple Charges Involving Assault And Battery With A Dangerous Weapon
Posted on September 09, 2009This past weekend was a bad one for 20-year-old Vernon C. of New Bedford (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?). He was arrested on Sunday and charged with multiple felony charges which have brought him incarceration and a lawyer. According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant was at a party late Friday night when he demanded a chain necklace from one of his fellow party-goers...
Child Pornography Arrest To End In Guilty Plea In Boston Federal Court
Posted on September 08, 2009Yesterday?s Boston Herald signaled the end to the saga of former sportscaster Bob Gamere?s (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) in federal court which was co-hosted by federal prosecuting attorneys. Apparently, he is expected to plead guilty to child pornography charges...
San Diego Chargers Linebacker Shawne Merriman Arrested During Alleged Domestic Violence Dispute with Girlfriend Tila Tequila
Posted on September 07, 2009The criminal defense attorney for Shawne Merriman, the star linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, says that the domestic violence allegations against his client are unmerited. Merriman, 25, was arrested early yesterday on suspicion of restraining and choking Tila Tequila, the former MTV star of the popular reality dating series "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila...
Allston Man Pleads Not Guilty to Aggravated Rape and Assault & Battery of 66-Year Old Woman
Posted on September 05, 2009In Suffolk County, an Allston man has been arrested for beating and raping a 66-year-old woman. Jose Sariano Gonzales pleaded not guilty to the charges of rape, resisting arrest, and the assault and battery of a victim over 65. The 20-year-old is also accused of punching the woman in the neck and face and obtaining stolen property...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Arrest for Burglary / Arrested for Robbery ? What?s The Difference?
Posted on September 03, 2009The are many theft-related crimes for which one can get arrested in the Boston area. Among the most serious are those of Robbery and Burglary. Both are generally regarded as crimes of violence. Both carry heavy potential prison terms. For both, you had best get an experienced criminal defense attorney to help you at the first possible moment...
Follow up Blog on Quincy man charged with killing girlfriend in domestic violence rage
Posted on September 02, 2009On Monday, we began the week discussing a case out of Quincy in which we had a dead woman discovered on Saturday and a man arrested in connection therewith the same day. We talked about it being a potential domestic violence matter and it became a general posting about homicide investigations and the need to get an attorney right away...
Computer Hacker Pleads Guilty To Credit Card Fraud In Federal Court
Posted on September 01, 2009Albert G., the 28-year-old gentleman from Miami (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) who had been charged with being a computer hacker agreed to plead guilty in Boston's federal court last week. His attorney, however, still disagrees with prosecutors about his role in the hacking...
Homicide Arrest In Boston-Area May Be A Domestic Violence Matter
Posted on August 31, 2009August 29th was my birthday; never mind which one. So, when it came time to write today?s blog, I decided to see how my fellow Bostonians had celebrated the day and find out if anyone used the occasion to produce the need for an experienced criminal defense attorney...
Jaycee Lee Dugard Kidnapping: Husband and Wife Plead Not Guilty to 29 Felony Counts, Including Forcible Rape, Kidnapping Someone Under Age 14, and Kidnapping for Sexual Purposes
Posted on August 29, 2009In court on Friday, registered sex offender Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy pleaded not guilty to 29 felony charges in the kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard. Dugard was just 11 when the couple abducted her in 1991 while she was walking to her school bus stop...
Attorney Sam's Take: Arrest For Domestic Violence In Boston
Posted on August 27, 2009Earlier in the week, I began a blog posting reminding you that, although you may think it could never happen, the criminal justice finger of accusation can suddenly arrive at your doorstep. This is true anywhere in the country. It is certainly true here in Boston where the dial of a cell phone can easily result in the need for a lawyer...
Suspect Driving With Suspended License Arrested After Leaving The Scene Of An Accident
Posted on August 26, 2009It?s been awhile since the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog reviewed a story about a high speed chase. Today we discuss a racer who recently tried his luck against law enforcement. He won the runner ? up prize; namely, the need for a criminal defense attorney...
Singer Chris Brown Sentenced to Five Years Probation for Assaulting Rihanna During Domestic Violence Dispute
Posted on August 26, 2009R & B singer Chris Brown has been ordered to serve five years? probation, in addition to six months of community labor and one-year of domestic violence abuse counseling, for assaulting performer Rihanna. If he violates the terms of his probation, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg told the performer he could be sent to state prison...
Michael Jackson Update : Fatal Dosage Of Drugs Ruled Homicide
Posted on August 25, 2009According to law enforcement, the Los Angeles County Coroner has ruled that Michael Jackson?s death was a homicide.. On Monday, court documents were released that indicated that Jackson died of an overdose of propofol, a powerful sedative he was given to help him sleep...
A Search Warrant Results In Drug Arrest And Trouble For a Boston-Area Family
Posted on August 21, 2009Do you think the nightmare cannot find its way to your house? A Natick couple, who happen to be attorneys themselves, are learning that it can come to anyone?s door. The nightmare of which I speak is the criminal justice finger of accusation. The parents are well-known respected lawyers in the Boston area...
One Of Two Suspects Arrested In Brookline Rape Case
Posted on August 20, 2009Boston-area police have been searching for two suspects in connection with a reported rape in the Coolidge Corner area of Brookline. Today, an arrest was made. Brookline Police say that they believe that the man they arrested this morning is one of the two alleged rapists who abducted and raped a 30-year old woman as she left a taxi on Harvard Street early Tuesday morning...
Boston Area Police Get Lucky In Sex Abuse And Arson Investigations
Posted on August 19, 2009The police in Haverhill Massachusetts got lucky recently. They got a ?two-for?. They were investigating an arson case. However, due to what they found, they arrested another gentleman who now needs a lawyer for a different type of case. The detectives were canvassing an apartment building which had been, the scene of three Sunday morning fires, when they stumbled upon a case of sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy, "It was the last thing we expected to find," a police spokesman, Police Officer Zipper, said...
Massachusetts Sex Offenders Convicted Before 2006 Don?t Have to Wear GPS Devices, Says Supreme Judicial Court
Posted on August 18, 2009The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court says that people convicted of sexual crimes before 2006 do not have to wear GPS devices if they violate parole or probation. The decision split the court 4-3. The majority, however, said that the law cannot be applied retroactively...
Attorney Sam?s Take: A Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer?s View On Juvenile Crime
Posted on August 17, 2009It happened again last week in the south of Boston island known as Cape Cod. Two gentlemen were arrested for armed robbery of a taxi driver in Oak Bluffs. Soon, they were facing the halls of Justice in Edgartown after the brief investigation. One went to regular court...
Michael Douglas?s Son, Charged with Drug Possession and Distribution, Could Receive Life in Prison Sentence if Convicted
Posted on August 15, 2009Cameron Douglas, the son of movie star Michael Douglas, has been transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center after violating the terms of his house arrest. Cameron, 30, was arrested last month at Hotel Gansevoort in New York City on drug possession and distribution...
White Collar Co-Conspirator Pleads Guilty In Boston-Created Ponzi Scheme
Posted on August 12, 2009Today, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog returns to a subject that dominated headlines for much of the early months of the year. This would be the Bernard Madoff nightmare and his infamous Ponzi scheme. As you will recall, we learned that the Ponzi scheme was originated here in Boston and many of Madoff?s victims indeed lived here in the Commonwealth...
Boston-Area Teen Arrested For Drug Distribution
Posted on August 11, 2009This seemed like a fitting blog to post after the three-part series on drug possession. A young gentleman from Braintree is alleged to have kept a virtual treasure-trove of marijuana and evidence of intent to distribute in his car. Detectives found the car...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Arrested In Boston For Drug Possession ? Part Three (The Defense)
Posted on August 10, 2009We have discussed the realities of being arrested for possession of controlled substances in Boston. We have investigated the importance of the location of that arrest. I have painted, I suppose, a fairly bleak picture. However, I have also told you that an experienced criminal defense attorney can make a difference as to the disposition of the resulting criminal matter...
88-Year-Old Driver Sentenced to Probation for Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Homicide of 4-Year-Old
Posted on August 08, 2009The 88-year-old Canton woman who accidentally ran down a young girl at a Stoughton crosswalk on Route 138 on June 13 has been ordered to serve six years? probation and pay a $200 fine for the 4-year-old? s death. Isle Horn had pleaded guilty to the charge of Massachusetts motor vehicle homicide...
Grand Jury Indicts Former New York Giants Football Player Plaxico Burress on Weapons Possession Charges
Posted on August 05, 2009A grand jury has indicted Plaxico Burress, the former wide receiver for the New York Giants. The criminal charges include two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. If convicted for the weapons charges, Burress, 31, could face 3...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Arrested For Drug Possessui In A Boston School Zone ? What Do You Do? Part Two
Posted on August 05, 2009You have been arrested for drug possession. You had some cocaine in your pocket as you were going home last night. You are a visitor to Boston and so brought lots of cash to get you through your visit. As you returned home last night to your hotel, the police thought you looked like a suspect they were looking for in a robbery...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Arrested For Drug Possession In Boston ? What Do You Do? Part One
Posted on August 04, 2009So, you were out last Saturday night in Boston, enjoying the ten minutes or so that it was not raining. You figure you will celebrate with the herb of your choice. After all, this is 2009 and you can just light up some marihuana you have in your pocket and toke away, you figure...
Arrested For Assault, Battery And Child Endangerment, Massachusetts Mom Loses Children And Freedom
Posted on August 03, 2009The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has discussed many cases which involve elements to which law enforcement and the courts are particularly sensitive. Today?s posting involves one such class of victim, namely, children. In this case, it is the mother who faces criminal charges...
Boston Wonders If Doctors Will Be Arrested For Homicide In Michael Jackson?s Death
Posted on July 30, 2009Between press conferences that threaten to bring the Professor Gates' arrest for disorderly conduct back into headlines, Boston joins the rest of the world in watching the latest Michael Jackson thriller. This time, it features potential clashes between the legal and medical professions and may well end up starring over a dozen doctors teamed up with their very own criminal defense attorneys...
A Defense Attorney Reviews The Evidence As Youths Are Arrested For Robbery And Assault
Posted on July 29, 2009While we were all watching the recent episodes of ?The Professor And The Officer?, did you know that other arrests were taking place? It would appear that even more violent crimes than disorderly conduct were still being committed around the Boston area and defense attorneys were being assigned or retained to handle them...
Was Michael Jackson?s Death a Crime? Investigators Search Home of Pop Star?s Personal Physician
Posted on July 29, 2009Investigators are going through the Las Vegas office and residence of Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson?s personal physician. The search is part of their probe into whether or not criminal charges will be filed in the death of the pop star. The King of Pop, 50, died on June 25, 2009 from cardiac arrest...
Criminal Defense- When A Client Is Charged With Dsorderly Conduct
Posted on July 28, 2009As we close the lid on this three-part Attorney Sam?s Take posting on Disorderly Conduct, we look at where I come in. Along with other criminal defense attorneys, I stand ready to represent a client facing such charges. When is the best time to contact me? Immediately...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Arrested In Boston For Disorderly Conduct (Part Two)
Posted on July 27, 2009As a Boston-area criminal defense attorney who has worked on both sides of the aisle, I have been doing a lot of talking lately about Disorderly Conduct arrests in the Commonwealth. I have been interviewed by media outlets out of state, such as the L...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Arrested In Boston For Disorderly Conduct ? What Does That Mean?
Posted on July 23, 2009The other day, I received another one of those calls from a prospective client. He was calling me about a case in which he was scheduled to face criminal charges at Boston Municipal Court the next day. He had not sought an attorney earlier because, until he had spoken to a friend of his, he had thought the charge was ?no big deal?...
A Boston-Area Professor Arrested For Disorderly Conduct ? Why?
Posted on July 22, 2009Damage control for the Cambridge Police Department in the arrest of renowned Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. has begun. The charges against him were dropped yesterday as lawyers for the Department announced that nobody involved in the incident had acted ?at their best?...
Racial Profiling?: Middlesex District Attorney Drops Massachusetts Criminal Charges Against Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Posted on July 22, 2009Massachusetts criminal charges have been dropped against Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Gates was arrested on July 16 at his home in Cambridge. The 58-year-old Harvard professor, who is one of the most prominent African-American scholars in the US, had just returned home from a trip abroad...
South Of Boston: A Tale Of Alcohol, Murder And Robbery From Days Gone By
Posted on July 21, 2009Today?s posting of the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer?s Blog takes us back in history. It is a history remembered, however, kept alive by Fall River?s Herald a day or so ago. Actually, in reprinting the article online, they even provided a You Tube video tape of the Fall River Public Library?s presentation of the story to the Fall River History Club introducing the story about the ?bad family? involved...
Arrests For Drunk Driving On The Water Dwindle ? Why Would That Be?
Posted on July 20, 2009Ahhh?summer! Time for hitting the beaches, cookouts and, as I have said before, Jimmy Buffett tunes. Today, I am reminded of another of Buffett?s songs, namely ?Boat Drinks?. Maybe it is because I am dropping off my son at a boat this morning, but more likely it is because I am reminded about a crime that few people are arrested for although we know it happens a great deal...
Attorney Sam?s Take: Wrongfully Convicted In Massachusetts? Reality Check In Murder And Assault Cases
Posted on July 16, 2009The website Boston.Com has a story that is probably meant to give us a feeling of justice. It concerns one Kenneth Waters. Mr. Waters spent more than 18 years in prison after being convicted of murder. There, he passed through all of the ?safeguards? that we have put in place, namely appeals, as the world around him passed him by...
Abington Man Accused of Aggravated Assault in Barking Dog Incident Now Charged with Manslaughter
Posted on July 16, 2009In Massachusetts, 49-year-old Abington resident Michael McGunigle is now charged with manslaughter over the death of another Abington man. McGunigle, 48, is accused of punching Brian Cherry on July 6 during an argument. The altercation between the two Abington men allegedly occurred after Cherry asked McGunigle to restrain his dog...
Boston Nightclub Owner Is Arrested For ?Intimidating? The Police In Shooting Case
Posted on July 15, 2009Hey, remember the old days when a person actually did not have to talk to the police if he did not want to? Those were the days when we had the right to remain silent and?wait a minute. That?s today. So, now I am confused. Why is someone in the Boston area in need of a criminal defense attorney because of his dealings with the police? I mean, if you can refuse to talk to the police officers, you can lie alittle to protect yourself, can?t you? After all, the law is clear that the police are allowed to lie to non-police types...
Arrested For Homicide Or Drunk Driving? You Should Have Checked The Weather
Posted on July 14, 2009To me, summer is best symbolized by the recording artist, Jimmy Buffett. In fact, one of my favorite songs of his is ?Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful?. Summer is a season that is short-lived here in the Boston area. If one counted how many really nice days we usually get,?well, it is kind of depressing...
Salem, Massachusetts Mother Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Murder of Son
Posted on July 13, 2009Kristen LaBrie, a 37-year-old Salem mother, has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of her son. LaBrie is accused of withholding her son?s cancer treatment before his death. Jeremy, 9, was autistic. In October 2006, Jeremy was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma...
Boston?s Attorney Sam?s Take Reviews Arrest And Prosecution In High Profile Matters?Other Than Michael Jackson Suspicious Death
Posted on July 10, 2009Two scenarios. In the first one, you are on the streets of Boston when you are placed under arrest. The police bring you to court in due time. As you get out of the transport, there is a crowd of people outside yelling questions. You do not see them too well because you have to keep diverting your eyes from all the flashbulbs...
Green Line Train Operator Who Was Text Messaging Girlfriend, 93-Year-Old Motorist that Drove into Wal-Mart, and Falmouth Driver Face Criminal Charges for Allegedly Causing Serious Injury Accidents
Posted on July 10, 2009Aiden Quinn, the 24-year-old Green Line train operator who was text messaging with his girlfriend when the train he was operating rear-ended another trolley has been indicted on a negligence charge. Three trolley cars were destroyed in the May 2009 Boston train accident that resulted in $9 million in damages...
A Blog Is Delayed, But Returns Tomorrow With Discussion Of Rape, Murder, Michael Jackson And The Media
Posted on July 09, 2009This is the week of media, Michael Jackson and criminal justice. And the (usually) daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog is following those fine traditions today. Remember back to Michael's trial? Remember how he came late to court a few times and the judge got mad and ordered him in one morning? As I recall, he showed up in his pajamas...
Boston Watches As The Investigation Of Michael Jackson?s Death Continues And Homicide Is Likely Suspected
Posted on July 08, 2009I have to confess a personal interest in Michael Jackson. First of all, I think he was immensely talented and, frankly lead a pretty tragic life in many ways. Second, his trial was the lead story when I was a regular contributor on FoxTV?s ?Studio B?, as well as other such shows, years ago...
Boston Criminal Lawyer Investigates Criminal Negligence, Murder and Michael Jackson...Tomorrow
Posted on July 07, 2009Good morning. Unfortunately, between a loss of electricity last evening and my courtroom responsibilities this morning, I am unable to post today's real edition of the, otherwise, daily Boston Cri8minal Lawyer Blog. However... You may wish to observe news of the Michael Jackson funeral and investigation today as it will be the subject matter of tomorrow's posting...
South Of Boston Armed Robbery Suspects Are Arrested In Continuing Investigation By The Police
Posted on July 06, 2009I've regretted at times that I never had a brother. I?ll bet that summertime can be great fun for two brothers. The weather is nicer, there is no school, and the possibilities seem endless. Of course, for some brothers, perhaps the ?endless? part can be a bit of a problem...
Judge Overturns MySpace Suicide Conviction
Posted on July 03, 2009A federal judge overturned the jury conviction of Lori Drew on three misdemeanor counts of accessing protected computers without authorization. The 49-year-old woman is accused of using MySpace to send Megan Meier, a teenage girl, derogatory messages...
A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Discusses The Crime Of Larceny
Posted on July 02, 2009In days of old, if there was a financial dispute, one might expect to be sued by whoever claimed you took, or owed, money. Well, that can still happen. However, one should also be wary of being criminally charged with the crime of larceny? in one way or another...
Metro West Man Arrested For Breaking And Entering And Larceny Due To Interstate Investigation
Posted on July 01, 2009Remember when you were young and parents, teachers and clergy kept insisting upon the benefits of sharing? Well, Investigators in Western Massachusetts have recently learned those benefits first-hand. As a result of sharing information with other police departments, West Stockbridge law enforcement believe they have stopped a spree of burglaries and larcenies...
Children Found At Risk As Boston-Area Day Care Owners Are Arrested In Connection With Assault Incident In their Charge
Posted on June 30, 2009Now, I know what you are thinking. You see ?Boston-area? and ?Day Care Center? and you think of things like the infamous Fells Acres case and expect to find yet another story involving allegations of sexual assault being battled by a myriad of criminal defense attorneys...
Hanover Man Pleads Not Guilty to Kidnapping and Attempting to Rape 6-Year-Old Neighbor
Posted on June 30, 2009Massachusetts prosecutors are accusing a 26-year-old Hanover man of kidnapping, attempting to rape, and injecting a 6-year-old girl with an unknown substance. During his arraignment in Hingham District Court yesterday, Justin Shine pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted rape, kidnapping, assault and battery, and resisting arrest...
A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Discusses Student Arrests And The Resulting Effects On A Student?s Future (Part Two)
Posted on June 25, 2009As promised, our weekly "Attorney Sam's Take" discussion completes our examination of how involvement in the criminal justice system effects students. We have discussed how, beyond the obvious, the arrest of a juvenile student in Massachusetts can seriously effect that student?s future plans...
Singer Chris Brown Grabs Plea Agreement in Assault Case Involving Ex- Girlfriend Rihanna and Avoids Jail Time
Posted on June 24, 2009In the celebrity domestic violence case involving R & B performer Chris Brown and his ex-girlfriend singer Rihanna, Brown pleaded guilty to one count of felony assault on Monday. Per the terms of the plea agreement, Brown will serve six months of community labor, five years of supervised probation, as well as participate in domestic violence counseling...
Boston-Area University Employees Plead Guilty To Larceny From School
Posted on June 24, 2009Well, this one cuts alittle close to home; I went to Tufts. Of course, I graduated undergrad there a long time ago. Long before I was a Boston criminal defense attorney. Long before the alleged white collar criminal activities to which Josephine N. (hereinafter, ?Defendant 1?) and Raymond R...
Massachusetts Former Hero Is Arrested And Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges Of Child Porn
Posted on June 23, 2009The criminal prosecution seems to have ended for John R., of Vermont, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) and his lawyer. On June 8th, he pleaded guilty to charges, the investigation of which reflects some important information to those who assume themselves beyond suspicion...
Murder Suspect Is Jailed Without Bail Pending Probation Surrender As Boston-Area Media Focuses On His Prior Criminal Record
Posted on June 22, 2009Sunday?s Boston Herald, along with several other local newspapers, focused on a particular aspect of a recent Framingham murder case. In the Herald, the headline read, ?Suspect in Framingham stabbing has long police record?. While said record is normally inadmissible in court (except under certain circumstance) it is, for now, a noteworthy part of the story as far as the public is concerned...
Former Massachusetts Bank of America Teller Charged with Bank Fraud and Identity Theft
Posted on June 14, 2009In Massachusetts, Jeffrey Gautreaux, a former Bank of America teller, has been charged with two counts of aggravated identity theft, 17 counts of bank fraud, and one count of access device fraud. The charges are related to a fraud scam that allegedly occurred between July 2005 and June 2006...
A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Discusses Student Arrests And The Resulting Effects On A Student?s Future (Part One)
Posted on June 11, 2009This week, the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog examined various news stories about a particular large population in the Boston area, namely, students. Whether it be graduate school, college, high school or even grammar school, a momentary, perhaps youthful, mistake can bring a postponement or even end to a lifetime of future dreams for that student and accompanying family...
Boston Area High School Student Arrested For Assault Threats At Graduation
Posted on June 10, 2009The Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School graduation was last week. One of the hopeful graduates, 17-year-old Pauline F. (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) was all set to take that exciting step. But things did not go as planned. Now, she needs something else?a lawyer...
Boston Area College Student Arrested For ?Hate Crime? Assault On The Cape
Posted on June 09, 2009Eric P., a college student from Winthrop (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) was apparently vacationing on Cape Cod last month. His souvenirs from the trip include an arrest record and a relationship with a criminal defense attorney. You see, the Defendant had a little trouble in Provincetown...
Clark Rockefeller Kidnapped His Daughter Out of Pure Madness, Says His Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney
Posted on June 09, 2009A Massachusetts jury spent more than 3 ½ hours deliberating the fate of Clark Rockefeller before going home for the day. The 44-year-defendant is charged with kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter last summer. During closing arguments, the prosecution had urged the jury to think of the defendant as controlling, self-centered, and an expert manipulator?albeit with a personality disorder?Rockefeller?s defense attorney argued that his client suffers from an acute mental illness and that it was ?pure madness? that drove him to take his daughter...
Boston Area College Student In Trouble After Murder At On Harvard University Campus
Posted on June 08, 2009Last week, I posted a blog about a group of do-it-yourself sleuths who tried to solve the murder mystery of fallen 21-year-old Justin C. (hereinafter, the ?Deceased?) at Harvard University. The result? The investigators they hired ended up arrested instead...
Boston Area College Student In Trouble After Murder On Harvard University Campus
Posted on June 08, 2009Last week, I posted a blog about a group of do-it-yourself sleuths who tried to solve the murder mystery of fallen 21-year-old Justin C. (hereinafter, the ?Deceased?) at Harvard University. The result? The investigators they hired ended up arrested instead...
Group Reports Massachusetts 15 Domestic Violence Homicides to Date for 2009
Posted on June 07, 2009According to Jane Doe Inc., there have been 15 domestic violence deaths in Massachusetts this year. The latest victim, Rebecca C. Moulton, was allegedly beaten to death by her live-in boyfriend. Moulton was 27. Her boyfriend, David W. Vincent from Pittsfield, was initially held for assault with intent to murder and aggravated assault and battery...
The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Discusses The Truth About Probation Surrenders
Posted on June 04, 2009It is Thursday and so, as any regular reader of the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog knows, it is time for another Attorney Sam?s Take discussion about an area in the law which effects those who have found themselves involved in the criminal justice system...
Boston-Area ?Crime Club? Actions Result In Charges Of Breaking And Entering And New Clients For Cambridge Defense Attorneys
Posted on June 03, 2009Every once in a while, a news story prompts me to admit something about my personal life. This is one of those. The confession is that I grew up loving comic books, or, as they are now called, "graphic novels". Given the popularity of superhero movies of the last several years, I guess I was not alone...
Criminal Jury Trial For Drug Sale AndManslaughter Ends; Jury Returns Verdicts Of Guilty And Not Guilty
Posted on June 01, 2009As last week ended, many of us were still preparing for the summer weather which seems to taunt us in the Boston area every few days. Other, less mundane, issues were consuming the thoughts of Robert L. of Gloucester (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?). He and his defense lawyer were awaiting a verdict in his Homicide trial in Lawrence Superior Court...
Boston-Area Drug And Theft Suspects Are Arrested After Police Investigations Despite Differing Approaches
Posted on June 01, 2009Two Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorneys have new clients resulting from their dealings with local police departments this past weekend. The two men handled the situation differently, but both methods ended in the same place...custody. First there was the adventure of Randy G...
Billy Bob Thornton?s Daughter Charged with Child Neglect in Death of Baby
Posted on June 01, 2009Police have charged Amanda Brumfield, movie star Billy Bob Thornton?s 29-year-old daughter, with child neglect causing harm or disability. The criminal charge stems from the death of a toddler that she babysat last October. The baby was 1. Brumfield reportedly told police that the baby she was taking care struck her head after falling out of a playpen...
Sports Star's Future Is In Danger As He Is Arrested For Domestic Assault And Battery
Posted on May 29, 2009Yesterday?s Boston Globe contained the story of a ?standout? high school football star who now is not looking for a talent scout, but a criminal defense attorney. While he had been scheduled to bring his athletic prowess to college, his future is now in doubt due to allegations of demonstrating them at the wrong place and time...
Amherst Teenager Found Not Guilty of Explosives Charges
Posted on May 29, 2009In Hampshire Superior Court, a Massachusetts jury acquitted 19-year-old John Robison of charges that he set off explosives to intentionally cause injury or property damage. If convicted, the Amherst teen could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison...
Boston-Area Dogs Assist Law Enforcement As Both Canine Police Officers And Crime Victims
Posted on May 27, 2009Dogs are considered ?Man?s Best Friend?. In the Boston area, though, they are particularly close with "man" involved in criminal prosecutions. After almost a quarter century as an attorney, I can finally see the day coming when I may have to cross-examine a pooch...
Got Guns? A Boston Criminal Lawyer Discusses Firearms Possession In The Commonwealth
Posted on May 27, 2009I remember years ago, before I was a lawyer, growing up in the Boston area and hearing commercials about what happens if you are arrested for possessing a gun. ?If you are caught with a gun?, I recall it saying, ?you will go to jail for one year?and nobody can get you out?...
Massachusetts Warrants Catch Up With Two Defendants Who Break Into Motor Vehicles And Will Need Experienced Attorneys To Defend Against Increased Criminal Sentences
Posted on May 26, 2009Over the past months in the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, I have been spend a lot of time suggesting to potential defendants the best way to respond to police officers at the time of impending arrest. In fact, last Thursday, our weekly ?Attorney Sam?s Take? posting about issues in criminal justice, was devoted to the issue...
Massachusetts Arrest Warrants Issued for Missing Clinton Attorney For Failing to Appear in Court Over Divorce Settlement
Posted on May 26, 2009In Massachusetts, state and federal judges have issued arrest warrants for the capture of Cynthia Dziurgot, a Clinton attorney who has disappeared. Dziurgot, who owes her ex-husband almost a million dollars, failed to appear at bankruptcy and probate proceedings this month, and now US Marshals are looking for her...
North Of Boston Drug Bust Nets Over 500 Pounds Of Marihuana and $200,000 from Interstate Conspiracy
Posted on May 25, 2009You?ve heard of Costco, haven?t you? It is a very popular chain of stores that specializes in cost-cutting by purchasing in volume. You know, why buy one box of napkins when you can by 80 and get a bargain in the process? It looks like some Boston-area entrepreneurs took the idea alittle too far this week...
What Should You Do If You Are Being Arrested In Boston? The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Answers The Questions Of What To Do Until You Contact Counsel
Posted on May 21, 2009Once again, you are being arrested in Boston. Maybe you are out for a ?night out on the town? and the town, and its inhabitants, has turned on you. Perhaps you are carrying something that has been branded as illegal?such as a gun or some drugs. Maybe there is a warrant out for your arrest and, for some reason, those police officers on the corner are looking at you kinda funny...
Boston Area Gentleman Needs Defense Attorney After Guns, Drugs And Cash Are Found Throughout His Home
Posted on May 20, 2009Mr. John F., 32 of Quincy (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?), needs a good lawyer. According to law enforcement, his home housed some ill-advised contents. As a result, he is now being described as a mid-level drug dealer. On Monday night, around 6:00pm, police raided the Defendant?s home...
Massachusetts High School Senior Pleads Not Guilty to Saugus Pedestrian Accident that Killed a Senior Pedestrian and Seriously Injured Her Daughter
Posted on May 20, 2009In Lynn District Court, Jonathan Caruso attended his arraignment on Monday, pleading not guilty to charges of negligent vehicle homicide, being a minor transporting liquor, and operating under the influence of alcohol in the deadly pedestrian accident that killed a 67-year-old woman and seriously injured her daughter early Saturday morning...
Boston Defendant Wrongfully Convicted For Rape And Robbery Wins Jury Trial Against The Commonwealth
Posted on May 19, 2009David Frank, of Boston?s Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, has reported this week on a story that has become achingly familiar. It involves the issue of the wrongfully convicted. Ulysses C. (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is now 59 years old. On May 17, 2001, he was released from prison after serving 19 years of an 80 year sentence for unlawful confinement, rape and robbery...
Boston Driver Assaults State Trooper With A Dangerous Weapon But Apologizes And Avoids A Guilty Finding; Her Attorney Says It Was For The "Right Reasons"
Posted on May 17, 2009Being a police officer in the big city can be dangerous. We all know that. Logan Airport, of course, is within the limits of the city of Boston. So, it is not too shocking that it can be a dangerous place. Usually, though, that danger does not come inside the packaging of a Mercedes Benz SUV and presented by a Wellesley businesswoman...
Prosecuting Attorneys And Rhode Island Politicians Prevent Murder And Other Violent Felonies By Going After Victims And Other Easy Targets
Posted on May 15, 2009This week ends as last week ended. From Boston to Providence, and beyond, law makers and enforcers are struggling with how to address the problems presented by the so-called ?Craigslist Killer? (hereinafter, ?CLK?). The case grows almost daily as he is now facing murder charges in Massachusetts and assault/robbery charges in Rhode Island...
You Have Been Arrested In Boston For Assault, Murder Or An Outstanding Warrant; Will You Be Released On Bail?
Posted on May 14, 2009You are arrested in Massachusetts. Being an avid reader of the daily Boston Criminal Law Blog, you know that what you do in the next few minutes could mean the difference between sleeping at home or at the local jail for the next few weeks. You remember that there were a variety of postings that had talked about things that could help and things that could hurt your chances at being released on low bail...
Massachusetts Larceny Suspect Tries To Escape Police And Now Faces Felony Charges And More Jail Time
Posted on May 13, 2009It has been awhile since the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has received news from the ?Hey, I?ll Bet I Can Make This Situation Worse? Club. Months ago, their members appeared quite frequently in my postings. Not to worry, though. They are back and one unfortunate member needs a criminal lawyer...
Evidence that Federal Prosecutor Withheld in Massachusetts Gun Case Could Have Cleared Defendant
Posted on May 13, 2009In the US District Court in Massachusetts, Assistant US Attorney Suzanne Sullivan is asking Judge Mark L. Wolf not to impose sanctions on her for withholding evidence in a Massachusetts gun case. The federal prosecutor says that she made a mistake when she did not introducing the evidence and she is asking for leniency...
Prosecuting Attorneys Seek To Continue Holding Suspects Arrested For Illegal Gun Possession In Jail Without Bail Pending Trial
Posted on May 12, 2009Monday saw the dawning of a new week. Boston-area newspapers, however, are discussing what is really an old problem. The subject of illegal possession of firearms is once again in focus. Let?s take a story from the town of Lawrence, for example. Police say that a 20 year old gentleman, Emmanuel M...
Suspects Arrested For Fraud, Harassment And Sex Crimes Linked To Craigslist
Posted on May 11, 2009In Massachusetts and beyond, criminal defense attorneys are seeing more and more arrests being linked to the recent scrutiny of Craigslist. Last week, we spoke of the matter of the ?Craigslist Killer? and the attention he has brought to the website?s listing of sexually enticing advertisements...
Boston And Other Prosecuting Attorneys Target Craigslist And Prostitution In Murder And Robbery Cases
Posted on May 08, 2009Boston, Rhode Island and the rest of the country are watching the criminal charges against infamous alleged ?Craigslist Killer? Phillip M. (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) pile up. Along with the criminal charges, are character flaws such as an addiction to gambling...
Drew Peterson Charged with Third Wife Kathleen Savio?s Murder
Posted on May 08, 2009More than five years after Kathleen Savio?s death, her husband, ex-police sergeant, Drew Peterson, has been charged with her murder. Savio was found in a dry bathtub with her head soaked in blood from a head wound. The cause of her death was originally determined to be accidental drowning, but that finding came into question after Peterson?s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, went missing in 2007 and the former cop became the main suspect in her disappearance...
Sex for sale. A Boston criminal lawyer's view of prostitution and the new internet sex trade industry
Posted on May 07, 2009The city of Boston used to have an area known as the ?Combat Zone?. It was around the theatre district. In fact, the building that now houses the Department of Motor Vehicles used to be a store selling xxx-rated movies and books and prostitutes prowling the streets...
Boston Prostitute Violates Probation In Extortion Case And Is Sentenced To Halfway House
Posted on May 06, 2009Workers in the sex trade have been in the news lately. First of all, we have heard a great deal about them as victims, as in the case of the so-called ?Craig?s List Killer?. Some have been in trouble for things other than prostitution. For example, awhile ago, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog told you about an enterprising lass who had had a long-standing money-for-sex relationship with an older wealthy gentleman...
Illegal Gun Possession is a Victimless Crime, Says Massachusetts?s Supreme Judicial Court
Posted on May 06, 2009In Massachusetts, the state?s highest court says that defendants solely charged with illegal gun possession cannot be held without bail on the grounds that they might pose a danger to others. The Supreme Judicial Court says illegal gun possession alone is a crime that has no victims and is passive...
Experienced Boston Criminal Defense Attoney Unable To Blog
Posted on May 05, 2009Unfortunately, Attorney Samuel Goldberg is unable to post this morning due to his court schedule. Stay tuned, however, for the rest of this week, which will have a theme. The theme concerns Sex, Money, Deceit and Murder. Yes, that means it will include, but not be limited to, the so-called "Craig's List Killer"...
Limo driver arrested for driving drunk -was driving high school students at time of arrest- loss of license and maybe job to follow
Posted on May 04, 2009?Tis the season of high school proms. As a parent, I know the worry about what "the kids" are doing out there. It did not occur to me that the adults in charge of the kids might need some worrying too. However, take Boston-area limosine driver, Brain H...
Boston-Area Woman Robbed On Way To Cemetery - Two Arrested For The Theft
Posted on May 01, 2009The daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog today examines a crime that has just got to provide a figurative punch to your gut. Elsie C., 83, (hereinafter, the ?Victim?) had just attended a church service. She was outside the Belmont Street Stop & Shop, reviewing her grocery receipt...
Sealing criminal records in MA- How a defense attorney can expunge/seal your record.
Posted on April 30, 2009Ok, you are sitting in your home around Boston. You hear a police car, sirens screaming, speeding down the street. You momentarily jump because of that old warrant you used to have pending against you. Then, you relax; you remember that, after you started reading this daily blog, you contacted an experienced criminal defense lawyer and cleared the warrant, and the case attached to it,up...
Massachusetts Man Charged with DWI Accident Wants Victims? Credibility Questioned
Posted on April 30, 2009In Massachusetts, a former Massachusetts National Guard sergeant is combating DWI charges involving a Concord bicycle accident that injured two cyclists. Adam Lamothe, 26, was going to plead guilty to the criminal charges of two counts of conduct after an accident and aggravated driving while intoxicated, but now he?s retained a new Massachusetts criminal defense law firm and he wants to question the victims? credibility...
Two tales from Framingham....from disorderly conduct to murder- criminal defense lawyers needed
Posted on April 29, 2009Today, the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog goes to Framingham?figuratively?where recent troubles seem to have taken place on both sides of the seriousness spectrum. Let?s start with Adilson D., 37 (hereinafter, ?Defendant 1?). He was displeased about a recent interaction with local police...
Lawyer remains jailed; charged with OUI, driving with suspended license and giving false name
Posted on April 28, 2009A north of Boston attorney has found herself on the chair most often occupied by her clients. At least, that is, in court. Otherwise, she is in custody, held without bail, for driving offenses. Tracy T., 32, of Revere (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is being held without bail on what the Commonwealth alleges to be her third drunk driving charge...
Outside Boston, many arrested in embezzlement scheme. Charges of conspiracy to commit larceny and larceny over $250 brought against defendants.
Posted on April 27, 2009As the rest of us in the Boston area were experiencing the upcoming summer heat, a few individuals were feeling heat of another kind, courtesy of Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone. District Attorney Leone announced last week that a Malden Treasury employee and nine others have been indicted for allegedly embezzling more than $518,000 in city property tax receipts...
Have an outstanding arrest warrant in MA? Here is how to deal with it.
Posted on April 24, 2009Attorney Sam?s Take: Welcome to the first posting of a new weekly feature on the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog. Each Friday, I will post in this particular format, dealing specifically with an issue which people face every day in the criminal justice system...
Boston criminal defense lawyer seeks to move high- profile case out of Suffolk County
Posted on April 23, 2009By now, you have probably heard of the gentleman who has allegedly chosen the name ?Clark Rockefeller?. The Commonwealth says his real name, or part of it, is Christian K.G. We, however, will simply call him the ?Defendant?. He is facing charges in Boston for parental kidnapping...
Drug Arrests made in MA -Felony Drug Charges To Follow, Including Trafficking and Distribution
Posted on April 22, 2009These have been big days for narcotics law enforcement specialists. State agencies as well as Boston?s various local FBI, ATF and DEA agents worked together to bring suspects to court and clients to lawyers. Let?s take Pittsfield first. There, three daytime raids resulted in the seizure of approximately $35,000 worth of drugs as well as the alleged leader of the Bloods gang...
Supreme Court Limits When Police Officers Can Search A Suspect's Car Without A Warrant
Posted on April 22, 2009The Supreme Court has issued a ruling that places limits on when police officers can search a suspect's motor vehicle right after making an arrest if they don't have a warrant. With their 5-4 decision, the justices determined that police must have a warrant to search the auto if the person is locked up in the cruiser and is not a threat to the officers...
Father arrested for assaulting his children, posted bail- will be arraigned on Tuesday.
Posted on April 20, 2009Over the years, as a Boston criminal defense attorney, I have come across what has become an ?age old question?. The question is what are the limits of disciplining one?s own children. In days gone by, the answer was apparently ?whatever works?. Fortunately, those days are over...
Holyoke man arrested for assault and A and B on a police officer
Posted on April 17, 2009About an hour and a half west of Boston, there is a town called Holyoke. In Holyoke, Julius T., 29 (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) got arrested early evening on Tuesday. He is said to have assaulted a woman, kicked a police officer and thrown himself down a flight of stairs...
Family Plan Assault Bring Attempted Murder Charges Outside Boston
Posted on April 16, 2009This past Monday?s posting of the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog was about a gentleman who elected the ?self-help? approach to criminal justice. It did not end too well for him. Today?s posting demonstrates that taking said approach as a family does not work out any better than when acting solo...
28-Year-Old Mother Charged with Raping and Killing 8-Year-Old Female Neighbor
Posted on April 16, 2009A 28-year-old mother has been charged with the murder, kidnapping, and rape of an 8-year-old girl. Melissa Huckaby was arrested last Friday in California following the discovery on April 6 of Sandra Cantu?s body in a suitcase. The piece of luggage containing her body had been thrown in a pond at a dairy farm...
The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Examines Career Criminal And Felonies
Posted on April 15, 2009Somebody should break the news to Anthony W. Of New Bedford (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) that the criminal justice system does not give extra points for consistency. This Boston criminal defense attorney can tell you, however, that it does give extra time as a lodger in Commonwealth housing...
Another Accused MBTA Sex Offender Needs An Experienced Lawyer
Posted on April 14, 2009The daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has followed the continuing problem of groping on the MBTA over the past several months. The ongoing problem is in the news again. The MBTA has announced an event last Tuesday which ended in the arrest of Jose V...
A Tale Of Weapons And Assaults From The Wild West Side Of The Commonwealth
Posted on April 13, 2009Recently, a Pittsfield man decided to take the ?self-help? approach at law enforcement, much as they did in the ?old west?. Well, at least, that is what his neighbors say. What do the police say? It would appear that they communicated something along the lines of, ? You have the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney?? and so on...
Boston Lawyer/Former Defendant Fights Domestic Violence Case
Posted on April 10, 2009Today?s daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog features two people who are well known to the criminal justice system. In fact, one of them was featured in a posting on April 7th and can be found here. Harold P., 41, of Lynn, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is a former youth sports coach and Lynn Classical hall monitor...
More than 2,000 US Inmates Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole Committed Their Crimes When They Were Minors
Posted on April 09, 2009According to Equal Justice Initiative, there are more than 2,000 prisoners serving life sentences without parole for crimes that they committed when they were younger than 18. At least 73 of these offenders were just 13 or 14 at the time. The US Department of Justice says that the trend of giving minors life prison sentences began in the 1990?s when there was a dramatic increase in homicides committed by juveniles...
Criminal Defense Attorney Needed For Two-Time Shop Lifter
Posted on April 08, 2009You know, sometimes you?ve just got to be proud to be American. After all, the pioneering spirit, that drive to be creative, still exists?even in these troubled times. Less than an hour away from historic downtown Boston, where there are a plethora of structures dedicated to our revolutionary past, is a place called Brockton...
Boston Criminal Attorney/Defendant "Not Guilty" Of Assault...Again
Posted on April 07, 2009He is a famous Boston Defense Attorney...but not necessarily for his legal work. Mainly, it is his role of client that has brought Attorney Gary Z, 37, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) to his present notoriety. Well, there was also that 2001 People Magazine that named him as one of the ?hottest? bachelors around...
Criminal Defense Attorney Wins Search Issue In Drugs And Guns Case
Posted on April 06, 2009The city of Lynn?s top cop, Police Chief John Suslak, is unhappy. His ire has been raised by a ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court in Boston. On Friday, he joined law enforcement officials across the state in saying that the decision barring police from frisking suspected drug dealers for weapons in most cases endangers officers...
Boston Attorney Gary Zerola Acquitted of Charges of Assaulting a Cop and Urinating in Public
Posted on April 06, 2009For the fourth time in a year, Boston attorney Gary Zerola has been acquitted of criminal charges. Last week, a jury found Zerola found not guilty of assault and battery on a police officer, urinating in public, and disturbing the peace. The 37-year-old ex-prosecutor, who was once called People magazine?s ?Most Eligible Bachelor,? was arrested last June on the night the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2008 NBA Championship...
Child Rape And Assault Cases Reviewed By An Experienced Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer
Posted on April 03, 2009Two disturbing stories involving the victimization of young girls have recently surfaced. The facts alleged in both cases defy belief...for most people. I, however, have been a criminal defense attorney in Boston for over nearly 20 years. Before that, I was a prosecutor in Brooklyn...
Guns, Drugs and Assaults Result In Home Imprisonment North Of Boston
Posted on April 02, 2009Eric S., 46, of North Andover, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is home again?for now. In fact, he is actually confined to his home and ordered to wear a bracelet monitoring system. Through the apparently successful arguments of his attorney, he is not being held in jail without bail...
Melrose YMCA Girls Basketball Coach Indicted on 20 Massachusetts Criminal Charges for Allegedly Sexual Assaulting Two Young Girls
Posted on April 02, 2009In Massachusetts, Melrose YMCA girls basketball coach James Conner has been indicted on 20 criminal charges for his alleged sexual assault of two girls. The 51-year-old North Reading resident is also accused of videotaping the incidents using hidden cameras...
A Bomb Threat Is Not A Good Defense To Probation Violations
Posted on April 01, 2009As last week came to a close in Lawrence, Massachusetts, its district court had a little excitement. A bomb scare was declared. Now, those believed behind the scare are facing criminal charges and need lawyers. The reason for the bomb scare? Perspective probation violation...
Boston Road Drunk Driver Asked, ?Do You Want A Lawyer With That Burger??
Posted on March 31, 2009Raymond A., 51, of Hampden, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) was hungry. He just wanted a burger. But he was watched by an ambulance driver. Now, he needs an attorney. Springfield District Court was the venue for the Defendant?s little adventure to end...
Holbrook Police Investigate Massachusetts Sexting Case Involving Teen Minors Having Sex on Video; Statutory Rape Charge May Be Filed
Posted on March 31, 2009In Massachusetts, Holbrook police are investigating a complaint by a juvenile girl that videotaped footage of her having having sexual intercourse with her boyfriend was texted to classmates and friends. Both the girl and her boyfriend are minors. The Norfolk District Attorney is investigating the girl?s claims and a ?statutory rape? charge may be filed...
Boston-Area White Collar Suspect Found Guilty Of Embezzlement
Posted on March 30, 2009Late 2008 and 2009 (so far) may go down in history as one of the worst times nonprofit organizations have had in terms of thievery. The daily Boston Criminal Law Blog has spent a great deal of time discussing the Bernie Madoff nightmare as well as other white collar fiasco?s which have targeted individuals as well as charities...
North Of Boston-Prostitution Charges - The Sequel
Posted on March 27, 2009Yesterday, the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog visited the subject of prostitution prosecution with more than a little sarcasm and attempts at humor. I trust I have made my position known as to prosecution prosecutions, not that you asked. The fact is, however, that prostitution is illegal regardless of my opinion...
North Of Boston, Two Face Prostitution Charges
Posted on March 26, 2009Today, the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog checks in on the World?s Oldest Profession and the brave men and women in uniform who combat it every day. Yes, it is time for a story about law enforcement vs. prostitution. First, it would appear that a favorite tool of law enforcement is still the Craig?s List web site...
Boston Sex Offender Faces Jail Time For Parole Violations
Posted on March 25, 2009Yesterday, outrage erupted in Natick District Court as a Boston homeless shelter resident stood with his attorney as his victims demanded his incarceration. The dramatic scene unfolded when the mother of a sexually abused child chastised the judge for allowing a sexual offender to remain free despite alleged parole violations...
Domestic Violence Defendant Gets New Charges And Needs Miracle Lawyer
Posted on March 24, 2009As any regular reader knows, the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog regularly announces membership news of the ?Hey, I Bet I Can Make This Situation Worse? Club. Today, to the north of Beantown, we have a new member...who should be national chairman. When he gets out of custody, that is...
?Sexting? in Massachusetts Could Lead to Child Pornography Charges and Sex Offender Status
Posted on March 24, 2009In the United States, a number of arrests involving teenagers and young adults ?sexting? have lead to media speculation about this new activity that has grown popular among young people. ?Sexting,? involves sending nude or semi-nude pictures via text message...
Boston-Based Sex Offender Leaves World Of Finance For That Of Law
Posted on March 23, 2009We have heard some real horror stories regarding people in the financial industry lately. The name ?Bernie Madoff? still brings shivers to many people?s spines. Since the discovery of Madoff?s white collar crimes, other such crimes seem to be coming to light...
Massachusetts Drug Traffic Continues
Posted on March 20, 2009It was not an uncommon news story on Wednesday in Springfield. A Multi-defendant drug bust of heretofore unknown budding defendants. You know the drill??high-crime area?, ?ongoing investigation?, attorneys? arguing bail and mouthing ?not guilty? for their clients to recite when asked by the court...
Boston-Area Burglary Spree Comes To An End
Posted on March 19, 2009In case all the reports of white collar crimes and pop icons assaulting each other, do not get the idea that plain everyday crimes like Massachusetts Breaking and Entering, aka the felony of Burglary, do not happen anymore. In fact, Steven M., 47, of Boston (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is facing the music for a string of break-ins right now...
Domestic Violence Starring Chris Brown And Rihanna Takes Center Stage
Posted on March 18, 2009Boston waits, along with the rest of the world, for the next episode of the latest show biz soap opera. In case you have not heard?it involves Chris Brown and Rihanna, two well-known stars in the music world. The next episode is expected to air in April, when Mr...
Embezzlement In Stoneham Results In Guilty Plea
Posted on March 16, 2009Massachusetts white collar crimes are often investigated without the target of that investigation having any idea that they have come under scrutiny. There are a number of business-related crimes that are prosecuted all the time. Often, it is that Attorney General?s Office, rather than the District Attorney?s Office that performs these investigations and resulting prosecutions...
Howard K Stern and Two Doctors Charged with Providing Controlled Substances to Anna Nicole Smith
Posted on March 15, 2009Two years after the death of former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith, Howard K Stern, her boyfriend and attorney, and two of her doctors have been charged with conspiring to supply her with controlled substances from July 2004 through January 2007. The two doctors are Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor...
The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Reviews The Madoff Nightmare?s Engagement In Federal Court
Posted on March 13, 2009Unless you were in media-deprived seclusion yesterday, you have already heard that Bernie Madoff went to court and never went back home. While Bernie adjusts to his new multi-million dollar residence (paid for, like his penthouse apartment, by others), The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog now reviews the star swindler?s performance as his "15 minutes of fame? seems to near its end...
The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Visits Theft In Natick
Posted on March 12, 2009Not too far from Boston is the town of Natick. Natick had a couple of problems this past Tuesday evening. One of those problems got away. The other one, Aretha B., 33 of Worcester (hereinafter, the "Defendant") did not. She was arrested, given a free trip to the local courthouse, the services of an attorney and a new court date...
Former Boston Hit And Run Driver Must Have Golden-Tongued Attorney After Driving Drunk
Posted on March 11, 2009It is time for the ?Hey, I?ll Bet I Can Make This Situation Worse? Club to announce its new spin-off organization, ?Bet They Nail Me This Time!? I would like to nominate for the BTNMTT initial poster child a certain 19 year old woman, Elizabeth F. (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?)...
Massachusetts Police Say Economic Woes Have Led to More Break-Ins, Larceny, Domestic Violence, and Other Crimes
Posted on March 11, 2009Police in Massachusetts say they believe that the increase in car break-ins, burglaries, scams, larcenies, and domestic violence crimes throughout the state can be attributed to the recent economic crisis. For example, the Boston Globe is reporting that in: ? Lawrence, Massachusetts: Burglaries have already increased by 52% compared to last year...
The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Revisits Sexual Assaults On The MBTA
Posted on March 10, 2009A while ago, this daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog posted a story about the groping problem on the Boston ?T?. For those of you who would like to review, you can find the posting here. Well, the problem continues. On Friday, Carlos D. of Dorchester (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) was arrested...
Harrowing Drive To Boston Leads Alleged Sex Crime Carjacker To Court, Defense Attorney And Incarceration
Posted on March 09, 2009Last week, he was trying to get to Boston. Now, he is in Bridgewater. The state hospital, that is, for a mental evaluation. He was not going to make it to his desired location anyway. The prosecuting attorney already convinced the court to hold him without bail...
North Of Boston Driver Finds That The Alcohol ? Cocaine-Driving Combination Makes Prosecuting Attorneys Unhappy
Posted on March 05, 2009Singer Chris Brown to Appear in Court Over Domestic Violence-Related Allegations Involving Pop Star Rihanna
Posted on March 05, 2009The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Views The Remains Of A Boy Charged With Murdering His Brother To Control The Family Drug Trade
Posted on March 04, 2009In South Of Boston, District Attorney Is Disappointed At Sentence For Man Assaulting ?Mouse?, Ripping Its Head Off
Posted on March 03, 2009Chelsea, Massachusetts Court Clerk Charged in Boston Court with Receiving Sexual Favors from Prostitute in Exchange for Dropping Her Case
Posted on February 28, 2009Island To Boston?s South Watches Murder Defendant Who Played ?Lawyer? Go To Trial
Posted on February 27, 2009The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog Welcomes Drugs And Guns Defendant Home
Posted on February 26, 2009Today, we welcome home Germaine G., 30, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?). The Commonwealth has just welcomed him back by awarding him seven and a half years of free room and board. He had actually earned the award when he was convicted four years ago for violating Massachusetts' drug trafficking and firearm laws...
Boston Area Lawyer?s Gambit To Dismiss Sex-Related Charges Against Local Politician Fails?Maybe
Posted on February 25, 2009Bad day for the defense in Lowell Superior Court this past Monday. Just out of Boston is a place called Arlington. Not too long ago, Arlington boasted Senator Jim M. (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) as its local representative. Today, he is no longer a senator...
Three Massachusetts Jurors Ask Judge to Retry Case of Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for 1991 Bombing that Killed a Boston Police Officer
Posted on February 25, 2009In Massachusetts, three of the jurors who helped convict a man for the 1991 bombing that maimed on Boston police officer and murdered another are asking a federal judge to either grant Alfred Trenkler a new trial or free him. Trenkler was convicted in 1993 of making a bomb that killed Boston Police Officer Jeremiah J...
Boston Celebrity And Her Lawyer At The Bar In Drunk Driving Case
Posted on February 24, 2009You know, sometimes the weather gets to everyone. The cold Northeast winters?except for those midwinter days when we get 70 degree weather and then a blizzard the next day. It?s confusing and it could lead a person to drink. And that is basically what happened to Boston?s free-lance meteorologist Melissa B...
Debate Rages Over Sex For Money/Secrecy For Cash Case(United States Attorney Goes After Prostitute For Mistreatment Of Boston Gentleman, Part Two)
Posted on February 23, 2009Federal court in Boston has now seen what could be the final act in the drama of the United States Attorney versus The Hooker Who Would Extort. Michelle Robinson (hereinafter, the ?Defendant? ) has pleaded guilty to the Massachusetts white collar crime of extortion in return for a rather unusual sentence...
United States Attorney Goes After Prostitute For Mistreatment Of Boston Gentleman, Part One
Posted on February 18, 2009Hey, guess what? It turns out there are law enforcement officials in Boston who Believe that there are actually crimes more heinous than prostitution! Today, we salute the local United States Attorney?s Office for deciding that extortion is worse than the world?s oldest profession...
South Of Boston District Attorney?s Office Policy Means A Decade In Prison For Drugs And Guns Defendant
Posted on February 17, 2009The new changes in the Massachusetts drug laws will not help one gentleman from Fall River. It might not happen in Boston, but New Bedford?s District Attorney has a policy that means bad news for defendants possessing drugs and guns. The result? A decade behind bars...
Boston Radio Host Pleads Not Guilty to Massachusetts Charges of Running a Red Light and Driving with a Revoked License
Posted on February 17, 2009In Framingham District Court, WTKK radio host and Boston Herald op-ed columnist Michael Graham attended his arraignment today where he pleaded not guilty to charges of running a red light and driving with a revoked license. Graham was apprehended on Friday as he was headed to work...
Boston State Police Drop Appeal For Traffic Violation, Ending Defense Attorney?s Confusion
Posted on February 16, 2009Welcome to Boston, Massachusetts, where there dwells, according to MSNBC-TV commentator Keith Olbermann, his ?Worst Person in the World.? (video available at http://blogofbile.com/tag/michael-galluccio/). He is State Trooper Michel G. (hereinafter, ?PO Nobreak?)...
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Says Juvenile Offenders Can?t Be Held An Extra Three Years After Turning 18
Posted on February 14, 2009In Massachusetts, the Supreme Judicial Court has struck down a law that lets the state keep juvenile offenders that it considers dangerous for another three years after they turn 18. Under Massachusetts? extended commitment law, the Department of Youth Services is allowed to hold juveniles until age 21...
Will The Boston District Attorney Prosecute A Police Officer For Sex Crimes And Peeing On Family?
Posted on February 13, 2009Brewster police officer Joseph H. (hereinafter, ?Officer Openfly?) went to a Metallica concert on January 18th. That?s ok?they?re allowed to do that. But the force tends to frown upon things like exposing oneself and urinating on families. So do Suffolk County detectives and, presumably, assistant district attorneys...
Boston Youth (And His Mom) Defended For Assault And Battery On Police Officer By Some Lucky Defense Attorneys
Posted on February 12, 2009Young Omar B., 17, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is a lad from Hyde Park in Boston. Saturday, he was driving in Dedham. He had a bit of an adventure. His adventure has not fully ended yet. It has transformed into a criminal justice adventure as learned on Monday, in court, needing a lawyer...
Boston?s Supreme Judicial Court Upholds Prosecuting Attorney?s Refusal To Prosecute Sex Crime
Posted on February 11, 2009Here?s something you don?t see every day...a prosecuting attorney who has to go to Boston?s Supreme Judicial Court to back him up in not prosecuting someone! Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone has refused to prosecute former state Senator James Marzilli for an alleged assault of an Arlington woman last April...
Boston Student Held Without Bail Despite Attorney?s Attempts
Posted on February 10, 2009This past weekend, there was a party on the campus of Amherst College. There was a little trouble. The result? One youth lies in a hospital bed recovering from multiple stab wounds. Another, Marcus S., 21 of Boston (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?), actually a student of University of Massachusetts, appeared in court yesterday as his lawyer tried to get him released on bail...
February ?09 Gets Early Recognition As ?Weapons Gathering Month? By The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
Posted on February 09, 2009This February began as ?Weapons Gathering Month? as far as local police are concerned. We return to two warnings often read in the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog. Namely...(1) different law enforcements agencies communicate and (2) you do not get advance notice that an investigation is going on...
DNA Evidence Exonerates Man of Rape Conviction 10 Years After His Death
Posted on February 09, 200924 years after he was convicted of raping a college student, Timothy Cole was finally exonerated of the crime. Last week, a judge ordered that Cole?s criminal record be expunged after DNA evidence proved that he was innocent, as he has always maintained...
Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog?s Bad Week For Law Enforcement Ends As It Began, With Assaults On Police Officers
Posted on February 06, 2009This week, the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog ends its week as it began?with stories which demonstrate dangers faced by law enforcement and defendants applying to the ?Hey, I?ll Bet I Can Make This Situation Worse? club. Today, we have tales out of Springfield where two police officers suffered injuries Wednesday night while making two unrelated routine arrests...
Madoff Associate And Lawyer Come To Boston As Fraud Probe(s) Continue
Posted on February 05, 2009As the ?Madoff Wars?, fought by investigators, attorneys and accountants, rage, score one for lawyers of the Commonwealth. They finally got Robert Jaffe, a crucial witness to Madoff?s operation, to the Hub where he finally spoke to regulators. The result? Boston regulators are ramping up a probe into Bernard Madoff?s alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme...
Boston-Area Lawyer Struggles To Prepare For Dangerousness Hearing After Client Is Found With Weapons And Assaults Neighbors
Posted on February 04, 2009Nikita R. 50, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) lived in the near the City of Boston...Arlington, in fact. Until this week, he was perhaps an average-looking man who you might pass on the street and give a friendly nod to. His neighbors knew him mostly as a quiet guy who smoked cigarettes on his porch...
The Battle Between Cruisers And Drivers Continue, Inside And Out Of Boston On A One-Way Road To The Defense Attorney
Posted on February 03, 2009This Massachusetts Dangerous Driving tale did not begin in Boston?it did not even begin in Massachusetts. But it ended there. In Springfield. In court. With a defense lawyer by his side trying to explain why his out-of-state allegedly reckless client should go home after his arraignment...
Former Coast Guard?s Massachusetts Rape Trial Begins this Week
Posted on February 03, 2009The Massachusetts rape trial of former Coast Guard officer David Pierce is set to begin this week. Pierce is accused of raping the same woman five times in 2005. Pierce?s criminal defense attorney claims that the sex between the client and the woman was consensual and that the two of them were involved in some sort of relationship that year...
Boston-area Law Enforcement Endangered By Drivers Needing Defense Lawyers
Posted on February 02, 2009It has been a difficult and dangerous time for Boston-area police officers. While perhaps not intentional, recent tragedies and near-tragedies remind us that some of those we represent as defense attorneys often endanger not only themselves, but everyone around them when driving dangerously...
Convicted Massachusetts Rapist Claims He Isn?t A Pedophile
Posted on January 31, 2009In an interview with the Patriot Ledger, convicted Massachusetts Level 3 sex offender Alvin B. Fields Jr. says he is not a danger to his community. Fields, a Plymouth resident, appeared in Plymouth District Court last week after he was apprehended for taking his clothes off in front of an Old Navy at a Massachusetts mall...
Boston District Attorney Decides Not To Press Charges For Detainie?s Death
Posted on January 30, 2009Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley has decided not to press charges against Boston Police officers in the case of David W., the 22-year-old Emmanuel College student (hereinafter, the ?Deceased? who died after being arrested in June during Boston Celtics championship celebrations...
Yesterday?s Boston-Area Shooter Found And Set To Meet Lawyer And Judge Today
Posted on January 29, 2009This time it was not a post office or in the city of Boston. It was a Cambridge supply company where two employees did not get along. Clyde H. 65, of Brookline (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is now accused ending the feud by killing his adversary, Marurice R, 33, (hereinafter, the ?Victim?)...
Boston Federal Judge chastises United States Attorney For Misconduct
Posted on January 28, 2009The chief judge of the Boston ?s local United States District Court is threatening to sanction a federal prosecutor for what he characterized as the latest "egregious failure" of the United States Attorney's office to disclose evidence that could have helped clear a defendant...
Boston Secretary Of State Tells Madoff Associate To Visit; Attorney Says ?Nope?.
Posted on January 27, 2009..And now, let?s check in with the Bernard Madoff case, as we periodically do in this daily blog. You remember 70-year-old Bernie?admitted white collar criminal mastermind of the Boston-created Ponzi scheme that ended up bilking about fifty billion dollars from philanthropies, hospitals, rich people, poor people, charities, etc...
Framingham Judge Wants DA?s Office to Retry 2006 Drunk Driving Case Because of Possible Judicial Misconduct
Posted on January 27, 2009Framingham Judge Robert Greco wants the district attorney?s office to retry a 2006 Massachusetts drunk driving case because he says there is evidence that judicial misconduct took place. Earlier this month, Greco denied the DA?s motion to reconsider this order...
Youtube Video And Victim?s Appearence Help Defendant And His Lawyer To Decide Against Boston-Area Trial
Posted on January 26, 2009Last March, Pittsfield Police encountered a scene which one might expect in the city of Boston, but not way out in Pittsfield. But crime does not really respect such boundaries. In this case, law enforcement met unsuccessful shooter, Sammy S., 30, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?)...
Defense Lawyer Plans ?Vigorous Defense? In Murder, Rape, Assault And Hatred Case Just Outside Of Boston
Posted on January 23, 2009Today?s daily blog is actually a follow-up to yesterday?s blog, entitled, ?Homicides, Assaults, Rape And Carnage In Shooting Spree One Hour South Of Boston ?. Yesterday, I told you about the events which were reported in the streets of Brockton earlier in the week, made a few brief predictions and expressed sympathy for the accused?s attorney in any attempt to argue for his client?s release...
Homicides, Assaults, Rape And Carnage In Shooting Spree One Hour South Of Boston
Posted on January 22, 2009Kieth L, 22, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?), described by the Boston Herald as a ?mama?s boy? is in big trouble today. He is scheduled to stand before a judge in Brockton Court. At this very moment, his attorney is wondering what he can say to get his client out on bail...
Appeals Court Delays Director Roman Polanski?s Hearing on Whether to Dismiss 1978 Child Rape Case Against Him
Posted on January 22, 2009An appeals court has issued a stay on proceedings to determine whether to dismiss Academy Award-winning film director Roman Polanski?s bid to have a 31-year-old sex with a minor case dismissed. The 75-year-old filmmaker?s criminal defense team claims there is new, uncontested evidence of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct that deprived the 75-year-old filmmaker of his statutory and constitutional rights...
Unusual Drug Bust Outside Of Boston No Laughing Matter
Posted on January 21, 2009It was not downtown Boston, but downtown Northampton that hosted a concert featuring a jam band known as the Disco Biscuits, resulting in fourteen arrests. The somewhat unusual scene apparently led suspects laughing all the way to meeting their attorneys at Northhampton District Court where they were advised of their charges...
Boston Arrest For Sexual Assault On ?T? Train
Posted on January 20, 2009When I returned to Boston as a defense attorney from New York, where I had been on the other side of the aisle, I discovered a few differences between daily in Beantown and the Apple. One of these was the subway experience. While in New York, the experience could be compared to an excursion through the land of ?Wearehostileville?, The ?T? was much more calm?much more safe...
Boston Shooting Defendants? Attorneys Are Successful At Getting Lower Sentences And The Fury Of The Police Department
Posted on January 16, 2009It began in early January, 2008, when three Boston men were brought to court, introduced to defense lawyers and advised of charges against them. The charges included shooting at a Brockton police officer during a chase from Brockton into Quincy. As is usually the case, the police had won the chase and Salomao T...
In Two Separate Massachusetts Child Abuse Cases, Babysitters Sought for Allegedly Harming Two 4-Month-Old Infants
Posted on January 16, 2009Police in Norwood are searching for woman they say is a suspect in a Massachusetts child abuse case involving an infant. The 4-month-baby sustained a damaged rib, a fractured skull, and three broken vertebrae from the alleged incident. Now, law enforcement offices have put out a warrant of arrest for the baby?s babysitter, Sueli Soares...
Boston Appeals Court Finds Defense Lawyer in Drive-By Shooting Case Ineffective
Posted on January 15, 2009On Tuesday, the state Appeals Court, located in Boston, granted Adam N. (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?)?s appeal and Ordered that he receive a hearing in a drive-by shooting case in which he had been convicted in 2004. The basis of the ruling was that he had been deprived of a fair trial because his attorney was ?ineffective?...
Murder Trial Finally Begins After North Of Boston Lawyer And Doctors Examine Client And Her Statements
Posted on January 14, 2009As a defense lawyer, one occasionally handles cases that seemingly will not end. Through my years in Boston and environs, I have had more than my share. This case was probably regarded as one of those cases. 62- year-old Kathleen H. (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is finally going to trial...
Boston Area Police Officers Approve Of Defense Attorneys When Facing Charges Of White Collar Crimes And Drunk Driving
Posted on January 13, 2009So far, 2009 has been an active year for certain Boston-area law enforcement officials in terms of legal problems. Take for example Stoughton?s police chief, Manuel, C., 57 (hereinafter, ?Defendant 1?), this week appearing beside his defense attorney, standing trial on white collar charges that he tried to use his authority to threaten a former Stoughton businessman in April 2002 to drop a complaint of misconduct against a former police sergeant...
New Bedford Man Charged with Killing His Ex-Girlfriend and Mother and Kidnapping 12-Year-Old Girl Has Prior Assault and Battery Convictions
Posted on January 13, 2009The Boston Herald is reporting that the New Bedford man charged with the murders of his mother and ex-girlfriend and in the kidnapping of a 12-year-old daughter has previous criminal convictions going back as far as 1992. Gary Gomes was arrested and charged last week after the two women?s bodies were discovered...
Sex And The Boston Teacher Mean Business For Courts And The Criminal Lawyers As Rape Charges Are Filed
Posted on January 12, 2009Police say Christine M., 29, a Boston teacher (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?), was instructing one particular student in areas not on any approved curriculum. In fact, she apparently did so for almost two years and is said to have done it more than 300 times...
Boston's Attorney General Targets Harassment And Hate Crimes
Posted on January 09, 2009Yesterday?s daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog talked about ?Road Rage?. I even mentioned ?Domestic Violence? cases. Today, we hit their cousin, ?Hate Crimes?. Hate Crimes is another category which brings extra focus on a case which otherwise might be a typical assault, threats or other such case...
Recent Celebrity DUI Arrests Include Charles Barkley and Sam Shepherd
Posted on January 09, 2009The year 2009 has just began, and already, there are already a couple of celebrity DUI arrests in the police record books. On New Year?s Eve, television commentator and former basketball star Charles Barkley was arrested in Arizona on suspicion of drunk driving after he ran a stop sign...
Boston-area Driving Leads To Weapons, Violence, Jail And Defense Lawyers
Posted on January 08, 2009Driving around Boston and environs during the winter months can be an adventure. We know that the storms are coming?they tell us the storms are coming?yet we seem to be taken by surprise when streets are slippery. Perhaps it is because we are often already angry when we are dealing with traffic issues...
Boston Watches As Bernard Madoff?s Criminal Lawyer Tries To Keep Him Out Of Custody
Posted on January 07, 2009?Meanwhile, back in the Bernard Madoff (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) drama, Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis awaits written argument from the Defendant?s criminal lawyer as to why his client should not be incarcerated while awaiting trial for his artful recreation of the Boston ? originated ?Ponzi Scheme?...
Boston Area Ex-Cop threatens to kill police and winds up on the side of the aisle with the defense lawyer
Posted on January 06, 2009Yesterday, it was a former Boston police officer who found himself on the other side of the criminal justice aisle needing a criminal lawyer. Ex-Boston Police Officer Isaac T., 43, of Arlington (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) ?s legal problems began in the early morning hours of this past Saturday when he was allegedly observed to be drunk and carrying a BPD badge and a loaded 9 mm handgun when he was arrested at a Dorchester bar...
Metro Boston Fugitive Sought For Assault Survives To Face A Judge And Hire A Lawyer
Posted on January 05, 2009Boston-area police were worried that they were going to have another death on their hands. Hosea R., 33, of Newton (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?), was being sought after beating a woman in her West Roxbury home early Saturday. As he eluded police, they worried he might end up needing a coroner instead of a lawyer as they feared he would try to commit ?suicide by cop?...
Samuel?s Take: A Boston Drunk Driving Verdict From An Experienced Defense Lawyer?s Files
Posted on January 02, 2009Happy new year to you all. In each daily installment of the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, I tell you that, should you have reason to believe that someone is mentally measuring you for a pair of the Commonwealth?s bracelets of shame and a warm cell, you should engage an experienced criminal defense attorney...
Investigations Continue Into Robberies And Murder ? Boston Police Give One Suspect Video Fame, The Other Cuffs And A Lawyer
Posted on December 31, 2008As 2008 comes to a close, the Boston Police Department are still pursuing suspects, wherever they might be. Two such investigations have focused a spotlight on those sought in attempts to give them a warm place to stay for the holidays and a lawyer to talk to for company...
Defendant?s Lawyer Argues That Boston Area Client Who Killed Boyfriend Is The Victim
Posted on December 30, 2008Slightly north of Boston, this week began with another romantic entanglement that spilled into the halls of justice. This time, it was substantially more tragic than our tale in yesterday?s daily blog. This time, somebody died. The prosecutor says that the killer is a criminal...
Boston Area Nanny Accused Of Kidnapping Baby, But It Is Not Her Who Needs The Criminal Lawyer
Posted on December 29, 2008It may be that the Boston area is simply a dangerous place for a nanny. Several years ago, we had that case in Cambridge where a British nanny was accused (and, actually, convicted) of killing a baby. The case made international headlines. She did have an extremely experienced criminal lawyer on her side and...
Pelham, Massachusetts Police Chief Pleads Not Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter in 8-Year-old?s Uzi Death
Posted on December 28, 2008Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of the Christopher Bizilj. The boy, 8, died after he accidentally shot himself with an Uzi at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo in Westfield, Massachusetts...
Call His Defense Attorney - Outside Boston Warrant Collector Is Back!
Posted on December 26, 2008You know, it is not just Metro Boston law enforcement who know how to investigate. They are all trained to do it. That is why I keep telling you not to try to outwit them because you are not likely to succeed. Keep quiet, comply and get a criminal defense lawyer...
Love, Drugs, Sex, And Violence Outside Of Boston ? Defense Attorney?s Needed
Posted on December 24, 2008Lack of good judgment, while not a crime in itself, easily causes arrests. Here are two stories from the Boston area which illustrate this point and show how bad judgment can be expensive in the way of time, money, stress and the overall need for a defense attorney...
North Of Boston, A Convicted Drunk Driver Believes She Has Gotten A Gift?But Turns Out To Need A Defense Attorney To Go Along With It
Posted on December 23, 2008North of Boston, Evelyn C., 74, (hereinafter the ?Defendant?) thought she had reason to celebrate. Instead, she found that the gift she thought received from the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) necessitated a little something extra?namely, a criminal defense lawyer You see, like many of us, she was driving around the morning of December 17th...
North Of Boston Gentleman Possesses Weapons That Any Defense Attorney Could Have Told Him He Was Not Allowed To Posess After A History Beating People With Them
Posted on December 22, 2008How did you begin your weekend? I began mine by driving to court in Boston, doing other lawyer-like things at the office and then running home to ?hunker down?, as the radio told me to do, because of the impending snow. I also dug out my car a couple dozen times...
16-Year-Old Massachusetts Murder Victim?s 13-Year-Old Half Brother is One of the Suspects Charged with His Slaying
Posted on December 21, 2008In Massachusetts, two Cape Cod teenagers and an adult were arrested for the murder of 16-year-old Jordan Mendes. Kevin Ribiero and Mykel Mendes, who are both 13, were charged with armed robbery and murder in juvenile court. Robert Vacher, 20, was charged with armed robbery and first-degree murder as an adult...
The Love-lorn North Of Boston Come To Blows And Need Defense Attorneys
Posted on December 19, 2008In the north of Boston, there is a little city called Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is a fun place with its own claims to excitement. A number of years ago, for example, we used to hang people for being witches. Next to Salem, is Lynn. Perhaps for more mundane reasons, Lynn tends to be a rather exciting place to live too as we have discussed in the this daily blog many times...
Haleigh Poutre?s Stepdad is Sentenced to 12 ? 15 Years in Prison for Assault and Battery Convictions Related to Massachusetts Child Abuse Case
Posted on December 19, 2008In Massachusetts, the stepfather of 14-year-old Haleigh Poutre was sentenced to 12 ? 15 years in state prison for his role in a near fatal 2005 beating that left the girl in a coma and with a permanent brain injury. Jason Strickland, 34, was convicted of two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault and battery on a child with substantial injury, and one count of assault and battery...
A Man And A Scam Have Brought Boston?s Philanthropic Community, Among Others, To Its Knees And So We Seek Additional Targets For Blame And Sources Of Money. Break Out The Defense Attorneys! (The Madoff Nightmare, Part Two)
Posted on December 18, 2008Let the games begin! As local as Boston and as distant as the globe will reach! The adventure of pointing fingers and looking for bodies to blame, as expected, has begun. Defense Attorneys for everybody! Everybody pays! Bernard Madoff (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?), talking in 2001 about what fed the Internet bubble said "You had a lot of novice investors who got into the market looking for easy money, without any regard to the fundamentals...
Plainville Man to be Charged in Massachusetts High School Senior Taylor Meyer?s Drinking Death
Posted on December 17, 2008In Massachusetts, Plainville investigators are seeking to charge a 19-year-old man with purchasing alcohol as a minor and procuring alcohol for a minor. According to Plainville Police Lt. Jim Alfred, Brian Zuzick is alleged to have asked a 21-year-old North Attleboro friend to buy alcohol for Zuzick?s sister Paige and 17-year-old Taylor Meyer...
Boston Is Hit, Along With The Rest Of The Country, By Financial Guru And His Use Of A Boston-Originated Method Of Fraud (The Madoff Nightmare Part One)
Posted on December 16, 2008This holiday season, so many religions and traditions call for gift-giving. Sometimes, those gifts are a big surprise. One gentleman from out of state has been given a surprise gift from the government because of the gifts he has given throughout the country, including the Boston area, big time...
SamuelsTake: Boston Criminal Lawyer Sends Regrets
Posted on December 15, 2008Good Monday morning to you, Boston and environs. I hope you are free, recovered from last week's ice storms and ready to begin a new week. Hopefully you are greeting another week without the need for a criminal defense attorney. Yet. Unfortunately, there will be no "regular" blog today...
North Of Boston Does Its Best To Catch Up To Boston Proper?s Busy Drug Trade
Posted on December 12, 2008Taghi T., 28, of Boston, (hereinafter, ?Defendant 1?) was awaiting his mail on Wednesday. He did not realize that a criminal defense attorney would need to be involved. Apparently, he should have. Law Enforcement had intercepted the parcel and when Defendant 1 went to UPS in downtown Boston to claim it, he received the Commonwealth Bracelets of Shame instead...
Massachusetts State Trooper And Proclaimed Scourge Of Drunk Drivers Accused Of Brutality And Perjury
Posted on December 11, 2008The Boston Herald reports about what are generally considered a couple of those ?dirty little secrets? about the Justice System. They involve rather inconvenient truths that are particularly disconcerting, and so tend to be ignored, in the criminal justice arena...
Massachusetts Robbery Attempts, With And Without Weapons, Continue To Rise?And Sometimes Fail
Posted on December 10, 2008Reports say that robberies are on the rise. I suppose that is not a big surprise, given the economic downturn we are dealing with. Some of the attempts do have some entertainment value, though. For example, let?s begin with such an attempt from earlier this very week...
Massachusetts Gun Club And Police Chief Among Those Indicted For Young Child?s Homicide
Posted on December 09, 2008Maybe we are taking the wrong approach when a juvenile brings a gun to school. After all, especially after the rash of teen-aged rampages at schools, where people were murdered, we have taken the child/gun combination very seriously. Maybe this has been a mistake...
Massachusetts Bank Robbery Suspects Continue To Engage Police In High Speed Chases And Win? Larger Criminal Sentences
Posted on December 08, 2008Happy Monday. How did you start your weekend? I hear a lot of people went shopping. At Altman & Altman, LLP., we moved our offices next door. In Fitchburg, Massachusetts, a gentleman had a high speed chase with an officer. As usual, he did not win...
OJ Simpson Sentenced to at Least Nine Years in Prison for Armed Robbery
Posted on December 07, 2008Former football great OJ Simpson has been sentenced to up to 33 years in prison?with the possibility of parole after 9 years?for his involvement in an armed dispute at a Las Vegas hotel. On October 3?13 years to the day that the 61-year-old was acquitted of murdering his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman?Simpson was convicted of 12 charges of armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to kidnap...
Massachusetts Is On The Go With Assaults, Drugs And Captive Audiences
Posted on December 05, 2008A new year is just about dawning! There is a new administration coming in to lead the country! Even our Cambridge office is moving (next door)! Let?s face it, people are on the go! And, as goes ?the people?, so goes the criminal justice system. For example, let?s look at the case of the ?Traveling Brawl Show? which opened its tents this week...
Boston Ex-Firefighter Faces New Charges In Violating Restraining Order And Is Sent To Jail
Posted on December 04, 2008You know, I really hate to beat up on anybody. I really don?t want to be mean. But when the same guy keeps popping up with new charges and seems to be pushing for czar of the ?Hey, I?ll Bet I Can Make This Situation Worse? Club?s newest section, ?How Far Can I Push Things Before They Just Lock Me Up??, I really have to make comment...
Jennifer Hudson?s Brother-In-Law Charged with Murdering her Mother, Nephew, and Brother
Posted on December 03, 2008The criminal defense attorney of William Balfour, Jennifer Hudson?s estranged brother-in-law, says his client is not guilty of killing the Oscar winner?s mother, nephew, and brother. Balfour was formally charged this week with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Hudson?s mother Darnell Donerson, her brother Jason Hudson, and her nephew Julian King, as well as one count of home invasion...
Multiple Fraud Suspect In Boston Red Sox Scheme Is Retired
Posted on December 03, 2008You know, Massachusetts is not the only state with laws against fraud. It does turn out to be local news, though, when the Commonwealth?s favorite, if sometimes controversial, team is used in the scam. Charles P., 38, of Jamestown, Rhode Island (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is in a bit of Red Sox-related trouble...
Massachusetts Drunk Driver Assaults Police And Faces Charges Of Attempted Murder
Posted on December 02, 2008Sometimes it?s the opposite of a chase?! Yesterday?s daily blog focused on police chases and attempts by defendants to get away from the scene of the alleged crime. But in Weston, on Route 117 early Saturday morning, Joaovitor R, 18, of Watertown (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is said to have driven right into two police officers...
Massachusetts Alleged Drunk Drivers And Robbers - Escape Statistics Are In: You Are Losing
Posted on December 01, 2008North Attleboro, Massachusetts, had more than its fair share of attempted escapes from law enforcement last week. Two such cases graced the hallowed halls of Attleboro District Court last Friday. One case involved some teenagers who led the police on a high-speed chase into the welcoming arms of Rhode Island...
Massachusetts Mother Held For Making Death Threats Against The Court and DSS Workers
Posted on November 28, 2008Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, there are a few families for whom this holiday season has not begun so well. Let?s turn to Hampshire, Massachusetts, for example. On Wednesday, as the rest of us prepared for family gatherings and big dinners, Debra B...
Samuel?s take: A Massachusetts Thanksgiving Criminal Justice View To The Past
Posted on November 27, 2008Today is Thanksgiving. While the daily criminal law blog goes on, this is not a day o concentrate on the problems of criminal justice. Instead, let?s gain some brief optimistic perspective. From whence have we come? Some of the particular crimes and punishments make today?s laws look pretty liberal...
North And South Of Boston, Sex Trade Stings Are In Full Swing
Posted on November 26, 2008As we near Thanksgiving, we look around for reasons to be thankful. True, economic times are tough and getting tougher. However, it would appear that all the violent crimes and drug dealing in Lynn, Massachusetts, has been stopped. No more guns rape, robbery or murder...
Massachusetts Assault Defendant Held Without Bail For Disobeying Court Order
Posted on November 25, 2008Angel R., 43, a former Springfield firefighter (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) has been having a bad time of it lately. In July, he was arrested in connection with a fight with another gentleman. Well, it allegedly involved alittle more than a simple fight; his fellow combatant, hereinafter referred to as ?slashed?, ended up cut up through use of a box cutter...
Massachusetts Juveniles Bring Weapons To School, Assault Students And Are Prosecuted
Posted on November 24, 2008When I was a kid, we had a thing called ?show and tell? in which you could bring in something you thought was ?cool? to show the class and maybe play with when the teacher was not looking. It was fun. For some reason, it never occurred to me to bring a weapon in to play with...
Prosecutors File Motion to Dismiss One 1st Degree Murder Charge Against 8-Year-Old Boy Accused of Shooting His Father and Another Man
Posted on November 23, 2008Prosecutors on Friday filed a motion to dismiss one of the 1st degree murder charges against the 8-year-old boy who is accused of shooting his father and another victim. The boy?s father, Vincent Romero, and Tim Romans, Romero?s roommate, died from injuries they sustained in the shooting...
Boston Intoxicated Driver Said To Speed Through Massachusetts Town
Posted on November 21, 2008Sean G., 20, of Roslindale (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) was out for a drive early Wednesday morning. Normally, that might not pose so much of a problem. However, this time was different. You see, according to the police, the Defendant was drunk. Upon further investigation, he was apparently not even supposed to be driving the car in the first place...
Massachusetts Department Of Corrections Official Accused Of Stealing Guns And Money
Posted on November 20, 2008You know, some people just belong in jail. And some people are in jail?working for the jail. Well, at least they were?! Take Gary M., 48, of Berkley, a lieutenant with the Department of Correction in Boston (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) for example...
Felony Gun Charges Against Drew Peterson Are Dismissed
Posted on November 20, 2008Felony gun charges against Drew Peterson were dropped today when prosecutors refused to turn over internal files pertaining to their decision to arrest the former police sergeant. Peterson was arrested last May and charged with owning an assault rifle with a barrel shorter than what the state law allows...
Massachusetts Juvenile And Adult Turn To Weapons And Assaults To Handle Emotional Issues
Posted on November 19, 2008Where do people learn such animosity? Today?s daily blog involves two stories that have to do with dysfunctional family situations. We start with a story from Brockton, Massachusetts, where a 15-year old juvenile (hereinafter, ?Juvenile Defendant?) now faces charges for an apparent ?teddybearicide?...
Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson Indicted for Corruption
Posted on November 18, 2008In Boston, a federal grand jury indicted Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson on eight counts of attempted extortion connected to her acceptance of over $20,000 in cash between June 2007 and October 2008. A federal indictment charged Wilkerson with eight counts of attempted extortion under color of official right...
Burglaries Abound Throughout Massachusetts
Posted on November 18, 2008As we drift ever closer to Thanksgiving, it would appear that some people are ready to name the pre-holiday weeks as Thanks! Taking! In other words, there has been a rash of burglaries throughout the Commonwealth recently. One rather enterprising culprit is believed to have cut a hole into the roof of a pharmacy in Swampscott, Massachusetts, thereafter stealing some prescription drugs...
Assault On Police And Threats Of Violence Alleged At Massachusetts School
Posted on November 17, 2008Remember the old cliché ?The apple does not fall far from the [alleged] tree?? Well, this North Attleboro tree is apparently growing in the local district court on the criminal justice side of the street. Last Thursday, a 48 year-old single mother, (hereinafter, ? Mommy Defendant?), was arrested and ordered to stay away from the North Attleboro Middle and High school after she allegedly threatened the middle school principal...
Drunk Driving In Massachusetts ? Three Stages Of The Criminal Justice Experience
Posted on November 14, 2008As we head into another weekend?edging ever closer to the holiday season?a reminder about one of the more common criminal justice pitfalls which people tend to experience. Namely, drunk driving. Many cases around the subject of Operating Under the Influence have hit the press this past week...
FBI accuses Massachusetts man of lying in terrorist Investigation
Posted on November 13, 2008Today?s daily blog features a gentleman who has experienced a delayed reaction to allegedly not being completely truthful during law enforcement questioning. This time, it was federeal law enforcement. These guys take this stuff very seriously. Statements that Tarek M...
Massachusetts Police Officer Faces Charges Of Sexual Assault
Posted on November 12, 2008Sometimes people pick up bad habits at work. Many chefs turn out to be overweight. Career military folks often need to have their home life overly organized and operational. Many attorneys, like myself, tend not to be able to have a debate with someone without it turning into ?oral argument?...
Former Boston Firefighter Pleads Not Guilt to Charge He Violated Restraining Order
Posted on November 12, 2008During his arraignment in West Roxbury District Court on Tuesday, former Boston firefighter Albert Arroyo pleaded not guilty to charges he violated a restraining order filed by his ex-girlfriend last month. Arroyo was arrested over the weekend after his ex-girlfriend accused him of driving by her residence, calling her multiple times, and hiding behind a door in her apartment building...
Massachusetts Probation For Fraud Is Violated By Assault Charges
Posted on November 11, 2008Today is Veteran?s Day. It is a day for reflection and a day to honor the men and women who have served this country in the trenches of various lands throughout the years. Today?s daily blog looks at a matter occurring inside more local trenches...
Arrests Made During Investigations Concerning Juvenile Alcohol And Drug Traffic North And South Of Boston
Posted on November 10, 2008Friday night was a big night for Massachusetts law enforcement in the prosecution of juvenile alcohol parties and narcotics investigations. In Danvers, An investigator's patience paid off as he sat back and watched an alleged drug deal, stopping the car afterwards...
South And North Of Boston Tales Of Drunk Driving And Providing Alcohol To Minors Come Home To Roost
Posted on November 07, 2008Massachusetts just voted to change the way we handle the prosecution of possessing a small amount of marihuana. Meanwhile, alcohol still seems to be getting its share of publicity as well. Two recent stories bring the subject of alcohol home. No, literally?...
Brookline Couple Enters Not Guilty Plea to Charges They Stole $53,000 in Massachusetts Health Benefits
Posted on November 07, 2008In Massachusetts, Joseph and Jila Youshaei have pleaded not guilty to charges they stole $53,000 in medical coverage from the state. According to court documents filed by Attorney General Martha Coakley?s office, the Brookline couple allegedly claimed they were earning $475/week between 1995 and 2005 when they actually owned a jewelry store, donut shops, a fruit vendor stand, a Boston building, lived in an expensive area, and were worth millions of dollars...
Breaking And Entering And Maybe Drugs Lead To Murder Charges Plus One In Massachusetts
Posted on November 06, 2008This one isn?t so funny. It involves the type of tragedy that happens all the time, particularly in urban areas. Of course, this one has a couple of twists. This wasn?t the big city?it was Winchester, Massachusetts. In a peaceful dead-end street lined with single and multifamily houses where residents have lived for generations...
A Massachusetts Bodybuilding Ex-Boston Firefighter Faces Allegations Of Fraud And Breaking Restraining Orders
Posted on November 05, 2008You know, sometimes, when it rains...it pours. It?s happened to all of us and, now, it is happening to a particular former Boston firefighter. Albert A., 46, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) had enough problems. First of all, he had lost his job as a firefighter after participating in a bodybuilding contest despite claiming he was permanently disabled...
Boston Narcotics Detective Drunk, Assaultive And Indicted Outside The Commonwealth.
Posted on November 03, 2008Well, it just goes to show you?nobody is immune to the criminal justice virus. Ask most members of law enforcement, and they will tell you that there is a big difference between ?us? and ?them?, referring to themselves and the ?perps? they go after on a daily basis...
Massachusetts Man in Wheelchair Was Sitting on Guns, Say Boston Police Following Illegal Weapons Possession Arrest
Posted on November 02, 2008In Massachusetts, Boston police made six arrests in connection with a robbery. One of the men who was apprehended, 22-year-old Edwin J. Prosper, was charged with several counts of unlawful weapons possession after police caught him sitting on three 9mm semiautomatic handguns while in a wheelchair...
Samuel's Take: Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer Discusses Justice System And Witch Trials Of Yesterday And Today
Posted on October 31, 2008Ok, here is the scene: You are home at night with your loved ones. There is a knock on the door. You answer it. It is the police. You ask them what is wrong and they tell you that you assaulted the girl who lives down the street. You know you didn?t, although you do know she has?issues...
Rap Star Dissed By Boston Weapons Check
Posted on October 30, 2008My daughter went to the ?Monster Jam? concert the other night at the Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. I don?t know if it was so named because it took place during Halloween week, but, if so, it was appropriate. She had been excited in the weeks leading up to the show at the prospect of seeing the monster stars that were slated to perform...
Norfolk Teen Arrested in Connection to Fatal Underage Drinking Party
Posted on October 30, 2008In Massachusetts, an arrest has been made in connection to the underage drinking party where 17-year-old Taylor Meyer was last seen. Meyer?s body was found on October 20 following an exhaustive search involving fire, police, and rescue teams. The Plainville teen disappeared on October 17 after leaving the party...
North Of Boston, Halloween Celebration Leads To Charges Of Disorderly Conduct, Resisting Arrest And Assault On A Police Officer
Posted on October 29, 2008In today?s daily blog we continue our Halloween Theme Week with a salute to the festive spirit?including those who do not even wait for the holiday they are celebrating to arrive. ?Tis the season for Halloween celebrations! Parties are almost mandatory for some good old fashion evil-tinged fun...
Massachusetts Police Find Guns, Drugs And Explosives In Pre-Halloween Visit
Posted on October 28, 2008We continue our Halloween-themed week of daily blogs, which will culminate with Friday?s subject of today?s witch-trials, with a frightening tale of unwanted visitors, illegal treats, and a resulting trick. It was last Thursday night in Chicopee, Massachusetts...
Just Outside Massachusetts, Halloween-Style Robbery Starts Early
Posted on October 27, 2008As I travel between our offices in Boston, Cambridge and Salem, I see that the Halloween festivities have begun; each day I notice more and more early revelers prancing around in costume, acting nonchalant and trying to pretend that they always dress that way...
Massachusetts? Domestic Violence Case Involves Weapon And Confession
Posted on October 24, 2008Unfortunately, domestic violence of varying kinds are all too prevalent in today?s society. As a criminal defense lawyer in Boston, I have seen very disturbing situations. I have written many times in this daily blog about how easy it is to get arrested and how sometimes all it takes is to anger the wrong person...
Ex-Boston Sportscaster Arrested for Transportation and Possession of Child Pornography
Posted on October 24, 2008In Massachusetts, former Boston sportscaster Bob Gamere has pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with transportation and possession of child pornography. Federal prosecutors, who arrested the man that once called himself the Great Gamere, are now calling the former ?Candlepins for Cash? host a ?danger to the community...
Massachusetts Criminal Attorney Defeats Drugs And Gun Prosecution
Posted on October 23, 2008?Why??, you demand. I can hear you through the computer screen. Each day for about a month and a half, I have posted this daily blog suggesting that, if you find yourself on the nasty end of an investigation or criminal charge, you should consult an experienced defense lawyer as soon as possible...
Cousin Reveals Massachusetts Drunk Driver Leaving Scene And Attempting Fraud
Posted on October 22, 2008We are now announcing a special ?family plan? for the ?Hey, I?ll Bet I Can Make This Situation Worse? club we have spoken so much of in this daily blog. Lawrence, Massachusetts. July, 2008. A 1997 Honda Civic careens into a fence on Phillips Street...
Boston Red Sox Nation Is Quiet; Assaults, Malicious Destruction and Disorderly Conduct Move To Other Areas
Posted on October 21, 2008?Gee, and it seemed like such a controllable Commonwealth. The Red Sox faced the ultimate test again Sunday night. And failed. Sorry ?bout that. But, Boston officials had braced for any resulting outcry of emotion that might?overflow? into violence; they warned everybody to stay away from Kenmore Square, the area in Boston where exists Fenway Park?home of the Sox...
Prosecutors Dismiss Case Against Britney Spears Following Mistrial in Her Driving Without a Valid License Case
Posted on October 21, 2008Prosecutors say that they are dismissing the criminal case against Britney Spears, who was charged with driving without a valid license. The news comes after a mistrial was declared in her case on Tuesday, following a jury deadlock of 10-2 in favor of acquitting the pop star...
Andover, Massachusetts, Couple Arrested For Internet Crimes Of Harassment, Identity Fraud And Threats
Posted on October 20, 2008The Ten Commandments had a few things to say about interaction with one?s neighbors. It might have been helpful, however, had they mentioned what would later be named ?the internet? and how it would play into things. At least, it might have helped a particular Andover couple...
Drunk Driver, Fifth Offense, Says Prostitute Caused The Accident
Posted on October 17, 2008You know, I think prostitutes are getting a bad rap this week. Yesterday?s daily blog covered a young lady with a record for prostitution being arrest under?curious?circumstances. Today, we examine a case where a prostitute is blamed for something once again?and not for her chosen profession...
North Of Boston, A Robbery Victim Gets Lucky
Posted on October 16, 2008Here is a cautionary tale out of Lynn, Massachusetts, that could have ended much differently. On Monday night, shortly after 10:00pm, Jackeline H., 26, of Haverhill, (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?), earned the Commonwealth?s Bracelets of Shame after an alleged robbery...
Massachusetts Official Is Arrested On Drug Bust
Posted on October 15, 2008This week?s winner of the ?Person Least Likely To Change His Name To ?Defendant? ? has been awarded to an associate member of the Hanover planning board. According to the police, his own, outside, planning board planned to violated certain laws. Drug laws...
Caylee Anthony?s Mother is Indicted for Her Murder
Posted on October 15, 2008The mother of Caylee Anthony, the 3-year-old girl who has been missing since June, has been indicted for her daughter?s murder. Casey Anthony was arrested on Tuesday after police officers saw her switch cars on a highway. An Anthony family spokesperson says that Casey was about to turn herself in to police...
Massachusetts Automobile Insurance Fraud Probe Yields White Collar Record Breakers
Posted on October 14, 2008Have you ever wondered how seriously insurance companies take the possibility of fraudulent claims? In Lawrence, Massachusetts, the city?s auto insurance fraud task force brought charges against nine people last week?all involving the very same two-car accident...
Massachusetts Trespassers, Thieves And Adventurers Face variety Of Criminal Charges West and South Of Boston
Posted on October 13, 2008Today is Columbus Day. As we honor the adventurer who is celebrated as the man who discovered America (although other people were already living here at the time), I think it appropriate that we recognize other valiant efforts at similar discoveries...
Four Framingham Teens Arrested for Smoking Marijuana
Posted on October 12, 2008In Massachusetts, four teenagers from Framingham High School were arrested on Monday after they were caught smoking marijuana behind the school. The teens are four boys, ages 14, 16, and two 15-year-olds. They were charged with marijuana possession and released to their parents custody...
Massachusetts Driver On Probation Faces Third Round Of Charges For Operating Under The Influence
Posted on October 10, 2008David K., 38, of Hamilton, Massachusetts (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) is getting points for consistency ? negative points. He has just been arrested for his third alleged occasion of driving under the influence. In fact, he also faces bonus points for violating probation because of the arrest...
Disorderly Massachusetts Man Gambles And Loses With US Airways
Posted on October 08, 2008Ever get frustrated at the airport? Maybe the unusual experience of a delayed flight inconvenienced you. Perhaps you did not like the meal. It could be there was no meal. Believe it or not, I have even heard of extreme instances where flights were actually cancelled! If any of these events happen to you?...
Massachusetts Rape Cases Involving Young Victims Continue to Make Headlines
Posted on October 08, 2008In Massachusetts on Tuesday, Medford resident Philip Duffy was sentenced to a life sentence plus 10 to 12 years for the rape of two deaf girls. At his criminal trial last August, Duffy, 48, was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child younger than 14, five counts of indecent assault and battery on a person older than 14, and posing a child in a nude state...
Outstanding Warrants Come Back To Haunt Massachusetts Resident
Posted on October 07, 2008William Shakespeare once told us that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. His point was ?What?s in a name?? A gentleman from Chicopee, Massachusetts, apparently agrees with him. In Chicopee, he is known as Felix Maldonado. In Waterbury, Connecticut, however, he was known as Alfredo ?Eddie? Gonzalez...
Boston Driver Creates New Lane And Chaos On Route 93, Adding Multiple Charges To Operating Under the Influence
Posted on October 06, 2008It would seem that some people are never satisfied. Now that ?The Big Dig? is completed, one particular driver was unhappy with the lanes created by the extensive project. Her solution was apparently to create a ?speedy-reverse lane?. Siobhan H, 21 years of age and Norwood of residence (hereinafter, the ?Defendant?) was in court this past Friday facing various charges for her ingenuity...
Massachusetts Police And Prosecutor Are Accused Of Abusing Trust For Sex And Money
Posted on October 03, 2008It is almost as if members of law enforcement have been reading this daily blog and decided to help me illustrate one of its chief lessons. The lesson? Anybody can find themselves facing criminal charges...even someone you least expect. Maybe even you...
Massachusetts Sex Offender With Weapon Said To Be Violent Or Selfless...Depending On The Circumstances
Posted on October 02, 2008"Uncle Marky?, as he is known to Cape Cod children is in trouble again. He got shot by a Harwich police officer Monday night. Court and police records describe Marcus M, whose last name has again been changed to ?Defendant? as a violent and troubled soul...
Western Massachusetts Runners Attempt To Escape Arrests For Shoplifting, Possession Of Stolen Automobile and Parole Violation This Weekend
Posted on September 29, 2008The ?wild west? has long been associated with images of folks making their own rules and bravely trying to tame the frontier. It would appear that two Western Massachusetts gentlemen had similar attitudes?although, according to the police, their actions would be more aligned with untaming than taming the area...
Danvers Teenager Will Serve15 Months In Prison For Head-On Crash that Killed Elderly Massachusetts Woman
Posted on September 28, 2008In Massachusetts, Buck Bishop, the then-18-year-old Danvers teenager who fatally struck 73-year-old Peabody resident Joyce Oliver and injured a Boston-area couple while driving to a methadone clinic last year, has been ordered to serve a 15-month-prison sentence...
Massachusetts Judge Suspends Half of Prison Sentence After Danvers Teen Pleads Guilty to Midsdemeanor Vehicular Homicide for Head-On Crash That Killed Elderly Peabody Woman
Posted on September 28, 2008In Massachusetts, Buck Bishop, the then-18-year-old Danvers teenager who fatally struck 73-year-old Peabody resident Joyce Oliver and injured a Boston-area couple while driving to a methadone clinic last year, has been ordered to serve a 15-month-prison sentence...
Massachusetts Assault Defendant Goes Criminal Justice AWOL
Posted on September 26, 2008Almost everyone necessary showed up in the Hampden Superior Court in Springfield the other day. The jury was ready for the reading of the verdict. Judge McDonald was there. Assistant District Attorney Morse was in the courtroom. Defense attorney Stamm was sitting, albeit lonely, at her seat...
Insurance Fraud And Other White Collar Crime Alleged In Salem, Massachussets
Posted on September 25, 2008Yesterday?s Salem News told of 31 year old Peabody resident Tyler P. According to prosecutors, he is an enterprising young man with a taste for some of the nicer things in life. Unfortunately, they also claim that his methods of financing such things were not so nice...
Weekend Drivers Influenced By Drugs And Alcohol Said To Terrorize Massachusetts Streets
Posted on September 24, 2008This past weekend was apparently a dangerous time to be on the streets of Massachusetts?at least in Amherst and Milford, Massachusetts. Let?s take Saturday night in Amherst for example. Kevin Michael Smith, 26, of Chicopee, was allegedly seen by police officers operating a motorcycle on Southeast Street at a high rate of speed...
US Senate Passes Bill that Would Update Cyber Crime Laws
Posted on September 24, 2008The US Senate has passed a bill that would update the country?s laws related to cyber crimes. The legislation, known as the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act is tougher on cyber criminals and gives victims of identity theft an opportunity to sue for damages...
Sex For Money For Drugs Drama Has Its Final Act This Friday In Springfield, Massachusetts
Posted on September 23, 2008Last Wednesday, a Hampden Superior Court jury returned with a verdict in a case of alleged unarmed robbery of a person 60 years old or older. The cast of this particular drama included two defendants. They were Aretha Hallums, 40, and Donald Alford, 55...
Fruitlands Museum Files Complaint In Worcester, Massachusetts, Claiming A Family Of Bad Apples Embezzled Over One Million Dollars
Posted on September 22, 2008Did you have a nice weekend? A few Museum Patrons in Hollis, New Hampshire didn?t. According to Friday?s news, a lawsuit has been filed against in Worcester Superior Court that is likely only the tip of the legal iceberg of their problems. Fruitlands Museum has filed a lawsuit against former chief operating officer Peggy Kempton and her children for allegedly embezzling more than $1 million during the past eight years...
Threats Made At A Massachusetts College Result In Investigation And Arrest
Posted on September 19, 2008Last February, it would appear that the political scene at Bridgewater State College got a bit heated. Bomb and death threats began being posted around campus. On September 2nd, 2008, as the country?s major parties were celebrating their conventions, a former Parliamentarian was being arrested for her alternative methods of announcing her platform...
Haverhill, Massachusetts, Police Officers Get Lucky At Prostitution Bust And Turn To Drug War
Posted on September 18, 2008Last night, all major crimes of the area having apparently been prevented or solved, Haverhill police officers set their sights on their admittedly decreasing prostitution concern. It was said to be a lucky break in their war against drugs. They ended up arresting a ?major cocaine dealer? who had a drug sales ledger containing the names of "prominent'' Haverhill residents...
Arrest Warrant Inspires Massachusetts Driver To Make As Many Mistakes As Possible During Traffic Stop
Posted on September 17, 2008Some people have not been taking this blog to heart and so apparently did not believe that it was not good to take a bad situation with law enforcement and make it worse. Now, 19-year-old Falmouth resident, Tevis Yarmala, faces multiple charges after he allegedly struck and tried to stab a Falmouth police officer in the face with a stick during a traffic stop last week...
14-Year-Old Massachusetts Teen is Convicted of Setting Nine Nine-Alarm Fire at Holyoke Paper Mill
Posted on September 16, 2008In Holyoke, a 14-year-old boy was convicted of starting the 9-alarm fire that burned down the Parsons Paper Mill building earlier this summer. The teenager will be placed in state care until he turns 18. This is the maximum sentence allowed for juveniles in Massachusetts...
To The South Of Boston, A Trial For Rape May Be The Accused?s Least Concern Given DNA match To Prostitute's Murder
Posted on September 16, 2008In Worcester Superior Court, testimony is scheduled to begin today in the trial of a Berlin man charged with raping and trying to suffocate a woman last year in a West Boylston motel. The defendant, Alex F. Scesny, 38, has also been identified by law enforcement as a ?person of interest? in the unsolved slayings of several area prostitutes...
Springfield Massachusetts Ambulance Patient Changes Seats In Motor Vehicle And Role In Criminal Justice System
Posted on September 15, 2008Have you ever heard the saying ?the lunatics are running the asylum?? We begin the week with a story about an interesting twist on it. It was last night. Sunday night. All around the Commonwealth, people were preparing for a new week of work and school...
Criminal Justice Odds Being Beat In New Bedford, MA
Posted on September 12, 2008In New Bedford, Massachusetts, what appears to be a man walking with a figurative ?Please Lock Me Up Forever? sign on his back is beating incredible odds. The man, Allen Thurston, 36, is a convicted level 3 sex offender. After he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend, he was arraigned yesterday in New Bedford District Court on an assault and battery charge...
Drug Busts Make This A Bad Week For Marihuana and Heroin Trade South and West Of Boston
Posted on September 11, 2008It has been a bad week so far for Massachusetts drug conspiracies. First, members of a joint Anti-Crime Task force confiscated 500 pounds of marijuana and more than $180,000 in cash from a weekend drug bust in Swansea, Massachusetts. The marijuana alone has a street value of more than $600,000...
MASSACHUSSETTS COURT STAFF FACE WHITE COLLAR ACCUSATIONS
Posted on September 10, 2008According to this week?s Massachusetts Lawyer?s Weekly, the Commonwealth is having a tough time with certain ?irregularities? regarding Probate Court staff. A few weeks ago, Middlesex County?s Register of Probate was arrested for allegedly stealing cash from government copying machines...
Lynn Man Enters Fray And Faces Attempted Murder Charges
Posted on September 09, 2008According to today?s Lynn Item, Carmet Cruthird of Lynn was arraigned Friday on attempted murder charges after he allegedly stabbed a man outside a Liberty Street apartment building the day before. However, the circumstances appear a bit sketchy and are likely to not be resolved until the time of trial?which usually takes about a year...
Lowell, Massachusetts Man Pleads Guilty to Assaulting His Baby
Posted on September 08, 2008In Massachusetts, a Lowell father that pleaded guilty to assaulting his own son will serve 18-months in a house of correction and 5 years probation. Ty Chan entered his plea in Lowell Superior Court for assault and battery on a child causing serious bodily injury...
A Salem, Massachusetts, A Teenage Life Is Forever Altered By Drug Charges
Posted on September 08, 2008This week, we start our daily blog with an eye toward the north shore, where, according to the Salem News, last fall, Christopher Al-Nabulsi was a star at Salem High School. At 17, he was captain of the football and lacrosse teams, played basketball and was a peer mentor...
Boston Area Duo Said To Defraud Dunkin?
Posted on September 05, 2008The Brookline Tab has reported that former Brookline resident Carolyn Kravetz has been indicted in federal court for acts of mail fraud and tax fraud. Her co-defendant, Boris Levitin, hailing from Brighton, merely faces charges of mail fraud. Federal prosecutors claim that a Ms...
North Of Boston, An Alleged Teenage Crimewave Faces Actual Jail
Posted on September 04, 2008Yesterday?s Salem Daily News told the tale of Angelo Diiorio, age 18. The young man, had been ordered by the court to confine himself to his home while awaiting trial on charges of vehicular homicide and child rape. In fact, he was even ordered to wear an ankle bracelet...
Two Massachusetts College Students Could Face Misdemeanor Charge for Videotaping Womens? Sexual Encounter
Posted on June 13, 2008Court officials in Boston say that they are waiting for the results of a Wentworth Institute of Technology investigation to determine whether to file criminal charges against two of its students, who are accused of videotaping two women having a sexual encounter in a nearby Massachusetts College of Art and Design dorm...
Northampton, Massachusetts Fire Chief and Wife Face ?Social Host? Charge For Letting Teenagers Drink Alcohol
Posted on June 10, 2008In Massachusetts, Northampton Fire Chief Edgar Lesko and his wife Deborah have pled not guilty to four counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor. The couple is accused of letting several underage teenagers drink alcohol in their home last summer. One of the teens, David Homan, 19, died when the car he was driving it a tree...
Saugus, Massachusetts Man Pleads Not Guilty to Drug Possession and Distribution Related to Sting Operation Involving New England Patriots Player
Posted on June 05, 2008In federal court in Massachusetts, Daniel Ekasala pled not guilty to three counts of possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute. Authorities apprehended the 35-year-old Saugus resident during a sting operation involving New England Patriots offensive lineman Nicholas Kaczur...
R & B Star R. Kelly on Trial for Child Pornography
Posted on May 26, 2008The criminal trial of R & B Singer R. Kelly continues this week. Kelly is charged with 14 counts of child pornography related to a video in which he allegedly is seen having sex with a minor. Kelly has pled not guilty to all 14 counts and he denies that he is the man seen in the video having sex with the young girl...
Massachusetts Man Faces Assault Charges After Firing Weapon To Protect His Business From Intruder
Posted on May 19, 2008In Massachusetts, a Hanover caterer who fired a gun at an intruder is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling. David Crest is scheduled to appear in court for his arraignment next week. Crest had been sleeping in the office of his catering business when he heard a noise on April 21...
Mother Indicted In MySpace Hoax that Led to Teenager?s Suicide
Posted on May 16, 2008Lori Drew, a Missouri mother, has been indicted in connection with a cyber taunting case that prompted a teenager to commit suicide in 2006. The federal indictment, filed in US District Court in Los Angeles, says the 49-year-old mother and others used a MySpace account to pose as ?Josh Evans,? a 16-year-old boy...
Massachusetts Prosecutors Say State Senator Marzilli Will Not Be Charged With Indecent Assault and Battery
Posted on May 13, 2008In Massachusetts, Middlesex County prosecutors have announced that they will not file criminal charges against State Senator James Marzilli. The announcement comes after prosecutors conducted an investigation into charges filed by a woman alleging that the senator had inappropriately touched her without her consent early in the morning on April 6...
Elderly Massachusetts Woman Pleads Guilty to Deadly Hospital Drive-Thru Crash And Gets 18 Months Probation
Posted on May 07, 200877-Year-Old Jane Berghold, the woman who accidentally drove her car into Brockton Hospital last October, has been sentenced to 18 months probation and the revocation of her driver?s license for 15 years. Yesterday, the Rockland senior pled guilty in a Massachusetts court to two counts of homicide by negligent operation of a motor vehicle and one count of negligent operation of a motor vehicle...
Massachusetts Man Apprehended After Amber Alert Is Issued Pleads Not Guilty to Kidnapping His Son
Posted on May 05, 2008In Cambridge District Court last week, Arlington resident Michael Whalen pled not guilty to kidnapping, threats, and receiving stolen property over $250. A statewide Amber Alert had been issued in Massachusetts on Wednesday after Whalen?s six-month-old son Lucas disappeared...
Massachusetts Man Found Not Guilty of Nearly Biting Friend?s Ear Off
Posted on April 29, 2008A Winthrop High School assistant football coach has been acquitted of charges that he bit someone?s ear in Massachusetts. Charges included two counts of aggravated assault and battery and mayhem. Had Richard Fucillo been convicted, he could have served up to 20 years in prison...
Boston Firefighter Apprehended for Alleged OxyContin Drug Crime
Posted on April 28, 2008A Boston firefighter was apprehended by police on Friday for allegedly purchasing OxyContin from a drug dealer that had been under police surveillance. Firefighter and Dorchester resident William Boyle has been ordered to appear in District Court for the alleged possession of a Class B substance...
Nantucket, Massachusetts Man Charged With Smuggling
Posted on April 25, 2008In Boston, Charles A. Manghis, has been charged with multiple counts of smuggling sperm whale teeth and elephant ivory, making false statements to federal agents, and conspiracy. The 53-year-old Nantucket, Massachusetts resident, also a Ukrainian national, was arrested on Thursday...
Gloucester Woman Involved in Head-On Car Crash with Sandra Bullock in Massachusetts Pleads Not Guilty
Posted on April 22, 2008The Gloucester woman charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and failure to stay in a marked lane when her car struck the SUV carrying movie star Sandra Bullock has pled not guilty. Lucile P. Gatchell entered her not guilty plea during her arraignment today in Gloucester District Court...
Everett Middle School Employee Charged with Child Rape and Indecent Assault and Battery in Massachusetts Pleads Not Guilty
Posted on April 18, 2008In Massachusetts, Robert J. Shea, a basketball coach and custodian at Everett Middle School has been charged with two counts of rape and three counts of indecent assault and battery involving a 12-year-old boy. He has pled not guilty to the charges. Shea?s arrest on April 6 and the subsequent charges announced on April 7 came a few days after the boy?s mother reported him to police...
76-Year-Old Revere, Massachusetts Man Pleads Not Guilty To Dealing Prescription Drugs
Posted on April 15, 2008Richard "Pops" Picardi Sr, a 76-year-old Revere, Massachusetts resident, has pled not guilty to charges that include unlawful distribution of a Class B substance, selling cigarettes without state tax stamps, receiving stolen property, and violating drug laws in a school zone...
Detroit Mayor Pleads Not Guilty to Lying Under Oath and Other Felony Charges
Posted on April 01, 2008Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and a former aide have been charged with lying under oath about the nature of their relationship. Last week, Kilpatrick and Kristine Beatty, his former chief of staff, pled not guilty to multiple counts of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office during their arraignment...
Former SLA Member Sarah Jane Olson To Fight Decision Sending Her Back to Prison
Posted on March 25, 2008Five days after her release from prison, former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sarah Jane Olson was rearrested and sent back to prison on Saturday to serve one more year of her prison sentence. Prison department staff had concluded that a mistake had been made in figuring out when the ex-SLA member was eligible for parole...
'Barbie Bandits' Are Sentenced for Bank Robbery and Drug Possession
Posted on March 24, 2008Heather Lyn Johnston and Ashley Nicole Miller, the women who were arrested after robbing a Bank of America branch at a Kroger grocery store in Georgia last year, received their sentences today. Miller, 19, was ordered to serve 2 years of her 10 year prison sentence, while the remainder must be completed as probation...
Massachusetts Judge Refuses to Dismiss Hoax Device Possession Charge Against MIT Student
Posted on March 23, 2008In Massachusetts on Friday, East Boston District Court Judge Paul Mahoney refused to drop the possession of a hoax device charge against Star Simpson, the 19-year-old MIT student who wore a strapped circuit board to her chest when she walked into Logan International Airport last year...
Middleborough, Massachusetts Police File Indecent Assault, Battery, and Mayhem Charges Against Man in Child Abuse Burn Injury Case
Posted on March 20, 2008In Massachusetts, David J. Privette, the man accused of using cigarettes to burn the genitals of a 7-year-old boy, has now been charged by Middleborough police with two counts of indecent assault and battery and mayhem. The child, who is the son of Privette's girlfriend, may be permanently injured from the repeated burns...
Massachusetts Man Says He Was Duped into Pleading Guilty to Murder
Posted on March 19, 2008Charles F. Bogues, a Dorchester man, who pled guilty to the 1993 murder of a 15-year-old teenager, is asking a Massachusetts appeals court to set aside his conviction. Bogues?s father, Boston police Officer Charles T. Bogues, says his son would like another chance to go to trial...
Ex-Federal Appeals Court Employee in South Boston, Massachusetts Arrested on OxyContin Sales Charge
Posted on March 14, 2008In Massachusetts, a former US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit records clerk was arrested for allegedly selling OxyContin. Christopher Cook allegedly sold 200 OxyContin pills to someone working undercover with the FBI. Cook, 28, was to be given $7,600 for the pills...
Massachusetts Financial Advisor Arrested for Larceny and Securities Fraud
Posted on March 13, 2008A Hull, Massachusetts man was arrested on five counts of larceny and securities fraud. According to the Massachusetts Attorney General?s office, Jeffrey Gruber, 44, misrepresented himself as a stockbroker and certified financial planner from October 2005 until March 2006...
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer To Resign Over Allegations Connecting Him to International Prostitution Ring
Posted on March 12, 2008New York Governor Eliot Spitzer says he is resigning from his position following allegations that he was involved with an international prostitution ring. Spitzer had once served as a prosecutor and New York Attorney General and had built his reputation on prosecuting high profile white collar criminal cases against Wall Street securities companies...
Civil Rights Trial of Man Wrongfully Convicted of Murder Gets Under Way in Boston, Massachusetts
Posted on March 08, 2008In Boston, Massachusetts, the civil rights trial of Shawn Drumgold, the man wrongfully convicted of killing a 12-year-old girl, is under way. Drumgold, now 42, served 15 years in prison for the 1988 murder of Darlene Tiffany Moore who got caught in the middle of a gang fight in a Roxbury neighborhood...
High School Suspect in Deadly Stabbing of Massachusetts Teenager Has Autism
Posted on March 07, 2008The Boston criminal defense team of a Massachusetts high school student accused of stabbing a classmate to death in a bathroom at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High in Sudbury wants the charges against the boy dropped because he has Asperger syndrome (AS)...
Suffolk Prosecutors Drop Aggravated Rape Charge Against Woburn, Massachusetts Man
Posted on March 06, 2008Woburn, Massachusetts resident Nicholas Chiaraluce has been cleared of the aggravated rape charge in an incident involving an unconscious woman in the bathroom of the Felt nightclub. In Boston Municipal Court today, the charges against him were formally withdrawn...
Singer Bobby Brown Forgoes Jail Time for Community Service Over Alleged Cocaine Possession
Posted on February 29, 2008Singer Bobby Brown, a Boston, Massachusetts native, will serve on year?s community service for cocaine possession in exchange for not being charged with possession of the drug. Massachusetts police, responding to a call to break up a fight at a Brockton Holiday Inn last December, found Brown sitting in a car with a substance that they believe was cocaine...
Massachusetts Lawmakers Examine Bills Targeting Sex Offenders
Posted on February 26, 2008Massachusetts lawmakers are assessing a number of bills aimed to place harsher restrictions on sex offenders. Today?s Judiciary Committee meeting comes just a few weeks after Cory Saunders, a high-level sex offender. raped a 6-year-old boy at a New Bedford public library...
Boston Nightclub Shooting Suspect at ?Girls Gone Wild Party? Pleads Not Guilty
Posted on February 25, 2008In Boston, Massachusetts, Damon Jamaal-Anthony Haley (The Boston Globe is reporting that his last name is Haley. The Boston Herald says his last name is Powell) has pled not guilty to assault and battery on a police officer and other charges related to a gang fight at Aria, a local hip-hop nightclub...
Massachusetts Man is Sentenced to Federal Prison for Conspiracy to Transport Guns
Posted on February 22, 2008Nguyen Van Nguyen, a Randolph, Massachusetts man, and his brother-in law Chien Dinh Nguyen will serve time in federal prison for their conspiracy to transport guns conviction. The two men illegally bought guns from a Georgia pawn shop in Georgia and then transported them to Boston...
Man Implicated By Dead Wife?s Letter is Found Guilty of Her Murder
Posted on February 21, 2008Mark Jensen, the Wisconsin man charged with poisoning his wife in 1998 has been found guilty of first-degree murder. Sentencing will take place on Friday although his conviction comes with a mandatory life in prison sentence. The conviction by the jury came after members deliberated for over 30 hours...
Former Marshfield High School Student Will Serve Time in Massachusetts Prison For Plotting Columbine-Style Ambush
Posted on February 20, 2008In Massachusetts, Superior Court Judge Charles M. Grabau has sentenced former Marshfield High School student Joseph Nee to 2.5 years for conspiracy to commit murder. Nee, 21, is convicted of plotting a Columbine-like attack on the school. Nee had faced a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the crime...
International Movie Star Bai Ling Arrested on Suspicion of Shoplifting
Posted on February 15, 2008Actress Bai Ling was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly shoplifting a pack of batteries and two magazines, valued at $16, from a gift shop at the Los Angeles International Airport. She was apprehended after someone else in the store reported seeing her take the items...
Massachusetts Man Sentenced to Five Years in Jail for Involuntary Manslaughter of Friend
Posted on February 12, 2008In Suffolk Superior Court yesterday, Enrique Baez pled guilty to the shooting death of Cheyenne Baez. Judge Margaret Hinkle sentenced him to five years in Suffolk County House of Correction. 2.5 years of the sentence is for involuntary manslaughter, 6 months is for marijuana possession, and the remaining two years is for the illegal possession of two handguns...
Nationwide Manhunt for Massachusetts Man in Murder of Medfield Mother Continues
Posted on February 11, 2008Authorities throughout the United States are on the lookout for Andrew Boisvert, a 37-year-old Bridgewater, Massachusetts resident. Boisvert, a Waltham paramedic, is a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife Margaret Ninos. Ninos and Boisvert have a 7-year-old daughter named Maggie...
Massachusetts Officials Want to Give Jury a Bigger Role in Dangerous Sex Offender Trials
Posted on February 08, 2008In Massachusetts, state officials filed legislation that would allow prosecutors to demand that a jury rule on whether a sex offender is considered dangerous. Massachusetts law currently mandates that a sexually dangerous individual be civilly committed anywhere from 1 day up to the rest of his or her life at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater...
Massachusetts Governor?s Aide Charged with Sexual Assault
Posted on February 07, 2008Carl Stanley McGee, the assistant secretary for policy and planning for Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick?s administration has been charged with the sexual assault of a male teenager in Florida. McGee, 38, was arrested last December in Boca Grande at the Gasparilla Inn & Club resort...
Patriots Football Player Pleads Not Guilty to Marijuana Possession Charges in Massachusetts
Posted on February 05, 2008New England Patriots defensive back Willie Andrews says he is not guilty of possession of marjjuana with intent to distribute. The 24-year-old football player responded to the charges during his arraignment today in Lowell District Court in Massachusetts...
Man Who Kidnapped Two Boys to Serve 74 Life Sentences in Solitary Confinement
Posted on January 31, 2008Michael Devlin, a 42-year-old former pizza shop manager who kidnapped two boys and keeping one of them with him for more than four years, has started serving his 74 life terms in solitary confinement. He has also been sentenced to 170 years in Federal prison...
Massachusetts Judge Rejects Doctor?s Guilty Plea to Involuntary Manslaughter in Liposuction Fatality
Posted on January 30, 2008Middlesex Superior Court Judge Wendie Gershengorn rejected the guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter charges made by Luiz Carlos Ribeiro in the 2006 death of a female patient. Ribeiro, who was a licensed doctor in Brazil but does not have a license to practice in the United States, performed liposuction on Fabiola DePaula, a 24-year-old Brazilian immigrant, in his basement in Framingham, Massachusetts...
Massachusetts Teacher Pleads Not Guilty to Cybersex Charges
Posted on January 29, 2008A West Boylston Middle-High School teacher says he is not guilty of committing cybersex-related crimes. In Leominster District Court in Massachusetts last week, Scott A. Simoncini, 35, pled not guilty to two counts of attempting to commit a crime and five counts of disseminating obscene material to a minor...
Woburn, Massachusetts Man Pleads Not Guilty to Raping Unconscious Woman in Boston Nightclub's Bathroom
Posted on January 25, 2008Nicholas Chiaraluce, a 21-year-old Woburn college student, was released on $30,000 cash bail yesterday after he was charged with one count of aggravated rape. The woman he allegedly raped was unconscious in a men?s bathroom at the Felt nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts...
Tim Masters is Set Free After 1999 Murder Conviction is Thrown Out
Posted on January 22, 2008Tim Masters, who was convicted in the 1999 of murdering Peggy Hettrick, was set free today. Masters had been serving a lifelong prison term for her in 1987 that happened when he was just 15-years-old. Her mutilated body was found in a field near Fort Collins, Colorado close to Masters?s trailer...
New England Patriots Wide Receive Randy Moss Says He Did Not Commit Battery or Domestic Violence
Posted on January 17, 2008New England Patriots Football Player Randy Moss says he did not commit battery against the 35-year-old woman who has filed a temporary restraining order against him. Rachelle Washington is accusing Moss, who she says she had an intimate relationship with, of battery, causing her serious injury, and denying her medical attention during a domestic violence incident that allegedly took place at her Florida home on January 6...
O.J. Simpson?s Bail in Las Vegas Armed Robbery Case is Doubled
Posted on January 16, 2008O.J. Simpson?s bail in a Las Vegas casino robbery case was doubled to $250,000 after the judge found out that the former football great never paid a bail bondsman when he was first released. Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass says that Simpson, 60, has to issue 15% of the bail amount before he can be released this time...
Boston Police Officer, Accused of Robbing A Roslindale, Massachusetts Gas Station, Was Off His Medication
Posted on January 14, 2008The criminal defense team for Officer Michael T. Jones, the Boston Police Department veteran, says that his client was not taking his medication and was drunk when he used his BPD-issued weapon to hold up a gas station in Roslindale, Massachusetts. Officer Jones, 44, was arraigned on armed robbery charges for allegedly robbing the Best of Boston gas station last Friday and stealing $125 in cash after threatening employees at the station with his gun...
Olympic Gold Medalist Marion Jones to Serve Prison Time for Lying to An Investigator and Check-Fraud
Posted on January 11, 2008Olympic athlete Marion Jones, 31, will serve six months in prison for lying to an investigator about her steroid use and her involvement in a check-fraud scheme. Jones must also complete 400 hours of community service while serving two years probation...
Former Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Gary Zerola On Trial in Massachusetts For Rape
Posted on January 08, 2008Once dubbed by People magazine as one of the country?s ?Most Eligible Bachelors,? former Suffolk County Assistant Prosecutor Gary Zerola must now stand trial for rape. Zerola faces rape charges in Massachusetts and Florida. Opening statements in Suffolk Superior Court are scheduled for Wednesday...
Massachusetts Dance Instructor Faces Charges In Second Rape Case
Posted on January 04, 2008Police in Massachusetts arrested Keith L. Sampson, a dance instructor who lives in South Easton on Saturday. He is charged with raping a 15-year-old student at his home. The girl was with Sampson when police arrested him. Police found the two of them after the teenager sent a text message to a friend who then told police where she was...
Crime Rate in Boston, Massachusetts Went Down in 2007
Posted on January 03, 2008The city of Boston is reporting a lower crime rate for 2007 than in 2006. The Boston Police Department offers the following statistics comparing the number of crimes that occurred from January 1 ? December 23, 2007: Vehicle theft and attempted vehicle theft: 34,008 in 2006; 354 in 2007...
Judge Tosses Out Felony Charges Against Massachusetts State Trooper In Bar Fight with Two Boston College Football Players
Posted on December 28, 2007A Boston Municipal Court judge has dropped the assault and battery with a dangerous weapon charges against Massachusetts State Trooper Joseph Boike for his involvement in a Hub bar brawl with a software engineer and two football players from Boston College in August...
Massachusetts State Police Ordered to Issue $1.2 Million More in Speeding Tickets Next Year
Posted on December 27, 2007The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority reportedly set a $2.3 million Dig speeding ticket goal for next year?that?s $1.7 million more than 2007. Motorists in the Boston area are expected to be hardest hit by this new target mark, which came about after the Big Dig Tunnel?s collapse, which deplete trooper resources as police officers were forced away from the task of catching speeding motorists while they monitored reconstruction efforts...
US States Reevaluate Whether Kids Should Be Charged As Adults for Crimes
Posted on December 23, 2007US States are reconsidering and, in certain instances, retooling juvenile sentencing laws in regards to whether it makes sense to charge juveniles as adults. Not only are there less incidents of juvenile crimes now than 20 years ago, but some states are responding to new information about the adolescent brain, as well as studies that reveal how teenagers sent to adult courts end up getting into trouble more often and are convicted of more serious offenses than other adolescents...
After U.S. Sentencing Commission Ruling, 91 Crack Cocaine Inmates in Massachusetts Could Reduce Their Prison Sentences
Posted on December 21, 2007In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Sentencing Commission wants to retroactively reduce the prison sentences of approximately 19,500 federal inmates convicted of crack cocaine charges. The decision is intended to lighten sentences retroactively for certain crimes related to crack cocaine and narrow the disparity between sentences for cocaine powder and crack cocaine...
Massachusetts?s Suffolk Grand Jury Indicts Former Federal Prosecutor on Larceny Charges
Posted on December 20, 2007In Massachusetts?s Suffolk County, a grand jury indicted former federal prosecutor Philip Giordano on charges that he stole at least $150,000 from his former law firm. The Boston native?s arraignment will take place in Suffolk Superior Court on January 15, 2008...
Massachusetts Homeless Man Charged In Framingham Stabbing Attack
Posted on December 18, 2007In Massachusetts, Eber A. Rivera, a 23-year-old Framingham homeless man was arrested on Saturday and charged in the stabbing attack of a Framingham resident on Beaver Street. Charges include assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; assault with the intent to commit a felony; assault and battery on a disabled or injured person; assault with the intent to murder or maim; and disturbing the peace...
Second Pring-Wilson Murder Trial in Massachusetts Ends in Mistrial
Posted on December 14, 2007In Massachusetts, the second murder trial of former Harvard graduate student Alexander Pring-Wilson has ended in a mistrial. Middlesex Superior Court judge Christopher Muse granted a mistrial in the case because the jury was hopelessly deadlocked. They were unable to reach a verdict after deliberating for 10 days...
Mother and Stepfather of Baby Grace Face Capital Murder Charges
Posted on December 13, 2007The mother and stepfather of 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers now face capital murder charges in the death of the little girl. The decision was made by a grand jury in Texas where Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 19, and Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 24, will stand trial...
Quincy, Massachusetts Man on Trial for Murdering 65-Year Old Woman While He Was On Crack Cocaine
Posted on December 12, 200744-year-old Stevie Walker is on Trial in Suffolk Superior Court for the November 4, 2005 stabbing murder of Galina Kotik, a 65-year-old Russian grandmother, inside her Fenway apartment building in Boston. Walker had been smoking crack cocaine for up to 24 hours before he went to Kotik?s building to visit an acquaintance and figure out a plan to rob her so he could get more drugs...
FBI Says Hate Crimes Increase by Almost 8%
Posted on December 05, 2007The FBI says that the number of hate crimes committed in the United States grew by almost 8%, with racism being the reason for more than 50% of the incidents. In 2006, police in the US reported 7,722 crimes occurred because of prejudice against someone due to their sexual orientation, race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, or disability...
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Will my Criminal Record prevent me from naturalizing or getting a Green Card?
A Lawful Permanent Resident can apply for United States citizenship after 5 year...
Can driving accident be cause for termination?
If your state is an at-will state, the company can fire you for any reason or fo...
Must I refinance my house aftering taking full ownership after a divorce via a quit claim?
When financing there are at least two documents...the mortgage and the note. The...
What rights does a father have when a woman waits 13 years to tell a man he is a father & he missed out on the growing up of that child?
Actually, he has as much right as she to request a paternity test, plus he can f...
If a person defames me and threatens me to pay a bill that they made and it is posted to others besides myself, can I sue ?
The documentation of your actions in this case pretty much preclude any legal ac...
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