Hiring a qualified and experienced Boston, Massachusetts criminal defense attorney is very important and should be the first step any defendant should take when responding to a summons to appear before a clerk magistrate in any Massachusetts court for potential criminal charges. The clerk magistrate is the court official that…
On September 7, 2011 an 82-year-old man allegedly shot and wounded a man and a woman from the second floor window of his home in Revere, Massachusetts. The elderly man was subsequently arraigned on serious criminal charges of assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous…
This article will discuss the different types of standard field sobriety tests that are currently being used by law enforcement officials in Massachusetts for people suspected of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs (OUI/DWI), commonly referred to as drunk driving. The tests used by police…
The United States Supreme Court will decide in its upcoming term the issue of whether or not a person entering a jail has a right to be free from strip search absent additional facts or individualized reasonable suspicion justifying the search. The Supreme Court has already held that the Fourth…
The recent case of Commonwealth v. DiPadova in Massachusetts demonstrates how extremely important it is for an experienced Massachusetts and Boston criminal homicide attorney to deviate from proposing a model jury instruction when the facts of the case necessitate a change from what is customarily used. In the DiPadova case,…
Two Boston men were caught by police after a citizen tipped-off investigators. As a result of the tip, police recovered a handgun and crack cocaine when they arrested the pair on Monday, August 8, 2011 as reported in the Boston Herald. Both men pleaded not guilty to firearm and drug…
A criminal complaint issues against you for assault and battery toward another individual. Can you later go to court and file an agreement between the parties that ends the case over the prosecutor’s objection? The short answer is yes. That’s exactly what happened in the case of Commonwealth v. Guzman,…
Failing to Register as a sex offender pursuant to G.L. c.6, s. 178H can result in severe consequences to the individual that must register in accordance with the law. A strong and aggressive defense by an experienced Boston criminal defense lawyer is necessary when a complaint for failure to register…
If you have been charged with a crime of violence, such as assault and battery, in a Massachusetts court you may be entitled to raise the affirmative defense of self-defense to help win your case. In Massachusetts, a defendant is entitled to have a jury instructed on self-defense “if the…
The federal government says that it has made it a priority to protect the communities it serves by administering the Secure Communities program which they argued was a simple and common sense way to carry out the goal and priorities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by removing criminal…