Articles Posted in Arrest Warrants

In a recent Massachusetts appellate case, a trial court judge allowed a criminal defendant’s motion to suppress evidence that had been seized by police executing a search warrant after first making two warrantless searches of the defendant’s apartment.

The case arose when police received a report that there was a smell like drugs coming from the defendant’s apartment. Later, they got another complaint from a neighbor describing a skunky and a minty smell and claiming she could see a bright light inside. Two days later, detectives went to the apartment and met with the neighbor. Nobody answered the defendant’s apartment door. The detectives weren’t able to see inside, but they could smell chemicals from beneath a running air conditioner.

A complaining neighbor told the detectives that two people, a boyfriend and girlfriend, lived in the apartment, and they usually left together in the morning. On that morning, the neighbor had spotted the defendant leaving alone. The detectives got the girlfriend’s phone number but weren’t able to get in contact with her. They went into the apartment to look for her. The building’s owner’s son took them through the basement, where the smell got stronger. When nobody responded to the detectives identifying themselves, they went in.

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In a recent Massachusetts assault case, the defendant was convicted of resisting arrest and assault and battery on a cop. The problems arose when two policemen were dispatched to his house for a 911 hang-up call. When the policemen got there, one thought he heard somebody talking. Through a window, the policeman saw the defendant’s co-defendant and heard a woman ask angrily why he hit her. The co-defendant moved to the back of the house, and the officer went in that direction. He heard a woman crying and a man yelling, trying to get her to be quiet.

The officer came back to the front of the house, where he found the other officer inside, talking to a woman who lived at the house. The co-defendant was clearly drunk and agitated and came up to the officers from the back of the house. He kept yelling at them and insisted they needed a warrant to be in the home.

The officers told him they’d gotten a 911 call and had to check on everyone. The co-defendant and defendant began yelling and stopped the officers from checking on the woman in the back of the house. The defendant told them they couldn’t go back. The officer smelled alcohol on both his breath and his co-defendant’s breath. The co-defendant grabbed one of the officers, and both he and the defendant pushed the cops. The defendant put his hands on one of the officers, who called to get backup. The officers told the defendant and co-defendant they were under arrest, but they didn’t follow orders.

In a recent Massachusetts theft decision, the court considered a motion to suppress. The case arose when a sergeant of the police department joined other officers in surveilling a car that was the subject of an investigation related to multiple breaking and entering crimes. The police department of another neighboring town had asked for assistance to see whether the car would lead the cops to evidence related to the breaking and entering crimes.

The police cars were unmarked and changed places to avoid being detected in the relevant communities. One officer saw the car at issue go down a dead-end road and make a U-turn before going in the original direction. He followed, and the car got onto Route 9, going west. There were two men in the car, and the officer believed the driver was the defendant, whom he’d known in high school.

Earlier that day, a sergeant looked up the defendant’s license and found it to be suspended. He called another police department, and the information was confirmed. The sergeant pulled up next to the car and recognized the defendant. He was worried he’d lose the car and told a detective he’d asked to assist that he would stop the defendant. He stopped the defendant’s car and pulled him out. The other police officers arrived 3-5 minutes later.

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A group of several housing activists blocked the entrance to Boston’s Municipal Court building last week, resulting in several arrests. The act of civil disobedience was intended to evoke a change in fair housing policies and practices.According to sources, it was the third time in four weeks that protesters have been arrested outside the Municipal Court building downtown, demonstrating against what are known as no-fault evictions. According to some of the participants, the acts were intended to bring awareness to situations involving individuals among them who are currently, “fighting eviction, condo-ization, or raising [of] rent.”

One of the men arrested was a nearly 85 year old housing rights activist, who was shortly thereafter arraigned and charged with disorderly conduct. Following the arraignment, the judge and attorneys said that the criminal charges were reportedly to be converted to civil charges.
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Just before two in the afternoon on Saturday, over a dozen state police cars pulled up to the home of New England Patriot’s tight end Aaron Hernandez, which is located in North Attleboro. While some investigators remained outside, many members of the K-9 and State Police Crime Lab units were seen entering the home. Reporters on the scene stated that police were executing a search warrant. The search is believed to be in connection with the death of the semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd.According to reports, three search warrants were issued in relation to the investigation earlier in the week, but the details have not been made public.

A District Court clerk magistrate further stated that while no arrest warrant had been filed for Hernandez, a local radio station reported that one had been issued on an obstruction of justice charge. The charge is reportedly related to destruction of video surveillance evidence from Hernandez’s home and his cell phone, which was allegedly turned over to authorities “in pieces.”

It was not clear whether police planned to execute that warrant simultaneous with the search.

According to family members of the victim, Lloyd was friends with Hernandez, and the two were reportedly together the day that Lloyd was allegedly murdered.

Police reportedly already searched in and around the home earlier last week. Additionally, police in nearby Providence, R.I., said they they were working with Massachusetts state police and North Attleborough police, specifically with regard investigating at a local strip club named “Club Desire.” The connection to the case has not been reported.
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The United States Supreme Court handed down somewhat of a shocking decision this week in the case of Maryland v. King, regarding the constitutionality of law enforcement collecting DNA of arrestees without a warrant.

At issue was a Maryland state statute, which allowed for the warrantless collection of DNA from a suspect following an arrest for a “serious offense,” which under Maryland law includes crimes of violence or burglary.

Here is what is deeply disturbing about this decision, and why all Americans should be concerned– this law does not require a warrant for the taking of your DNA. Under this law, and those being passed across the country, the collection of DNA is being treated in the same manner as the collection of your finger prints or booking photograph.

What’s so wrong with that, some might ask? What’s troubling about that is the fact that the burden for making an arrest is already low, and the potential for misuse or misplacement of DNA samples, and thus potential for abuse to an individual’s unique DNA is incredibly high. Leaving wholly aside the way in which this revelation could completely circumvent constitutional rights of individuals implicated in other crimes, we are now saying that it is ok to collect DNA after what could be an almost non-existent criminal case.

For example, if an individual happens to be present at the scene of the crime, and the police arrive following an anonymous 911 tip, the fact that the person is there could alone raise a strong suspicion, and thus provide a probable cause for an arrest. Even if you were not involved in the burglary at all, the fact that you are there could supply the probable cause for an arrest, and now the government can lawfully collect your DNA. Does that scenario bother you? It should. So much so that one of, if not the, most conservative justices on the court, Antonin Scalia, sided with three of the most liberal, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and Sonya Sotomayor, in a scathing dissenting opinion, which he personally read aloud in the courtroom.
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Boston authorities announced the allegedly successful execution of a series of raids, which they referred to as “Operation H.”

The crackdown targeted various individuals suspected of drug trafficking, gang activity, and violent crime.

A spokesperson for the local district attorney’s office said that 75 people are potentially facing charges, which includes the 33 arrested Tuesday.

The Police Commissioner said in a statement, that this operation evidences the departments commitment to get drugs and violent criminals off of the street. He further stated that detectives have been videotaping the suspects selling illegal drugs in various location, by means of an undercover operation.

Thus far, at least 40 defendants have been arraigned pursuant to these raids, with bail set between $500 and $7,500.

Police stated that as of Tuesday night, they were still looking for 10 suspects.
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It was recently reported that a new anti-crime task force will be established in western Massachusetts. Government officials hope that the group will lead to more efficient coordination of investigation into major crimes.

David Sullivan, the Northwestern District Attorney, discussed his hopes for the task force, which include enhancing the investigative capabilities of the Narcotics Unit of the Massachusetts State Police, in particular. The task force will be comprised of a coregroup of detectives from throughout the region, who will be able to better organize their efforts in order to obtain search warrants, audio and video surveillance, and otherwise coordinate undercover investigations and related activities.

The police departments for Greenfield, Montague, Amherst, Athol and Northampton and sheriff’s departments of Franklin and Hampshire will each contribute an officer or detective to the task force, for up to 25 hours each week. Additionally, Sullivan’s office recently received a grant for additional funding for the new task force. I applaud the state’s efforts to better coordinate investigations. Better organization will hopefully lead to a more efficient use of state resources.
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I see it all too often. A person has an unresolved criminal case or probation matter and they forget or fail to come to court or visit with their probation officer when told to. Sometimes people get into trouble at different points in their lives when they abused alcohol or drugs and they accrue criminal matters that they have never fully resolved and these matters remain a nagging distraction and source of fear or unnecessary stress due to the potential for immediate arrest. It does not have to be that way, especially with the help and guidance of an experienced Massachusetts warrant removal lawyer. You do not have to live your life in fear of being arrested when the police run your name through the Massachusetts warrant management system when you get pulled over for a routine traffic ticket or during some incident that puts you in contact with the police. Unfortunately, many people choose to ignore the past and go it alone with the hope that the police and the courts forget about them. It simply does not work this way. The police will go to great lengths to find you even if you have done nothing else wrong. Under Massachusetts law, annual lists of individuals are compiled and distributed to law enforcement.

In an action that police named “Operation Summer Bummer”Norfolk and Plymouth County Sheriff’s Departments teamed up with other local law enforcement agencies to arrest dozens of people with outstanding felony warrants on June 1, 2012. These people will be taken to the nearest court location and will stand before a judge to explain why they have not come to court to answer on their individual case. The judge will hear from the prosecutor and the probation department to get their input as to whether or not the person should be held in custody on bail or in custody without bail pending the adjudication of their case. With the right criminal defense lawyer, an effective argument can be made to convince a judge to release a client on his or her own personal recognizance or promise to come back to court, especially when the client comes to court with a lawyer on his or her own and not in the back of a police car. This is why it is extremely important to hire a skilled Boston, Massachusetts warrant/default removal attorney before the police start looking for you. You don’t want to be walking on the street on a sunny Friday afternoon to be stopped by the police for some reason and let them find out that you have an old default warrant. Under this example, they are legally obligated to arrest you on the spot and hold you until the court opens on Monday.
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If you have an outstanding arrest or default warrant from any court in Massachusetts you are likely dealing with unwarranted stress and anxiety regarding possible detention by the police in addition to feelings of uncertainly about how the judge will ultimately respond to your absence from court. You probably also continue to worry needlessly about the underlying criminal case and how that matter will be resolved in court. By contacting an experienced Massachusetts arrest warrant criminal defense lawyer today, you can begin to immediately ease the tension you now feel and end the habit of looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life.

If you have an outstanding Massachusetts arrest warrant and the police stop you for any reason, even a traffic ticket, they will look your name up in their computer system to check you for warrants. Once they obtain this information they will arrest you and detain you until you can be brought before the nearest court. Also, if you are arrested while in another jurisdiction or state, the authorities there can hold you in their jail as a fugitive from justice until the authorities in Massachusetts determine whether or not to dismiss the warrant or extradite you back to Massachusetts to stand trial. Indeed, the courts have been reluctant to release individuals wanted for alleged crimes in another state. Unfortunately, the extradition process can be sloppy and time consuming and defendants are often subjected to lengthy detention while the two different jurisdictions attempt to coordinate the transfer of an individual back to the demanding state. Consequently, defendants often end up being punished more than they would have been if they simply appeared in court with a lawyer to remove the default and resolve the underlying criminal matter.

Old court defaults or arrest warrants can also cause you problems in other ways. If you have an old arrest warrant, the Registry of Motor Vehicles in your home state can prevent you from either obtaining or renewing your driver’s license due an arrest warrant still outstanding in Massachusetts. It is much more effective to make arrangements to walk into court with an experienced private attorney to remove an arrest or default warrant rather than having the police bring you in Monday morning after a Friday night arrest and detention wearing the same clothes.
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