In my previous post on this topic, I wrote about how prosecutors in Massachusetts must prove that any allegedly illegal substances that the Commonwealth accuses a defendant of possessing, using, or distributing, have actually been tested by a qualified chemist in the state drug lab, and that the substance is…
When what you do in your profession involves defending as legal counsel people who have been charged with some very serious crimes, a common question is “How can you defend people who have been accused of such serious crimes?” My answer, as a Wrentham Mass. criminal defense attorney, is always…
The Massachusetts SJC just issued a very controversial ruling in reviewing a criminal case that, as a Boston criminal defense lawyer, most people would expect me to agree with wholeheartedly. I don’t. My views aren’t going to win me much agreement with my colleagues in the criminal defense bar, but…
Technology – especially internet and smart phone technology – is moving at light speed. The law is trying to catch up to these changes, and a decision yesterday by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) made more headway in that race. The decision, Commonwealth v. Augustine, deals with whether or…
Whether you know it or not, your smartphone just got a lot smarter – for police departments and prosecutors, that is. In an important ruling released on Wednesday of this week, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that police officers can conduct a limited search of an arrested person’s cell…
Should the world know about all the shenanigans and unethical behavior involving James “Whitey” Bulger and the government? That is the question that was just brought to US Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler last week in Boston. Bulger’s lawyers want to be able to speak publicly about the documents that the…
A significant effort to enact a bill allowing convicted inmates to gain access to DNA testing in order to prove their innocence has passed both branches of the Massachusetts Legislature and been signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick. Under the provisions of the new law, a convict who believes…
It is said that “Actions speak louder than words.” The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reaffirmed that very powerfully in the area of Massachusetts arrests last week, as it ruled that a person shaking his head horizontally left to right, indicating “no”, is just as powerful and effective as the spoken…
Quick question: If you’re in a Massachusetts motor vehicle accident with an off-duty police officer, and he or she prevents you from either driving away or leaving the scene of the accident until the appropriate police department arrives, is that an “arrest” for legal purposes? According to the Supreme Judicial…
Most Massachusetts drug offense prosecutions involve challenges to how police obtained the illegal drugs that a defendant is charged with possessing. As a Dedham, Massachusetts drug crimes lawyer, I try to prevent this evidence from being admitted at trial, through what are called pre-trial “Motions to Suppress.” The legal bases…