The past day or so, I’ve had several people see me in court and express shock over the discovery of a probation sentence given five years ago, in 2009, to du Pont family heir Robert H. Richards IV, following his agreement at that time to plead guilty to fourth-degree rape…
For a long time, Massachusetts sex offenses were – very generally speaking – broken down into “contact offenses,” where the defendant made physical contact with the victim, and “noncontact offenses,” where the defendant engaged in acts that are generally known as indecent exposure, or to use the lay term, “flashing.”…
Readers of this blog know my disdain for mandatory sentencing, whether for Massachusetts drug offenses, or a variety of other crimes. I’ve blogged previously about this subject, on more than one occasion. Some headway was made on this subject just the other day, when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed…
Amazing how a new expression or grammatical term can crop up almost literally overnight, isn’t it? The newest term that seems to be on everyone’s lips today: “Upskirting.” Seemingly a new verb that would have been met with confused looks just yesterday, now seems to be somehow thrown around as…
There’s a lot going on in legal news on this unusually freezing cold, arctic-air-blasted last day of February 2014, but I thought I’d drop a note for those who think they can outwit law enforcement and legal system when it comes to creative ways of hiding or destroying evidence. Those…
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…
When people ask me how I can defend people accused of sex crimes, there’s often a look of disbelief on their faces. They’re conjuring images of a rape victim being dragged into an alley or car, to be later violently beaten and raped. That’s a horrible image, so I understand…
It is with considerable disappointment, disbelief and even anger that I write of what I will here today. 23 years ago, a piece of human filth by the name of Robert Kosilek murdered his wife, Cheryl, in act of savage brutality. When he was done slashing her to death, he…
Most people who know me would tell you I’m “Not a liberal,” – and they’d be right. Most of my non-liberal views and positions concern political issues. However, when it comes to legal issues and protecting the legal rights of defendants who have been accused of crimes, I fight tooth…
In my previous post on Christmas Day, I wrote briefly about the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s (SJC) decision earlier this week barring life sentences for juveniles convicted of murder. The SJC’s concerned the case of Gregory Diatchenko, who was 17 in 1981 when he murdered a man in Kenmore Square.…