A major change took place in Massachusetts criminal law yesterday, and fairly quietly at that. For years, 17 year-old criminal defendants have been charged and tried as adults in Massachusetts. This law was enacted several years ago in the wake of several extremely violent and disturbing crimes committed by teenagers…
This time last night, the parents of Brittany Thompson, age 17, had to have been in one of the worst circumstances that life can bring to parents: Their 17 year-old daughter had disappeared on Monday, last seen leaving the Medfield Public Library with an unknown man wearing a rather frightening…
Here’s an interesting scenario that, as a Dedham, Massachusetts shoplifting lawyer, I can assure you plays out at Massachusetts supermarkets every day. Nowadays, in most of the larger supermarket chains, the stores have self-service checkouts. At Stop&Shop, for example, there are even “Scan It” devices at the entrance, which allow…
In my last post I wrote about the Jennifer Martel murder, and that something appeared to have gone wrong with Jared Remy being released from custody at his Massachusetts domestic violence charges arraignment, even though Remy had a long criminal record of assaulting women. Actually, Remy was both released without…
It’s happened again: A horrific murder accompanied by a celebrity/media angle. This time – Jared Remy, son of the broadcaster for the Boston Red Sox, Jerry Remy. Jared Remy, who has an arrest record involving violence against women, has been charged with stabbing to death his girlfriend, Jennifer Martel, 27,…
If it’s up to a company called DrinkSavvy, that straw in your mixed drink – and the plastic cup that holds it – may prevent future incidences of drug rape or date rape. Here’s a typical “drug rape/date rape” scenario. An attractive woman – or man – is in a…
In the past month, I’ve been asked by some Boston-area news media to provide analysis and commentary on the Whitey Bulger trial. Now that the defense has rested and before closing arguments are offered this coming Monday (August 5 2013,) I wanted to offer some pre-closing observations of the trial:…
Massachusetts domestic violence charges are one of those types of criminal offenses that can be very vague. When people first hear “domestic violence,” most immediately conjur up images of women being brutally beaten or abused by a spouse or boyfriend. While that can be tragically true, it’s not always necessarily…
In the past few weeks, a number of news media outlets asked me if I would appear on air or be quoted in print as a legal analyst on the George Zimmerman trial down in Florida. I was asked by the news media to comment, obviously, in my capacity as…
When I last posted about New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez, I emphasized that amid the media reports that had been swirling around, it needed to be remembered that Hernandez should nonetheless was entitled to a legal presumption of innocence. That principle is embodied in the U.S. Constitution, and for…