The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down California’s law banning the sale or rental of brutally violent, interactive video games to teenagers is a low point in this country’s culture. To say that the day this decision was issued (Brown vs. Entertainment Merchants Association,) was a “sad day,” is…
It seems that accusations of Massachusetts rape & sexual abuse can even reach into police departments. Recently, an officer in the Lowell Police Department was charged with raping two prostitutes, and soliciting sex from other prostitutes, while on duty as a police officer. According to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s…
As anyone who has visited my Massachusetts OUI/DUI website pages knows, Massachusetts law currently requires Ignition Interlock Devices for anyone convicted of a 2nd or greater OUI/DUI offense in Massachusetts. Currently, 1st offenders are not required to obtain such a system. Required by Melanie’s Law since 2006 for anyone convicted…
In my previous post, I talked about the legal mechanics of how someone might be falsely accused in court of a crime. If you’ve been accused falsely of a crime, such as Massachusetts assault and battery, what are the steps you should take? Pay attention to the following: 1) Do…
One of the most upsetting things that can happen to anyone is to be falsely accused of a crime that you did not commit. While certainly police departments can sometimes unintentionally conclude that a person has committed a crime that in fact he or she did not commit, most of…
Here in Boston legal circles and in the Boston media, the past six weeks have been quite abuzz over the public corruption trial of former Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore F. “Sal” DiMasi and his two co-defendants, Richard Vitale and Richard McDonough. DiMasi, Vitale, McDonough, and former Cognos salesman Joseph Lally…
Very recently, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) announced a ruling that will make it more difficult for defendants who are accused of a Massachusetts drunk driving/OUI offense to challenge the accuracy of Breathalyzer test results. In a case that began in Greenfield District Court, a woman was convicted of…
In June 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS, among the legal profession,) issued a landmark decision in the area of testimonial evidence in drug prosecutions, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts. The ruling in that case essentially held that certificates of drug content analyses produced by a laboratory at the request of the…
In my previous post on this case, I discussed how five of the six defendants charged criminally in the death of Phoebe Prince, have received sentences far, far too lenient given the facts of this case. For the death of an innocent 15 year-old who came to this country with…
Being a Boston, Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer is not an easy job. It carries a high level of professional responsibility. It also requires the very special ability of being able to defend in court, people that you either know or strongly suspect are guilty of the crime they are charged…