I often get questions from readers and friends as to exactly what the charge of “resisting arrest” means. I’ve represented many clients on this charge (successfully, avoiding many convictions,) and I can assure you that this area of criminal law can be extremely murky. The very term “resisting arrest” is…
In my last post on this subject, I discussed the irresponsibility of some organizations and media outlets, in taking extreme license in promoting legally invalid definitions of rape. In that post, I had mentioned views advocated by some colleges and universities. When it comes to the university and academic community,…
Date Rape, also referred to as “Acquaintance Rape” can be a serious problem, and is real. Notwithstanding that the media have been reporting date rape as a new phenomenon, primarily due to the covert use of an anesthetic drug, the practical reality is that drugs (most frequently alcohol,) have been…
Media Reports that Boston police seized almost a ton of marijuana earlier this week, will be seized on by marijuana opponents as dramatic evidence of a serious problem in our society – one that must be eradicated no matter what the cost to taxpayers, no matter what the waste in…
This past Wednesday night, the Massachusetts House voted, 138-17, to approve legislation that would both reduce the waiting periods now required for sealing criminal records from public view, and prohibit employers from asking job applicants about prior criminal records on initial job application forms. As my readers know, I’ve blogged…
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this week, that juvenile sentences of life without parole in non-homicide cases violates the Eight Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, brought humanity and civility back into many courthouses across the United States. No one, this writer included, doubts that juveniles can commit…
Here’s an interesting question someone put to me recently. It has to do with rape and sexual assault: “Let’s assume that I decided to pretend I was gay to get in with the more trendy women who hate me for being a “heterosexual pig.” Assume I got such a woman…
Now that the verdict is in on this case, the predictable debate over the insanity defense has followed in the vox populi. A number of media outlets have asked for my legal opinion on this verdict, and I’m proud to say that in the past 24 hours, I’ve appeared as…
Today, John Odgren’s defense lawyer rested his case in the murder trial of the now 19-year-old young man who is accused of fatally stabbing 15-year-old James Alenson in a bathroom at Lincoln-Sudbury High School three years ago. As a Norfolk County Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer, I can assure you: Odgren’s…
Apologies to my readers for the gap since my last post: I was away from my office on a much-deserved trip. Today’s post is about a recent Supreme Judicial Court ruling, which doesn’t bode positively for many criminal defendants who, for a variety of legal and situational reasons, never should…