The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently announced that, from July 20 2009 forward, judges will generally be required to issue rulings within 30 days of the completion of any civil commitment proceeding sought by the Commonwealth against someone previously convicted of rape or a sexual assault crime. On many…
Here’s an interesting development occurring at the intersection of criminal law and the healthcare field: The state’s largest nursing association is organizing support and lobbying for a bill giving nurses special protections from assault and battery by patients under their care. The legislation would put defendants found guilty of assault…
Drunk driving and other criminal charges have been filed against a 22-year-old Falmouth man who was allegedly operating under the influence of alcohol in last month’s fatal car accident on County Road, in Bourne, Massachusetts, according to police authorities. Jonathan Muir was charged in Barnstable District Court with motor vehicle…
By now, many readers of this blog know that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that people convicted of a crime have no constitutional right to DNA testing to prove their innocence, after they are convicted. What most people didn’t know until then, however, is that Massachusetts is one…
Readers of my blog know that I’ve posted previously on the horrific story of the beating death of young Nathaniel Turner, a 7 year-old boy from Alabama that came to live with his biological father, Leslie G. Schuler, near Worcester, for the summer. On June 21 2009 – Father’s Day…
A long-suspected underboss of the reigning New England crime family has reached a criminal defense plea agreement with federal and state criminal law authorities, which will net him a 6-year federal prison sentence. Federal and state law prosecutors and law enforcement officials announced yesterday that Carmen S. “Cheeseman” DiNunzio, 51,…
In a ruling affecting a wide variety of criminal law cases in Massachusetts, especially drug crimes, the U.S Supreme Court has ruled that lab reports offered as evidence by prosecutors will henceforth require the in-person testimony of lab technicians at trial. The landmark ruling had its origins in a routine…
How I wish I could write more of positive news in this blog. Unfortunately, as my law school professors used to tell me, “It’s bad cases that make good law.” Along those lines, this next case illustrates the definition of murder in Massachusetts, and when someone is “dead.” Nathaniel Turner…
As the Enterprise News made clear in an editorial last week, change begins with telling the truth. And the truth on this subject – the glaring truth – is that drug crime polices, both in Massachusetts and across the nation – have been essentially a complete failure, and a waste…
Here’s an interesting story about Massachusetts crime, which features (among other Massachusetts communities) a Cape Cod town near and dear to me, and where I own property: Wellfleet, Massachusetts. It seems that without much public knowledge, and under the radar, several communities in Massachusetts that are not exactly known as…