Today’s Metrowest Daily News reports that Massachusetts House of Representative leaders are considering a proposal that would increase the potential sentence of for heroin trafficking offenses. The suggested law is a reaction to the recent increase in heroin overdose deaths. This legislation would increase the maximum sentence that can be…
Today’s Newburyport News reports that a two week long drug investigation has led to the arrest of two Amesbury, Massachusetts residents. Jesus Ruiz and Sandra Magrath were apparently present when officers raided their Whitehall Road home a couple of days ago. Both were charged with trafficking cocaine and a heroin…
Here we go again. Police in Lawrence, Massachusetts see a car with Maine license plates. The car contained two female occupants later identified as Donna Jarvis and Tara Burton. The actions of the women suggested to the police that a drug deal was in the works. Another car arrived, in…
A local newspaper reports that three individuals, one from Lawrence, Massachusetts, the other two from Maine, have been charged with various Massachusetts drug crimes involving heroin. Now had the folks from Maine read my blog or any criminal defense publications they might not be in trouble right now. The facts…
An article I recently read in the Newburyport News once again got me thinking about traffic stops and probable cause. The defendant in this case, Luis Peguero was allegedly driving with headphones on. He was stopped. Police dispatchers provided information that Peguero had used an alias and had a criminal…
There are many areas in Massachusetts where concentrations of drug trafficking arrests are made. Some are in the inner cities. Some are in economically challenged suburbs. Others are on major highways that connect Massachusetts to neighboring states. This last category of cases gives me the most concern and often leads…
Experienced police officers believe they know exactly how to write reports that will survive constitutional challenges. They learn this skill at the police academy, through occupational trainings and from losing suppression hearings. Yet regardless of what they put in their reports they still have to be able to stand up…
Arrests for serious crimes are likely to trigger requests for bail. This is true not just in Massachusetts but in every state. Bail orders are set in various situations. Bail orders depend on the severity of the crime charged and other things more fully discussed below in this post. Massachusetts…
The Massachusetts joint venture laws are perhaps the most confusing for jurors to appreciate and understand. A joint venturer is someone who aids or assists in the commission of a crime. This is the person or people who help the principle do the actual act. Helping someone escape or acting…
This question is brought up in my office several times each month. Someone is arrested and charged with drug trafficking. They had very little or no drugs on them. Or, they were caught selling a small amount of a controlled substance. Small meaning substantially less than the threshold amount needed…