Stabbing Someone in Massachusetts One of the more personal and highly violent criminal offenses in Massachusetts is stabbing another person. Stabbings are usually the result of hot emotions or fits of rage, and they can cause minor, serious, or even life-threatening injuries. Sometimes stabbing can even be fatal. when a…
You Need a Lawyer at a Clerk Magistrate Hearing About two months ago I was contacted by a woman who received notice for clerk magistrate hearing charging her with assault and battery on a pregnant person. After discussing the case it became clear that the accused was actually the victim…
Destruction of Evidence in Criminal Cases For nearly three decades I have been defending people accused of committing crimes. I have spent thousands of hours in courtrooms arguing on behalf of my clients and listening to hundreds of criminal defense attorneys fighting for their clients. One of the more common…
You Do Not Have To Talk To A Police Officer Here is a very common scenario. Someone calls me up for “advice”. They tell me that the police want to talk to them about an incident. I ask them to tell me what happened. Don’t sugar coat it. Just tell…
During the course of my career as a criminal defense attorney I have seen an increasing number of parents being charged for using force to discipline their children. The degree of force has ranged from a benign “grabbing” to more significant striking. Usually, these criminal charges were deemed indefensible in…
Assault and Battery on Police Officer Defense I was recently reading and article in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune about Methuen, Massachusetts police officers with assault arrests in their background. The article, written by Douglas Moser on July 16, 2015 identifies two Methuen officers charged with violent crimes. One was facing…
Pretrial Probation for a Felony or a CWOF For a Misdemeanor Anytime you can dispose of a criminal case and not have a record you should really think about taking the deal that is on the table. Unless there are potential collateral consequences the risk of going to trial usually…
Do I Need a Criminal Defense Attorney Before I am Charged With a Crime Every few weeks I get a call from a perspective client telling me that he or she heard that the cops are looking for them. They want to know what they should do. These people tend…
Recently I was meeting with a new client who was charged, among other things with resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer. The defendant is a college student who was leaving a party in a Boston neighborhood. His story is unnerving and very common in Massachusetts, particularly…
Just yesterday I signed up a client being charged with malicious destruction to property over $250. This is a felony in Massachusetts. The allegations, at least according to the cab driver are that the passenger disputed the fare and refused to pay. Out of anger the passenger supposedly then broke…