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Around 7:00 p.m. last Thursday night Lynn, Massachusetts Police responded to a call reporting shots on Landers Street. The officers were directed to a man who was bleeding from his shoulder and had apparently been shot. While investigating the incident the officers noticed bullet holes at 7 Lander Street. The officers went into the home to look for shooting victims. No one was home. The officers continued to search the home. They opened a closet and a metal box inside the closet. Inside they found ammunition. Police then applied for and obtained a search warrant. They returned and found Sereca Prom at the residence. They continued their search and found several bags of marijuana. Prom supposedly confessed that the marijuana was hers. She has been charged with Possession of Ammunition and Possession of Marijuana. The case is being prosecuted in the Lynn District Court.

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Lynn, Massachusetts Marijuana Possession Defense Lawyer, Ammunition Possession Defense Lawyer

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Once again, the strength of the district attorney’s case here hinges on the legality of the initial search. While typically there is a requirement that no search be conducted without a Search Warrant, there are exceptions. Potentially applicable to this case is the “exigent circumstances” exception. Police are permitted in certain situations to bypass the search warrant requirement where they need certain flexibility to the events at the scene of a crime. Here, the prosecution will argue that the officers were permitted to enter Prom’s home to attend to possible shooting victims. The defense will likely argue that once they found no victim they had a duty to leave the home. The subsequent search violated Prom’s rights requiring suppression of the ammunition seized. Additionally, the Search Warrant was obtained on the basis of unlawfully found evidence. The defendant will argue that the Search Warrant therefore should not have issued and that the subsequent search of Prom’s home should be suppressed.

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This past Saturday a Massachusetts State Trooper pulled a car over for speeding shortly after 4:00 in the afternoon. Smelling what appeared to be an abundance of air fresheners the officer became suspicious. The two occupants of the vehicle then gave the officer a story that did not check out. A canine unit was called. The dog alerted officers to the dashboard and the passenger side airbag. Officers then forcibly opened the dashboard. They found cocaine and over thirty three thousand dollars cash. The weight of the cocaine was approximated at one half kilogram, over two hundred grams. The occupants, Joel Alicea of Lawrence, Massachusetts and Alejandro Nunez Perez of Methuen, Massachusetts were arrested and charged with Conspiracy, Trafficking Cocaine, and other Massachusetts Drug Crimes.

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http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1507938287/Too-many-air-fresheners-tip-police-to-drugs

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This case presents some interesting Massachusetts Search and Seizure issues. Massachusetts Courts have held that investigative detentions must be no longer than are necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop. Thus, in this case most Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyers will ask what permitted the officers to detain the defendants longer than necessary to issue the speeding ticket. I imagine that it was more than a few minutes from the time the car was pulled over until the canine unit arrived. On several occasions Massachusetts courts have held that detentions of this length were unconstitutional. The next issue that strikes me is what links these defendants to the drugs. Apparently the vehicle belonged to someone else. The drugs and money were concealed. How then are these defendants responsible for Trafficking and Conspiracy.

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This past Thursday Stoughton, Massachusetts police detectives received a tip. They learned, probably through an informant that a package containing Oxycodone was going to delivered by mail to someone in Stoughton. An undercover detective pretending to be a postal worker contacted the recipient and arranged to meet with her. A short time later detectives met with Jessica Prato and Chad Graham, both of Miami, Florida. Both were arrested and charged with Trafficking Oxycodone. Police seized the package. It contained nearly one hundred thousand dollars worth of Oxycodone pills.

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http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/cops_and_courts/x370074324/Stoughton-police-make-major-oxycodone-bust

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Massachusetts Oxycodone, Oxycontin Trafficking Defense Lawyer

There is a lot about this case that interests me as a Massachusetts Drug Trafficking Defense Lawyer. First, what if anything did the defendants say when they met with the undercover officer. If Prato simply took possession of the package without more then there is no indication that she knew what the package contained. In that case the district attorney will have a difficult time showing criminal intent. Second, how is Graham implicated in criminal activity. If he simply accompanied Prato when she met with the undercover officer the prosecution will have difficulty showing criminal responsibility on his part. Third, what were Prato and Graham doing in Massachusetts. Did they own property here. What is the nature of the address where the package was being sent. What is their connection to that address. Fourth, what information did the informant present to the officers. Will it survive a constitutional challenge from a Motion to Suppress.

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Marylou Quinones Fry-Trifone of Billerica, Massachusetts was served with divorce papers a few days ago. Less than twenty four hours later she was arrested for trying to kill her fourteen year old stepdaughter. According to the Lowell Sun, the victim woke up around 4:30 a.m. and found the defendant at the front of her bed holding a large knife. The defendant yelled that she was going to kill the girl. She then swung the knife hitting the girl in the forearm, back and stomach. The victim screamed. Her sister and father came to her aid and subdued Fry-Trifone. Within minutes the police arrived. The victim was transported to a local hospital. Fry-Trifone has been charged with Assault With the Intent to Commit Murder, Assault and Battery, Assault and Battery by Means of a Dangerous Weapon and Assault With a Dangerous Weapon. She was released on one thousand dollars cash bail.

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Billerica, Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer

This article shows the value of having an Experienced Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer at your arraignment. These are very serious charges. Most of the charges are felonies and there is a possibility that this case will be prosecuted in the Middlesex County Superior Court in Woburn. There is also a possibility that if convicted Fry-Trifone will have to serve a jail or prison sentence. However, her lawyer did a great job getting bail set at one thousand dollars, a relatively small sum given the severity of these charges. These cases can take months or even more than a year to resolve. If the defendant is held without bail or on an unaffordable cash bail he or she will be stuck in jail while the case is pending.

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This past weekend Thomas Frechette of Saugus, Massachusetts was found outside of his home by police officers responding to his wife’s emergency call. Reports claim that Frechette”s wife was found locked in the upstairs bathroom of her home. She told police that she and Frechette had argued after which he pushed her, grabbed her and kicked her. Frechette had been drinking and admitted to police that he and his wife had been in a fight. Frechette’s wife told the police that he owned firearms in the trunk of his car and that during the fight he had threatened to kill her. Apparently Frechette keeps the car in which the firearms are stored in Malden. He has been charged in the Lynn District Court with Domestic Assault and Battery and Threatening to Commit a Crime. No Gun Charges have been filed however the police are applying for a Search Warrant to search the car for the weapons.

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Saugus, Massachusetts Domestic Abuse Defense Lawyer

Frechette’s defense in this case will largely depend on what his wife intends to do. Cases of Domestic Assault and Battery in Massachusetts are often impossible to prove without the cooperation and testimony of the victim. In Massachusetts spouses have an absolute privilege not to testify against their spouse. Thus, absent independent witnesses this case might be difficult to prove. The same logic applies for the gun charges that might issue. Even if the police find guns in Frechette’s trunk they will not likely be able to prove they were his without some corroboration. In this case, corroboration would come from the wife, the person who alerted the officers to their existence in the first place.

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Robert Rosado has been out on a fifty thousand dollar cash bail since 2009 for charges of Possession of Marijuana, Cocaine Trafficking, Resisting Arrest and Assault and Battery on a Police Officer. Last week a Massachusetts State Police Officer pulled Rosado over on Route 24 for “excessively tinted windows”. Upon making contact with Rosado the officer smelled marijuana. That made him suspicious as did the fact that Rosado was wearing boxer shorts depicting a marijuana leaf. The officer also claims to have seen unspecified drug paraphernalia. Compounding matters was the fact that this officer had arrested Rosado in the past. The offIcer called for backup. A drug sniffing dog signaled the canine officer and in a concealed box officers found seventy eight grams of cocaine and ten thousand dollars cash. Rosado has been charged with Trafficking Cocaine in Excess of 28 Grams. The case is pending in the Taunton District Court. The case will ultimately be tried in the Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River.

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http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/cops_and_courts/x1673647684/Boxers-lead-to-cocaine-arrest-in-Taunton

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Bristol County Drug Trafficking Lawyer, Cocaine and Marijuana Charges

This case raises some interesting Fourth Amendment issues. Tinted window, while arguably sufficient to justify a traffic stop does permit the police to do more. Nor for that matter does the odor of marijuana allow the police to continue their search of the vehicle. This is particularly true now since the decriminalization of possessing less than one ounce of marijuana came into effect. Obviously the officer did not believe that Rosado was operating under the influence of marijuana. Had believed that he undoubtedly would have charged Rosado with that crime. This raises another interesting question. If it is not a criminal offense to possess limited quantities of marijuana is it a crime to possess materials, i.e. “drug paraphernalia” to smoke the substance. It seems to me that Rosado’s Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer has plenty of ammunition to fight the stop through a Motion to Suppress.

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This week the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its opinion in the case of Commonwealth v. Nee. Nee was convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Murder in 2008 the Plymouth County Superior Court in Brockton, Massachusetts after a jury waived trial. He received a sentence of two and one half years in the house of correction with nine months to serve. A sentence as such typically results in a defendant serving four and one half months. The Court in its decision recited the following facts:

In September of 2004 Nee and two other Marshfield High School students (Farley and Sullivan) met with a police officer to inform her that another student had come up with a plan to blow up Marshfield High School. The meeting was arranged at Nee’s suggestion. Nee and the others described the plot to the officer. As planned, they never acknowledged any involvement in the plan. Acting on this information police officers executed a Search Warrant at the home of Tobin Kerns where they found evidence of the plan. Kerns was tried and convicted. Farley and Sullivan testified at his trial under a grant of immunity. Their testimony implicated Nee. Both stated that the intent was to execute a Columbine-style assault on the school and specified targets. The plan was elaborate.

Nee’s appeal argued insufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction for conspiracy to commit murder. In particular, the defendant suggested that he never intended to carry out the plan. Ruling against the defendant the Court held that to prove a conspiracy the prosecution need prove no more than an agreement with another with the intention to commit the act. There is no overt act requirement in Massachusetts. In addition, several witnesses testified about Nee’s involvement in the plan itself, that he experimented with explosive devices and recruited others to join in the plot. Nee also argued that he renounced his intention to carry out the plan and that act constitutes a complete defense to the charges. The Court held that in order to avail oneself of that defense he must first acknowledge that he conspired to commit the crime. In this case Nee denied involvement in the crime. The Court left open this issue as to whether or not the defense of renunciation is a viable defense to conspiracy in Massachusetts.

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David Marchant, a Boston Police Officer living in Dorchester, Massachusetts is facing charges of Domestic Assault and Battery. The alleged victim is his wife. Boston.com reports that Marchant was arrested over the weekend. Marchant’s mother-in-law told officers that she witnessed Marchant slap his wife and push her. The mother-in-law tried to intercede. Marchant hit her too. She further stated that her she heard a slapping sound and then saw her daughter fall down some stairs. She then called 911. Marchant is on administrative duty at the police department while an investigation is conducted.

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Boston Domestic Assault and Battery Defense Lawyer

Here are some interesting Domestic Violence statistics reported by the American Bar Association. There are about 1.3 million women and two thirds as many men assaulted by an intimate partner in this country each year. About thirty three percent of female murder victims are killed by an intimate partner. 84% of spousal abuse victims are female. These figures are staggering and only slightly representative of the actual incidents of Domestic Violence that occur each year.

Naturally, prosecutors in Massachusetts take these cases quite seriously. All Massachusetts District Attorney’s Offices have specially trained attorneys who prosecuted primarily Domestic Violence Cases. Additionally, Restraining Orders are often directly implicated in Domestic Violence prosecutions. This is why it is important that anyone charged with Domestic Assault and Battery in Massachusetts hire an Experienced Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer. Without proper representation you risk a conviction or possible jail sentence.

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This week, following a complaint from a Methuen, Massachusetts woman, Kenneth Poirier was arraigned in the Lawrence District Court on charges of Aggravated Rape and Kidnapping. He was previously charged with Indecent Assault and Battery, Assault and Battery and Kidnapping following another incident alleged to have occurred in October of this year. According to the complaining witness, on October 10, 2010 Poirier pulled her into his car and sexually attacked her at a remote location. As to the other case, it is alleged that on May 23, 2010 Poirier approached a woman pretending to need driving directions. When the woman approached to help out Poirier brandished a gun and demanded that the woman get in his car. He then drove off. He beat and raped her for about three hours. The woman escaped and was able to get the attention of patrolling police officers. She gave a description of Poirier who was arrested three days later. The woman refused medical treatment. These cases will probably be indicted to the Essex County Superior Court in Salem, Massachusetts.

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http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1744209004/Second-Methuen-woman-accuses-man-of-attacks

While both of these cases might be defensible individually the prosecution might try to join both matters for trial. This will create an incredible difficult hurdle for the defense to jump. Massachusetts appellate courts have upheld the joinder of separate criminal accusations when two or more offenses are related, meaning that they are based on the same criminal conduct, course of criminal conduct or series of criminal episodes. It is up to the trial judge whether or not to permit joinder. Prior to permitting joinder the judge must decide whether joining the cases would deny the defendant of a fair trial. I can see some judges joining these cases and others requiring the district attorney to prosecute them separately. Most Aggressive Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyers will fight to sever these cases. The potential prejudice joinder presents is significant.

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Victor Hugo Gomez and Carolina Magana, both of East Boston, Massachusetts were arrested and charged with Sex Crimes in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Lynn Item reports that in September Lynn police detectives were made aware of a Prostitution ring in that city. They learned that prostitutes of Colombian decent were being delivered to clients in a specified minivan. Undercover officers called a number given to them by an informant and requested that a prostitute be delivered to them at a specific address. Within minutes a minivan fitting the informant’s description arrived. It was being driven by Gomez. Magana was in the back seat. Police identified themselves and Magana told the police that she and Gomez worked together and split the profits. A search of the minivan resulted in the seizure of a bag of condoms, some lubricant and cash. It was also determined that Gomez was an Unlicensed Driver. Gomez has been charged with a Motor Vehicle Crime and Derving Support from a Prostitute. Magana has been charged with Sex For a Fee. The case is being prosecuted in the Lynn District Court.

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Massachusetts Sex For a Fee Defense Lawyer

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Massachusetts Prostitution Defense Law Firm
Deriving Support from a Prostitute is a felony under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272 Section 7. The law states that anyone convicted of this crime is subject to a five year prison sentence. Here, it is unlikely that Magana will testify against Gomez. Thus, the prosecution will have great difficulty securing a conviction. Massachusetts law states that driving a prostitute to particular location and either returning to pick her up or waiting for her does not amount to Pimping in Massachusetts. Absent some additional evidence the case against Gomez, if properly defended should be dismissed.

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