Your Shield Against Criminal Prosecution
A routine traffic stop can escalate quickly when police claim they found drugs in your vehicle. In Boston, these situations often move fast and leave you unsure about what happens next. Understanding how these stops work under Massachusetts law helps you make sense of...
The United States Supreme Court, in a decision concerning the lawfulness of a stop and search of a man, founds grounds to justify the arrest of the person despite ruling that the police officer violated the man’s constitutional rights by stopping him in the first place. The decision, issued in Utah v. Strieff, is disturbing because it expands the scope…
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently rejected the Commonwealth’s appeal from the suppression of drug evidence by the trial court, holding that the judge properly suppressed the drugs seized from the defendant because the Boston Police conducted an unlawful search and seizure of his person. In the case of Commonwealth v. Johnny Evans, the defendant challenged the stop by the police…
The Massachusetts controlled substance laws punishes with enhanced penalties those persons who violated the drug laws for the sale or distribution of drugs within 100 feet of a “public park or playground”. This week, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that a defendant cannot be criminally liable if he distributes drugs within a park or playground that is NOT “public”, even…
In the case of Commonwealth v. Overmyer, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court considered whether the smell of ‘unburnt marijuana’ provides police officers with probable cause to believe there is more than (the legal) one ounce to justify a search of the car without a search warrant. The court ruled that, no, the mere smell of unburnt marijuana does NOT justify…
A 20 year old man from Boston was arrested this past Thursday on Massachusetts Drug Charges in Weymouth. He was charged with Drug Distribution, Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Conspiracy to Violate the Drug Laws, and Resisting Arrest. According to the Weymouth Police Department, the defendant was alleged to have engaged in a drug transaction with a…
A man entering attempting to enter the country through Boston’s Logan Airport was arrested for Massachusetts Drug Crimes Charges after 4 kilo’s of cocaine were found in his wheelchair. According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the passenger had a cast on his leg and was in a wheelchair, but airport security suspected he did not need the wheelchair…
Boston Police Drug Control Unit Officers arrested a man from Quincy and another from West Roxbury last week on Massachusetts Drug Crimes Charges. Both men where arrested for Unlawful Possession of a Class A Substance, Heroin. According to the Boston Police Department, officers were conducting undercover surveillance in the area of CVS in Roslindale, which they allege is a high…
The Massachusetts Department of Health Lab in Jamaica Plain (William A. Hinton Drug Laboratory) was ordered shut down by the governor a few weeks ago when it was discovered that at least one of the chemists at the lab allegedly engaged in malfeasance and violation of protocol with drug samples in criminal cases. The drug lab handled several thousand drug…
The Norwood Police Department last week arrested 3 men on Massachusetts Drug Crimes Charges who they claim to be key suppliers for drugs in the Town of Norwood. The 3 men, one from Boston, Quincy and Fall River, were all arrested following a drug investigation with several ‘controlled drug purchases’ in Norwood that also led to a drug house in…