Your Shield Against Criminal Prosecution
Massachusetts gun laws use the term "large capacity" to describe certain firearms and magazines. That label affects how police charge a case and how courts punish it. If you own or handle a firearm, it helps to understand what the law means by large capacity. How...
In the execution of a search warrant by Boston Police of a multi-family home, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a superior court ruling that the seizure of a shotgun was improper. Clarifying the protections of the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution, the SJC affirmed intrusion into the “curtilage” of a common area of the multi-family property intruded…
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently reversed the conviction of a man who was found guilty after trial in the Cambridge District Court of gun/firearms charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm. The issue on appeal concerned the pre-trial motion to suppress challenge of the defendant, who argued that he was unlawfully seized and searched by police because they lacked reasonable…
A criminal defendant appealed his conviction for possession of a loaded firearm without a license after trial where he was acquitted of the “predicate” offense of unlawful possession of a firearm. The Massachusetts Appeals Court held that a conviction on these verdicts could not stand because the crime of possession of a loaded firearm is a “sentencing enhancement”, which does…
In a recent decision, the Massachusetts Appeals Court appears to have broadened the scope of “reasonable suspicion to stop” a person in circumstances where he did not match the descriptions of the suspect as provided by eyewitnesses. In the case of Commonweatlh v. Johnson, police responded to several 911 calls of shots fired by multiple shooter in a residential area. One…
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently suppressed evidence in a case that was seized as a result from an arrest by Boston Police based on mistaken information. In the case of Commonwealth v. Maingrette, the Appeals Court ruled that the arrest, based on a default warrant that was no longer active at the time of the defendant’s arrest, was unlawful and…
A Massachusetts State Police Trooper pulled over two Boston men in Stoughton late Sunday night, ultimately arrested the passenger on Massachusetts Gun Crimes Charges. The passenger, Brian Marsh, 45 of Hyde Park, was arrested and arraigned in Stoughton District Court for unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of drugs. According to the Massachusetts State Police, a trooper on…
Boston Police Officers executed a search warrant charged the Dorchester homeowner with several Massachusetts Gun Charges this past week. The Dorchester man, Magnetic Tom, was charged with two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, Improper Storage of a Firearm and being a Level II Armed Career Criminal. According to the Boston Police Department, a search…
A Brockton man was arraigned last week on several Massachusetts Crimes of Violence Charges for allegedly shooting at a crowd of people in Boston. The man was formally arraigned in the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court with Armed Assault to Murder, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition and Carrying a Loaded Firearm. According to the…
A freshman student at Falmouth High School allegedly brought a gun to school this past week and has been charged with Massachusetts Gun Crimes Charges. According to Falmouth High School representatives, the student, who is reportedly 15 years old, was allegedly bragging to other students that he had a gun. Falmouth Police were called to the school and found that…