Your Shield Against Criminal Prosecution
In order for any criminal trial begins, a jury must be selected. But how a jury is chosen why certain prospective jurors are excluded is not limitless. Generally, when jurors are selected from a pool (called the “venire”) they can be excluded “for cause” or because either the defendant’s attorney or the prosecutor exercised a “peremptory challenge.” A peremptory challenge…
The Massachusetts Court of Appeals recently affirmed an order from the Superior Court holding a petitioner in contempt for refusing to abide by an order to unlock his iPhone following a request from a Middlesex County Grand Jury. A grand jury hearing facts in an ongoing investigation in Middlesex County involving an alleged assault and battery on two children requested…
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently considered whether police officers are permitted to testify concerning the administration of field sobriety tests (FST’s) where they suspect the driver is operating under the influence of marijuana. Unlike in cases involving alleged operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol (OUI/DUI), police officers, the state’s highest court held, may not…
Massachusetts law permits police officers to conduct OUI/DUI roadblocks, or what is legally known as “field sobriety checkpoints.” For OUI/DUI roadblocks to be constitutionally valid, the selection of vehicles to be stopped must not be arbitrary; safety must be assured; motorists’ inconvenience must be minimized; and assurance must be given that the procedure to be conducted is pursuant to a…
In a recent decision in Commonwealth v. Garvey, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court agreed with the defendant that the habitual criminal statute required that the underlying convictions be based on separate incidents of criminal episodes. Because, in this case, the prosecutor failed to submit evidence to the grand jury that the prior criminal episodes arose from separate incidents, the supreme…
The defendant in Commonwealth v. Palacios claimed that the ambulance records should not have been admitted against her at his OUI/DUI trial and that references to her intoxication should have been redacted. The Massachusetts Appeals Court, however, concluded that the ambulance records were properly admitted as records of medical services. This case began when the defendant ran a stop sign…
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…
A Somerville High School student was arraigned yesterday on several Massachusetts Sex Crimes Charges, including Aggravated Rape of a Child in connection with the alleged sexual assault of another young high school athlete with a broomstick. A total of three Somerville students who were attending a retreat in the Berkshires at Camp Lenox and allegedly sought out three other students…
Nathaniel Fujita was arrested and has been charged in connection with the Murder of Lauren Astley, the Wayland teenager whose body was found in a wooded marsh area along Route 27 near a Wayland beach. Fujita was arraigned this morning in Framingham District Court on 1st Degree Murder Charges. Following his arraignment, he was held without bail. According to the…
Richard Hasomeris, 42,of Middleboro, has been summonsed to appear in Middleboro District Court to answer a number of Massachusetts Drunk Driving Charges for allegedly crashing his motorcycle into a car and then leaving the scene. He has been charged with Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol, Leaving the Scene of an Accident Causing Personal Injury, Leaving the Scene of an…