Your Shield Against Criminal Prosecution
A Massachusetts State Police Trooper was indicted this past week by a Plymouth County Grand Jury in connection with an accident last year that resulted in the death of Susan Macchi and her daughter, Juliet Macchi, 23. The trooper was charged with vehicular homicide while operating under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation, and carrying a firearm while intoxicated. A…
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court considered the case of Silva v. Carmel, and decided that an abuse prevention order may issue where the defendant and victim live in the same state facility may not issue. Both the defendant and the victim in this case were intellectually disabled persons who both resided at the same state-residential facility of the Department of…
The Massachusetts SJC unfortunately decided a case, in my opinion, the wrong way. In Commonwealth v. Kevin Keo, the Supreme Judicial Court considered whether the defendant, convicted of first-degree murder, was entitled to a new trial where his attorney failed to obtain a full transcript of a witness’s testimony from a separate trial and where the prosecutor gave two inconsistent…
In a recent decision in Commonwealth v. Shabazz Augustine, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that prosecutors seeking access to a defendant’s cellular site location information are first required to obtain a search warrant based on probable cause. In recent years as the popularity of cell phone use has become so widespread, prosecutors have increasingly sought search warrants of a…
A Milford, Massachusetts woman was arrested for Massachusetts Drunk Driving Charges when her minivan crashed into a quarry in Milford with her three children in the vehicle. All three children were able to escape from the vehicle, which was partially submerged in the quarry. One of the children was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. One of the…
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today decided the case of Commonwealth v. Michael Robertson and considered the issue of whether secretly photographing or videotaping a person in a nude or partially nude state is illegal. The court ruled that it is not. The defendant in this case was charged under M.G.L. c. 272, section 105, “Photographing, Videotaping or Electronically Surveilling…
A New York federal judge ruled that the United States government’s phone gathering system is constitutional and a necessary measure to combat possible terrorist attacks against the country. The judge further ruled that Congress was within its rights to establish the system and that it does not violate any citizen’s constitutional rights. Notably, this New York decision is contrary to…
In a recent decision the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that in cases where a defendant is charged with Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol, a police officer may not offer an opinion at trial as to whether the driver’s ability was diminished by the consumption of alcohol or that he was probably impaired by the consumption of alcohol. In…
The Massachusetts Declaration of Rights and the United States Constitution afford every citizen with certain fundamental rights, including the right to remain silent and assert one’s privilege against self-incrimination. Just about everyone has heard of that right, but believe it or not, many people charged with a crime either don’t exercise it, or don’t properly assert. The United States Constitution…
A 21 year old Boston woman was charged with several Massachusetts Drunk Driving Charges, including Vehicular Homicide by Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol, in connection with a fatal hit and run that took the life of a 63 year old woman. According to the Boston Police Department, the defendant, who is from Dorchester, allegedly hit the woman near the…