Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
Singer Bobby Brown, a Boston, Massachusetts native, will serve on year’s community service for cocaine possession in exchange for not being charged with possession of the drug.
Massachusetts police, responding to a call to break up a fight at a Brockton Holiday Inn last December, found Brown sitting in a car with a substance that they believe was cocaine.
No criminal charges were filed. This week, Brockton District Court Clerk Magistrate Kevin Creedon says there was no probable cause for a criminal complaint. He has ordered Brown, the ex-husband of singer Whitney Houston, to mentor young adults and children. The arrest will be erased form his criminal records if he avoids any arrests in the next year.
In Massachusetts, under Trial Court Rule XI: Uniform Rule for Probable Cause Determinations for Persons Arrested Without a Warrant:
A person who has been arrested for an offense for which no warrant has issued, if not released on bail or recognizance, shall be entitled prior to any extended pretrial detention to a determination by a judicial officer of whether there is probable cause to believe that such person has committed such offense, except where such person’s detention is otherwise authorized by a warrant or other judicial process.
Criminal penalties for cocaine possession conviction in Massachusetts include up to one year behind bars for a first offense and two years for a second offense.
Bobby Brown agrees to community service, Boston.com, February 26, 2008
Probable Cause Determinations, Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries
Related Web Resource:
Massachusetts Sentencing Guidelines
Our Boston, Massachusetts drug crimes lawyers can determine whether you were subjected to unreasonable searches and seizures when they made the arrest. We can also examine whether there are other circumstances that warrant that any pending or current criminal charges against you be dropped.
There may be alternatives to prison time that our criminal defense attorneys can explore for you. Contact Altman & Altman LLP today.
