The ever-photogenic Michelle Carter, the Connecticut teen accused of assisting in her boyfriend’s 2014 suicide, and hereinafter referred to as the “Defendant”, is in the news again. You may remember the Defendant. In fact, the good folks at Altman & Altman, llp posted a blog in my absence about the…
Folks are focused on the federal criminal appeal of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). While his appeals will be automatic because of his unusual penalty, all criminal defendants, especially if convicted after a trial, have the right to appeal their conviction. The appeal, however, may not be what you think…
The Executive Office of Public Safety recently released a report detailing their investigation into 39,000 breath test results. The investigation started when questions arose regarding the calibration of the breathalyzer machines. The report found that in fewer than 150 cases, breath test personnel should have deemed the results to be…
Sometimes, you just can’t win at trial. Sometimes, the true battle is going to be fought during a Massachusetts appeal. Sometimes the law under which you are being prosecuted is what has to be addressed…not the facts of the case. This was one of those cases. Last week saw a…
The James “Whitey” Bulger trial is a lesson on the importance of criminal appeal lawyers. They had better be experienced and talented to wade through the legal issues in this case. I believe it is in the Massachusetts appeals courts that the real legal battle will take place. Not since…
The criminal justice fate of former Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill apparently remains undecided. In Boston’s Suffolk County Superior Court last Friday, a hearing took place regarding the matter. Until then, at least publically, both sides had declined to say whether Cahill will be tried for a second time on corruption…
The short answer, as any daily reader of Attorney Sam’s Take knows, is “of course he can”. All he has to do is be found guilty after a trial. He has accomplished that task. The next question, of course, is what the basis of the appeal will be. That is…
Boston’s Supreme Judicial Court has released a ruling in the case of a woman who had been convicted of murder. The case dates back to 2003. Solange Anestal (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was accused of plunging a 16-inch piece of glass into her boyfriend’s chest, causing his death. It happened in…
A dumbfounding revelation has closed down one of Massachusetts’ three criminal drug labs. Governor Deval Patrick ordered state police to shutter the Hinton State Laboratory Institute in Jamaica Plain after a probe showed that the actions of a single chemist may have tainted countless articles of evidence. Such a disclosure…
When we left off on Friday, we were discussing the recent Supreme Judicial Court ruling regarding investigations into judicial contemplation in certain cases. How does such an investigation get started? How do you think it gets started? Attorney Sam’s Take On How Judicial Investigations Get Started You know, it is…