Articles Posted in Assault and Battery

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The trial of Mark Kerrigan continues at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn today. As you no doubt recall, Mark Kerrigan is the brother of Nancy Kerrigan, renown Olympic skater. She has had her own previous dealings with the criminal justice system…as a complainant. This time, she is supporting the defendant, her brother, who is being prosecuted for the Massachusetts homicide of their father.

Of course, in this blog, as in the criminal justice system, Mark Kerrigan is known as the “Defendant”.

There does not seem to be too much debate around the surrounding circumstances of the elder Mr. Kerrigan’s death. He was in some kind of altercation with the Defendant when he collapsed and died. According to the defense, including the deceased’s family members, he died as a result of severe blockage of his coronary arteries.

The Commonwealth disagrees. The chief medical examiner has testified that the death was caused by heart failure triggered by the physical altercation with the Defendant. He has opined that Mr. Kerrigan’s fatal cardiac dysrhythmia — a loss or interruption of a normal heartbeat was not only caused by the altercation, but that he also suffered an acute fracture of cartilage in his larynx, an injury prosecutors say the Defendant inflicted Continue reading

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This past weekend saw a bit of nice weather. What better time to protest Massachusetts sex crimes against women? What better time to march around scantily clad and chastise men who gawk?

In short….what better time for a “Boston Slutwalk”?

You think I am kidding, right? Ol’ Sam’s sarcastic humor has gotten the best of him and he is crossing the line, huh? Well, not at all.

This past weekend, there was a parade of men and women, the later primarily wearing only micro minis and bras. It was called by its participants the “Boston Slutwalk” and it wound its way from Government Center to the Common the marchers, chanting, “However we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes, and no means no,”

People stared, but no one dared to act in the animalistic way one might expect. As the Boston Herald put it, “you don’t mess with 200 “sluts” on a mission.”

Boston’s “Slutwalk” was one of an international series of such things that began earlier this year when a silver-tongued Toronto police officer allegedly told a group of York University law students that the best way to avoid getting raped was to not dress like a slut.

How delicately and tastefully put.
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…And so the nationally known South Hadley bullying criminal case that began as a bombastic farce goes out with a face-saving and clearer headed whimper.

As you have probably heard, and as we discussed in previous blogs, all but one of the teens indicted last year by, to be undeservingly generous, overzealous ex-district attorney Scheibel, have had their cases resolved. While one remains awaiting trial for a typical Massachusetts statutory rape charge (hardly a bullying issue), the other kids have resolved their cases as misdemeanors.

The dispositions ranged from guilty pleas to misdemeanors to continuances without findings. The latter means that, so long as that particular defendant stays out of trouble after a probationary period, the matter will be dismissed. In the various cases, of course, the fact that they were initially charged as they were did the damage to each defendant’s criminal record. At best, it will be several years before these high school students can potentially seal their records and so moving on to college and/or employment will be even more of a challenge than it already is for the general public.

Although she spent much of her time in giving a victim-witness statement blaming her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, Phoebe Prince’s mother, Anne O’Brien, apparently agreed to these dispositions. In her statements, she included the following statement:

“Phoebe ended her pain brought about by harassment, harassment that could easily have been stopped if any of those involved had ever reached inside themselves to find their own compassion.”
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Massachusetts politics can be a dangerous business. We have talked many times how it can run, and ruin, the criminal justice system. Sometimes, however, it can provide the system with new business.

Take the case of Antonio Arevalo (hereinafter, the “Battered”) for example. He has been a critic of Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua. A very vocal cri.

This angered some folks…one man in particular. David Figueroa (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) works as a bouncer for La Guira, a nightclub which is popular with the mayor. Apparently, he did not care for the Battered’s attitude.

According to the Battered, he was confronted and beaten by the 6-foot-9 Defendant who called him “a snitch” and the “man who took the mayor to court.” .

Well, it is actually not only according to the Battered. The event was actually caught on videotape which has now hit the internet.

Anyway, The result was apparently a broken arm (in two places) for the Battered and a the need for a Massachusetts Assault and Battery Attorney for the Defendant Continue reading

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Maine ‘s Krista Dittmeyer’s body has been found. The mother of the infant who was found in her car is dead. Meanwhile, a Lowell man needs a Massachusetts murder attorney as he is accused of killing his wife. Two Roxbury handguns were recovered by police after chasing and apprehending two individuals.

None of these stories are the subject matter of today’s blog. Instead, let’s deal with a real issue. Something that is really causing consternation to the Commonwealth’s law enforcement community. After all, they are our protection and the keepers of our liberty, aren’t they?

Well, some of those liberties perhaps.

They were a bit miffed last week. You see, Suffolk University Law School Students are asking some apparently embarrassing questions. One such student has taken on a project which Boston Police brass and union officials call in “cop-hate baiting at its worst.”

The police are so upset, in fact, that the university itself is seeking to distance itself from the project. The college ordered the fliers taken down, saying the collaboration between Suffolk Law students, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Boston Black Men’s Leadership Group should not have used the law school’s logo.

The hateful and offensive actions at issue is the posting of fliers for the “Police Misconduct Documentation Project” and the “Police Complaint Assistance Project”. These posters ask horrible questions like “Have you been abused, brutalized or mistreated by the Boston Police … ?”

Just imagine such a thing!

Apparently, according to the police and the university, such offensive questions should not be asked. One would imagine that such information therefore should not be compiled and should be silently swept under the rug.

After all, what is wrong with alittle police abuse? They have a hard job…aren’t the entitled to knock around a few folks?

Don’t call it a Boston assault…call it simply alittle attitude adjustment.
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A Brockton assault and battery matter has just occurred under the type of circumstances that all parents fear. It resulted from a high school knife fight in which someone was injured.

The other was arrested for the Massachusetts dangerous weapon assault charge.

Of course the Brockton high school campus fight was not the first one between the participants in the story. It apparently took place after the same 18 year old students were escorted to the housemaster’s office because of an earlier physical altercation.

As of this writing, One of the students is resting in a local hospital and the other stands facing Massachusetts felony charges including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
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Well, Bullying has hit the news again and, once again, this Boston criminal lawyer was asked to comment. On Friday, I was interviewed for Newsweek Magazine on the subject of the indictments handed down against Dharun Ravi (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). If you like, you can read the resulting article here.

As you may recall, Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi (hereinafter, the “Deceased”) committed suicide approximately seven months ago. Said suicide followed the Defendant, with the help of some friends, allegedly streaming live video footage of the Deceased, his roommate, engaging in romance with his lover, another man. The Defendant was allegedly aided in the broadcast by his lady-friend, Molly Wei (hereinafter, the “Accomplice”). During the broadcast, the Defendant allegedly described what was being broadcast on Twitter.

Criminal investigators have also apparently found that the Defendant had tweeted on earlier occasions his frustration and/or maliciousness about the Deceased’s homosexuality. As a result, New Jersey prosecutors say that the Defendant knowingly targeted the Deceased because he was gay.

Apparently, this was not bad enough. During the government’s investigation, it is alleged that the Defendant tried to mislead law enforcement, deleted messages and attempted to convince some of his friends not to cooperate with authorities.

These efforts did not work. They seldom do. They usually only result in more charges…which they did here.

Now, the Garden State has indicted the Defendant on 15 counts, including witness and evidence tampering and bias intimidation. The matter has been elevated to a hate crime.
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Two Roxbury teenagers, their friends, supporters and detractors appeared in Roxbury District Court yesterday. The event at issue was the MBTA bus debacle from earlier in the week. I would say it was one in a few MBTA recent debacles, but I suppose that would be unkind.

Felix Garcia, 18, and Michael Baptista, 19, (collectively, the “Defendants”) were arraigned on charges of interfering with a bus driver and assault and battery on a public employee. Bottom line? A case for experienced Boston assault and battery attorneys.

You have probably already heard the allegations put forth by the Commonwealth. The bus driver claims that he merely asked the teens to put out their cigarettes and they refused, instead opting for another option, namely, attacking the driver, perhaps verbally. However, words ended up changing to fists before the event was over and, finally, it ended when the bus smashed into the wall of a building.

By the time the arraignment was completed, one of the Defendants was released on his own recognizance and the other was held because he had pending charges for which he had been out on bail. As we have discussed, getting charged with a new crime while out on bail, or on one’s own recognizance, is considered a Massachusetts bail violation and can result in being held without bail for up to 60 days..regardless of the bail set for the new case.
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On Friday, we began talking about the testimony of New Hampshire murder suspect Christopher Gribble (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) on direct examination. I told you that I would discuss his cross examination today. As I also told you, I am not expert on New Hampshire law. I must say, however, that this Boston murder defense attorney would not be too optimistic about this particular client going home this side of life.

As you will recall, or check Friday’s blog (ok, it got posted Saturday), the Defendant has admitted to killing a Mount Vernon woman and trying to kill her young daughter. However, his defense is that he was legally insane at the time and so cannot be held responsible.

It is not unusual for proverbial sparks to fly during cross-examination. In fact, it is usually what the cross-examiner is hoping for. The dirty little truth, and something about which I have reminded you from time to time, is that perception is what generally effects the jury most…not simply the evidence itself. Therefore, if the cross-examiner can get the witness angry and seemingly annoying or unfair, then it is good for the cross-examiner. Often, this is more important than the words actually spoken by the witness.

Of course, in this case, I don’t see either as being too helpful for the Defendant.
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Hello. How is your Saint Patrick’s/Evacuation Day going? Various Massachusetts policepeople are particularly on guard today against people who might stereotypically drink alittle too much. Folks do strange things when they are drunk, and this blog has discussed many such incidents. One incident today, however, leaves many wondering if the gentleman responsible was drunk, disturbed or something in between.

A yet-to-be-determined suspect, believed to be a man, we’ll call him “Newton Gunman”, had best meet with a Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer since he fired his gun in Newton in a very unsafe manner. The police say he is “armed and dangerous” after he fired multiple shots into the back door of a closed jewelry store today, according to law enforcement.

Newton Gunman is described as male, wearing a dark, collared jacket, and a hooded sweatshirt with jeans. According to the reports, Newton Gunman fired at least eight shots with his Newton handgun, silver in color, into a glass door at Cristofori Jewelers on Watertown Street just before 4:30 p.m.

While there were three employees inside, nobody was hurt..

Attorney Sam’s Take On Massachusetts Assault And Gun Crimes

Over the years, I have come upon various kinds of clients. Some say they don’t know what the Commonwealth is talking about when they bring nasty criminal allegations. Some have stories that make me think, “there but for the grace of G-d go I”. Others leaving me scratching my head and tilting it at various uncomfortable angles trying to find the one through which their little adventure seemed like a good idea at the time.
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