Assault and Battery

July 26, 2010

Summer crimes – Disorderly conduct, assault and battery, drunk driving…. a criminal attorney’s view.

Crime, itsel, is not particularly seasonal. It happens all the time in the Boston area. However, through my years as a Boston criminal defense attorney, I have noted that certain crimes seem to occur more often during certain seasons. Summer is a season where there is often a spike in certain crimes, for example.

The Rock star “Meatloaf” once began a hit song with the line, “On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?” After various lines seemingly meant to understand the original question, the answer was “Yes”.

The image of hot summer nights is often used to portray passonate and, often, violent, occurences.

This is not limited to music or fiction.

We often see what might otherwise be verbal arguments escalate into physical altercations. Maybe it is the heat that makes tempers more flammable. For example, on Saturday, I wrote about a woman who was shot by police after she allegedly assaulted them with a knife. This was, of course, after she had assaulted someone else at home with the knife. This ended tragically…the police shot and killed her.

This is also a story which may bear a closer look this week, by the way.
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July 24, 2010

A Boston Defense Attorney Reviews A Deadly Case Of Domestic Violence

by Altman & Altman

This blog has discussed many stories about family disputes which get out of hand. Some have resulted in assaults which cause great injury. Others have been known to result in death…whether intentional or accidental.

This one, though, seems to have taken domestic violence to an unusual level.

Authorities say that they went to investigate a 911 call from a gentleman who claimed that his girlfriend had lunged at him with a knife and had tried to set his clothes on fire.

The officers arrived at the Somerville home at about 6:30pm yesterday. This was apparently not the first such response; police indicate that they had responded to the same home at about 3 a.m. after a neighbor reported shouting
When they arrived, 33-year-old Carol K. attacked them with a knife.
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July 22, 2010

Massachusetts Bullying Indictments And Legislation Controversy Are Revisited In New Reports

by Altman & Altman

Gee, it seems like only yesterday that this Boston criminal defense attorney was going against the grain and calling the indictment of six kids from South Hadley a senseless exercise of political grandstanding…or words to that effect. Don’t believe that I saw what everybody else was heralding as “heroic” as folly? Check out my postings since January as well as my comments on the equally “heroic” legislation on both the blog and Fox25!

Now, a couple of developments have some people reconsidering the events.

When 15-year-old Phoebe Prince committed suicide in January, six fellow South Hadley students were blamed for relentlessly bullying her. It was an easy fix for SuperDA Elizabeth Scheibel – indict them all and ruin their lives.

Whoops!

A new report shows there may have been factors other than bullying that led to the death of the South Hadley student.

Court documents, recently obtained by Emily Bazelon of the online magazine Slate, contain police interviews with Phoebe’s mother, classmates, teachers and administrators that tell a different story; one that suggests the teen’s troubles extended beyond the halls of South Hadley High.
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July 12, 2010

Wellesley Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Boston Manslaughter and Aggravated Assault and Battery Charges in Fetus Death

by Altman & Altman

Ayanna Woodhouse is charged with Boston aggravated assault and battery and manslaughter in the death of a six-month-old fetus. The 25-year-old woman was indicted on Friday by a Suffolk County Grand Jury. They rendered their decision after hearing testimony from medical experts who said that under normal circumstances the baby could have lived outside the womb. At her arraignment on Monday, she pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges.

According to authorities, the Wellesley woman punched and kicked a pregnant woman during a brawl in April at Tulip Nail, a Boston nail salon. Following the incident, the fetus was delivered by emergency C-section but died. According to the medical examiner, the placenta became detached from the uterus. Woodhouse is related to the baby’s father.

Woodhouse’s Boston criminal defense lawyer says that it is unclear who began the fight. Per a Boston police report, after the two women left the salon the pregnant woman followed Woodhouse in her car and they reportedly continued their dispute. According to the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office, there was not enough evidence to establish that any intent to kill was involved. Massachusetts is one of the US states that will pursue homicides of unborn children who could have otherwise survive outside the womb.

A conviction for Massachusetts manslaughter can land a defendant in prison for up to 20 years. This is a serious criminal charge and in many cases the accused never intended to harm the victim.

Wellesley woman pleads not guilty to harming fetus, Boston.com, July 12, 2010
Woman indicted in death of fetus, Boston Herald, July 12, 2010

Related Web Resource:
Fetal Homicide State Laws, National Conference of State Legislature Continue reading

July 11, 2010

A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Asks: Could Swapping Criminal Defendants Be The Solution?

by Altman & Altman

Usually, the “Attorney Sam’s Take” postings take place on Fridays. However, this past week, I was finishing a jury trial and so could not post in a timely manner. I did not feel I could not simply shelve this subject, though, because we may have solved a problem plaguing the criminal justice system…in Boston and beyond.

As you have probably, heard, the ten alleged Russian agents recently rounded up in the Boston area and other parts of the Northeast, have pleaded guilty at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Most of the defendants admitted that they are Russian citizens and are agents working for the Russian Federation.

The sentence?

Well, a swap has been arranged. The Russian Federation will receive the spies in their custody and in turn will release four individuals claimed to be connected to American intelligence agencies, according to the United States Department of Justice.

In a Department of Justice press release, Attorney General Eric Holder said, “This was an extraordinary case, developed through years of work by investigators, intelligence lawyers, and prosecutors, and the agreement we reached today provides a successful resolution for the United States and its interests.”

Everybody is excited about this solution.
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July 8, 2010

Baseball Bat Assault In Massachusetts Results In Felony Arrest

by Altman & Altman

Can a baseball bat be considered a dangerous weapon in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts? As a Boston attorney for longer than I am in the mood to admit, I have seen cases where a pen, a box and even a shoe is considered a dangerous weapon by the law. So, it should be no surprise that a baseball bat, ball or even a glove can be considered dangerous weapons.

It is a lesson learned the hard was for 18-year-old Buzzards Bay resident Daniel M. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), if he did not know it beforehand. Currently, he is being held on $5,000 bail after he allegedly beat a family member with an aluminum baseball bat.

Yes, that would make this a case of domestic violence.

The Defendant was arraigned in Falmouth District Court Tuesday morning after being arrested for allegedly hitting the 43-year-old man (hereinafter, the “Unnamed Complainant”) in the head with the bat at around 12:15 a.m. yesterday outside a Buzzards Bay home.

According to law enforcement, the Defendant struck the Unnamed Complainant with the bat after the latter attempted to leave after the two had had an argument.

When the investigating authorities arrived, they found the Unnamed Complainant lying in the driveway, unconscious and bleeding from the head, Bourne police said. He was taken by MedFlight helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston early yesterday morning, according to Bourne police.
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July 6, 2010

Lawyers Needed For Massachusetts Vehicular Crimes During Holiday Weekend

by Altman & Altman

Massachusetts had more than its fair share of crimes this past holiday weekend. There were shootings in the Boston area, one homicide and, as one would expect from such a weekend, plenty of vehicular crimes. Criminal Defense attorneys will be needed.

For example, one Massachusetts woman was arrested this weekend in Salem, N.H., after police said she stole purses and led them on a harrowing chase with her 12-year-old daughter in the car.

This would be Maria M., 36, of Lawrence (hereinafter, “Mother Defendant”). She is said to have targeted customers at the Christmas Tree Shops, Target, and Market Basket in the area. According to the authorities, she would reach for purses left in shopping carts while the women looked away and “larcenied” her financial cares away.

According to witnesses, Mother Defendant brought a “young girl”, presumably her daughter, along for the July 4th festivities, as she liberated items from said purses.

Once the police spotted the described car, along with the occupants matching the description, they tried to pull her over.

This did not go too smoothly.
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June 30, 2010

A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Returns To Examine A Walpole Priest Arrested For Sexual Assault

by Altman & Altman

As a Boston criminal defense attorney, I don’t seem to be able to read a news story and simply let it be. Particularly when it involves our criminal justice system and its participants.

After days of being unable to post the blog (again), I went looking for a story about which to write. At first, I thought I was thrown back to a few years ago when the clergy were in Justice’s sites, with now-adult-previous-child-complainants remembering sexual assaults of days gone by. This story, however, was a bit different.

The item involved the Reverend Emile B. (hereinafter, “Father Defendant”). He is a Walpole priest who was arrested by the State Police earlier this week on charges of indecent assault and battery.
The complainant, a 21-year-old-man, alleges that the assault occurred while he was an adult…in fact, this very week.

The accusation is that Father Defendant , co-pastor at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Walpole, followed the complainant into a wooded area behind the Route 138 Park and Ride lot in Canton at about 8:30 a.m. and touched him inappropriately, State Police said in a statement. The complainant claims that he then ran out of the woods and back into the lot to call the police. It was then that he allegedly observed Father Defendant get into his car. The complainant wrote down the license plate number and State Police tracked Father Defendant down at his home in Walpole, according to the statement.
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June 29, 2010

Psychiatrist Says Driver Charged in Massachusetts Pike Car Chase is Delusional

by Altman & Altman

A judge has ordered 29-year-old man facing numerous charges for his involvement in a 20-mile police pursuit on the Massachusetts Pike to Bridgewater State Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Alejandro Serra has pleaded not guilty to over a dozen charges, including five counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and operating with a suspended license.

Serra is accused of threatening and almost running down a man and his young grandson in Boston on Monday. The adult pedestrian had asked Serra to turn down the music that was blaring from his vehicle.

After Serra fled the scene, he was pursued by state police in a chase that continued onto the Massachusetts Pike until his vehicle crashed into three police cruisers in Framingham. Serra then tried to flee from the authorities on foot. At least 10 troopers were involved in efforts to apprehend him. Video footage shows one state trooper punching him.

A forensic psychologist for the court who evaluated Serra to see if he was competent to face charges says that the suspect is delusional, out of touch with reality, and may be a danger to society. At the end of his arraignment, Serra announced to the court that he was Pope Alexander.

Prosecutors say that he has had history of mental health problems and has been committed to psychiatric hospitals in the past. The state committed him to one in 2008.

Serra is being held on $5,000 cash bail for the altercation on Monday and another $5,000 for failing to obey a warrant that required that he show up at the Mental Health Division on June 23. Serra’s Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer says that his client clearly needs help.

Man charged after leading staties on wild Pike chase, Boston Herald, June 29, 2010
Driver In Mass Pike Chase: ‘I Am Pope Alexander!’, WBZTV, June 29, 2010

June 25, 2010

Boston Dad Charged with Massachusetts Assault and Battery, Unarmed Robbery, Parental Kidnapping, and Larceny

by Altman & Altman

Bryan Harris, a South End resident, was arrested by police on Friday. The 26-year-old Boston man was charged with Massachusetts unarmed robbery, parental kidnapping, larceny over $250, assault and battery, and a dangerous weapon unlawfully carried. His arraignment is scheduled for Monday.

According to Boston police, a woman contacted police on Friday afternoon to report that Harris, her live-in boyfriend, had kidnapped their 1-year-old girl. She claims that she and Harris had gotten into a verbal dispute and when she asked him to leave he allegedly punched her face and shoved her into a closet.

The woman says that Harris then packed his clothes, stole her cell phone and debit card, and told her he was leaving the state with their daughter.

The authorities sent out an alert. Police later apprehended Harris on a Fung Wah bus on the Massachusetts Turnpike. The bus was going to New York. His daughter, Estrada, was with him. Harris surrendered to the cops.

Massachusetts Parental Kidnapping
Under state law, the kidnapping of a minor or incompetent by a relative is considered a crime that is punishable by a one-year maximum prison sentence and/or a $1,000 fine. If the child is endangered in the process or taken outside the commonwealth, a maximum 5-year prison sentence and/or a $5,000 fine is possible.

Man is arrested after allegedly fleeing with baby girl, The Boston Globe, June 25, 2010
Related Web Resource:
Parental Kidnapping Statutes, NDAA (PDF)

The General Laws of Massachusetts
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