Articles Posted in Assault and Battery

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Brooke Mueller, the wife of actor Charlie Sheen, is seeking to have the restraining order against her husband modified. According to TMZ.com, she wants a judge to allow the two of them to be able to contact each other so they can work on the problems in their marriage. Her attorney reportedly told TMZ that his client and her husband still love each other and that the alleged dispute occurred during “one bad night.”

The 44-year-old TV actor was arrested on Christmas Day following an alleged domestic violence dispute with his wife. Sheen was charged with criminal mischief, assault, and menacing with a deadly weapon. Mueller told authorities that Sheen threatened her with a knife after telling him she wanted a divorce. The two of them reportedly had been arguing for several hours.

Sheen, however, is denying that he strangled his wife or held a knife to her. Police officers found a folding knife locked in an open position in the actor’s travel back.

Meantime, Stan Rosenfield, Sheen’s spokesperson stressed the importance of not jumping to conclusions over what may or may not have happened.

Sheen was released early on Christmas evening after he posted $8,500 bond.

Domestic Violence
Altercations between couples can be complicated and most situations are never clear-cut. This can create problems for a person who is accused by another of domestic violence. Even if the alleged victim decides to recant his or her accusations, the accused can still be charged and convicted for this crime.

Charlie Sheen’s wife asks judge to modify restraining order, CNN, December 30, 2009
Charlie Sheen’s Wife Claims Knife Threat in Assault, ABC News, December 28, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Massachusetts Law About Domestic Violence, Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries Continue reading

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So, yesterday, you weighed your options and you decided to follow the advice of the Boston Police Department rather than ol’ Attorney Sam in dealing with the Clerk Magistrate’s Hearing. You just ambled in on your own, gave it your best shot, and walked out with a date to return to court for an arraignment.

Now what?

Well, by some unrealistic trick of time, your arraignment was set for tomorrow.

Wonderful. Nothing like a little pressure for the holidays, right?

Let’s also assume that you learned your lesson and that, on the way out of court yesterday, new summons in hand, you did not ask Officer Gotcha if you need to hire a lawyer by tomorrow and, if so, you did not follow his advice when he looked at you as if you had three heads and sneered, “Nah. They’ll give ya a free one. Don’t worry about it. Hey, by the way….never too late to make a statement you know.,,.!”
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You live in Boston. You arer relaxing at home, watching the children play with their new Christmas gifts before they break them. It is a Norman Rockwell scene…except for one tiny detail. You suddenly remember that invitation (summons) you received last week to witness Massachusetts jurisprudence (court) in action. In other words, you have to go to court to answer on that drunk driving charge tomorrow and you still have not even contacted a lawyer!

Game over? Just give up and expect you won’t be returning home for a couple of years? Maybe it is time for that extended vacation out of the country you always dreamed about?

Well, chances are, particularly if you had received a summons and were not arrested, it is not that bad. There are, however, a few things you should know and at least one thing you should do.

First of all, the summons was for one of two things – either an arraignment or a clerk magistrate’s hearing.

As most readers of this daily blog know, a clerk’s hearing is basically the last step before arraignment in cases in which you have been lucky enough to get one. It is the hearing to decide whether or not there is probable cause to issue the complaint which would bring you to an arraignment. At such a hearing, a clerk magistrate listens to evidence presented (sometimes solely by an investigating officer) and decides whether the elements of the accused crime are met. It is a very simple, and low, standard. Should the clerk find that there is probable cause, a complaint will be ordered and the next step will be arraignment.
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It was 6:10pm of December first and Joshua S., 32, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) may have expected it was dinner-time. It wasn’t. It was arrest-on-outstanding-warrant and meet-your-lawyer-time.

The Defendant, it seems, was found in the basement of a home when the Gloucester police showed up and found him. There was an outstanding warrant for him and so he was immediately taken into custody to be brought into court the next day.

No need for questioning. No need for further explanation.

End of story.
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Bethany P., 21, of Londonderry, N.H. (hereinafter, the “Victim”) will not be returning to her Boston College senior class this week. You see, she met up with a Weston lad’s SUV this weekend. The lad was allegedly Benjamin K., an 18 year old gentleman (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) who the Commonwealth claims was driving drunk. The Defendant pleaded not guilty today, alongside his attorney. Nonetheless, he was ordered held on $50,000 bail.

The Victim was struck as she crossed St. Thomas More Road at around 12:55am Sunday morning. The Defendant was driving his parents’ Toyota Land Cruiser. She is said to have sustained “serious” injuries, but was listed in good condition Monday morning at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, according to state police and a hospital spokesman.

While the Victim was alone at the time of the accident, the accident scene is full of student dormitories and an administrative building.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant left the Victim unconscious and bleeding in the road and left the scene of the accident. He was thereafter apprehended by BC police after a bulletin was sent out about the SUV. He was arrested as he tried to exit the college’s grounds.
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Recovery from a long weekend, such as the Thanksgiving weekend we have just enjoyed, can mean different things to different people. For me, for example, it meant waking up yesterday not being able to get online and so not posting my blog (sorry about that, by the way). For Sonny T., 21, of Wareham (hereinafter referred to as the “Defendant”), it meant being in contact with his new criminal defense attorney and dealing with fallout from some alleged indiscretions over the holiday.

These indiscretions include criminal charges such as counterfeiting, armed robbery and assault.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant was not in the most thankful of moods last Thursday night when he met up with two people he knew at an oil change business.

Violently unthankful.
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James LaShoto, a 17-year-old football player for Arlington High School, has pleaded not guilty to a Massachusetts assault and battery charge for head-butting Daniel Curtin, an Abington High School player during a September 19 game. He entered his plea last week in Cambridge District Court before being released on personal recognizance.

Police say that the alleged incident occurred after Curtin’s helmet was knocked off. He was unable to play for 10 days following the head-butt, which was captured on video. Curtin says that LaShoto of pulling off the helmet before head-butting him.

Arlington Catholic suspended LaShoto for two days. The 17-year-old and his family have apologized for the incident and they acknowledge that his behavior was wrong. However, LaShoto’s defense attorney maintains that head-butting someone during a football game is not a crime and the matter should therefore not be pursued in criminal court.

LaShoto is scheduled to reappear in court next month.

Assault and Battery
For a jury to convict a defendant of Massachusetts assault and battery, the prosecution must either prove that the defendant committed reckless assault and battery or intentional assault and battery beyond a reasonable doubt. Intentional assault and battery involves an unjustified and offensive/harmful act of physical contact that caused injury to a victim. Reckless assault and battery involves reckless conduct by the accused that caused physical injury to the victim.

Maximum penalty upon conviction for Massachusetts assault and battery is 2.5 years.

Arlington Catholic High School football game headbutt gets assault charge, Boston Herald, November 28, 2009
High School Football Player Charged For Head Butt, WBZ, October 30, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Chapter 265 Crimes Against the Person, The General Laws of Massachusetts Continue reading

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Sometimes the memories of Thanksgivings past are ones you might prefer to forget. Take a particular North Adams police officer who was testifying at a criminal trial-his own, side by side with his criminal defense attorney.

The events at issue took place last Thanksgiving.

Officer Joshua M. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is on trial for two counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, one count of assault and battery, one count of witness intimidation, and one count of filing a false police report about the incident, which involved treatment of a Pittsfield prisoner. The defense is that because said prisoner was covered with his own excrement from the middle of his back down to the back of his knees, the Defendant felt he had fewer options in trying to restrain the drunk and combative man.

The Defendant testified that he didn’t pat down the Matthew T. (hereinafter, the “Prisoner”) at the North Church Street scene where the Prisoner had caused a disturbance by kicking doors and defecating on a welcome mat. He further explained that his training indicated that he should avoid touching bodily fluids to prevent exposure to potentially infectious diseases.
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There is a tragic scene taking place in north of Boston city of Lynn. It is playing out on the Victim side of the criminal justice equation. It will also likely mean bad news for a particular assailant when it is time for arrest and attorney- life without parole type of bad news.

The family of Vincent G., a 30-year-old man (hereinafter, the “Victim”), faced with determinations of his being brain dead since being shot in the head Sunday morning are planning to remove him from life support.

About the shooting-turned homicide we know only a part. Apparently, at approximately 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, the Victim was shot once in the head outside Soriano’s nightclub in Lynn. His fiancée who was at the scene is said to desperately tried to keep him alive at the scene, giving him CPR as he slowly slipped away in her arms.

The Victim was taken by ambulance to Salem Hospital and then air-lifted to Boston Medical Center.

Originally, the family had hope that the Victim would survive, clinging to promising signs of his occasional blinking or coughing.

“We thought he was going to make it, but he’s brain dead,” explains a family member. “The bullet is still there in his brain and they can’t get it out because his brain is so swollen. So his mom asked us to say our last prayers because she decided to pull the plug.”
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Bruce Springsteen wrote a song claiming that “Summer is here and the time is right for racing in the street”. Well, it is not summer and the time certainly isn’t right for street speeding. The lesson, however, is a little late in the learning for 17-year-old Michelle M. of Methuen (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). Accused of drag racing in Lowell by witnesses, the young lady will be facing charges alongside a criminal defense attorney.

According to the police, the Defendant will be charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing personal injury. The injured party was a 12-year-old boy who was struck by a car during what witnesses claim to be a drag race and thrown about 20 feet. Allegedly, because leaving the scene of an accident is a misdemeanor, the Defendant is going to be summoned to court at a later date and was not arrested. She has, however, lost her license.

According to witnesses, the racers had run a red light before one of the cars struck the boy. The boy is listed in fair condition with internal and head injuries at a Boston hospital.

According to the police, the Defendant, having left the lad for dead, fled the scene and went to a Lawrence hair salon, got her hair done and then reported to the police that her car had been vandalized.
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