Assault and Battery

November 28, 2008

Massachusetts Mother Held For Making Death Threats Against The Court and DSS Workers

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, there are a few families for whom this holiday season has not begun so well.

Let’s turn to Hampshire, Massachusetts, for example. On Wednesday, as the rest of us prepared for family gatherings and big dinners, Debra B., 53, of Northampton (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) learned that she would be spending the holiday as a guest of the Commonwealth. It seems that she and the Department of Social Services (“DSS”) have had a disagreement of sorts.

The disagreement allegedly included some threats.

Threats that have brought to light what one might call a dysfunctional family situation.

The case has a bit of a history to it. It apparently began back in 2006 when the Defendant’s son was taken away from her by DSS. This was allegedly occasioned by the 7-year-old autistic boy’s complaint that she had duct-taped him to a chair and threatened him with a knife. Most of the criminal charges against the Defendant in that incident were eventually dropped.

The heated custody fight over her son did not end so easily.

As the battle between DSS and the Defendant raged, she is alleged to have done certain things which were of concern to the Commonwealth. One such thing is that she was reported to have looked up the home addresses of some social workers on the Internet. She is also said to have threatened to shoot Judge Judd J. Carhart at a hearing and told another woman in court that she was “in her crosshairs.”

This landed her in jail on September 8th.

Perhaps misunderstanding the message this was supposed to have sent, the Defendant allegedly threatened to kill a different judge, as if this would clear things up.

Things were not cleared up. Law enforcement sought a search warrant for her apartment instead.
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November 26, 2008

North And South Of Boston, Sex Trade Stings Are In Full Swing

by Altman & Altman

As we near Thanksgiving, we look around for reasons to be thankful. True, economic times are tough and getting tougher. However, it would appear that all the violent crimes and drug dealing in Lynn, Massachusetts, has been stopped. No more guns rape, robbery or murder. It would appear that even the drunk driving problem is under control.

Now, the police have the time and resources to concentrate on other vicious crimes plaguing our society.

Prostitution, for example.

This past Saturday, a well timed police prostitution sting was said to be different than others done in the recent past. According to the Lynn Item, it was conducted in “broad daylight”.

No pun intended, I’m sure.

“For the city of Lynn, unfortunately, it’s a 24/7 problem,” said Sgt. Rick Carrow of the world’s oldest profession. He is the head of the department’s Special Investigation Unit that conducted the operation between 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday, netting nine arrests of would-be customers.

“There’s a market out there and we’re going to do what we have to do,” he said. And so they did.

Twenty-four-year-old Officer Kelly Aylward was the undercover decoy during the operation conducted in the downtown area, according to Carrow. The targets of this brilliantly conceived plan was to have an attractive female see if she could get men to want to have sex with her and be willing to pay for it.
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November 25, 2008

Massachusetts Assault Defendant Held Without Bail For Disobeying Court Order

by Altman & Altman

Angel R., 43, a former Springfield firefighter (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) has been having a bad time of it lately.

In July, he was arrested in connection with a fight with another gentleman.

Well, it allegedly involved alittle more than a simple fight; his fellow combatant, hereinafter referred to as “slashed”, ended up cut up through use of a box cutter. The Defendant was arrested for attempting to kill him.

The fight had taken place outside an apartment in Sixteen Acres on Allen Park Road. Slashed, who had been outside the home of his two children and their mother, had reportedly been slashed several times and still had a piece of blade lodged in his neck as it had broken off.

The Defendant was arrested and charged with assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and armed assault with intent to murder.

Police said that while in court, he apparently did or said something to violate the terms of his release and so a warrant was issued.

The Defendant was initially denied the right to bail, but in September, Judge Tina S. Page granted bail at $10,000 cash or $100,000 personal surety and stipulated that the Defendant was to have no contact with either Commonwealth witness, namely, Slashed and his children’s mother.

Apparently, the Defendant had also had a relationship with the children’s mother.

Do I see the form of a potential love triangle forming?
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November 24, 2008

Massachusetts Juveniles Bring Weapons To School, Assault Students And Are Prosecuted

by Altman & Altman

When I was a kid, we had a thing called “show and tell” in which you could bring in something you thought was “cool” to show the class and maybe play with when the teacher was not looking. It was fun. For some reason, it never occurred to me to bring a weapon in to play with.

I guess times have changed.

Back then, I suppose, if I had brought some weapon in, my parents would have been called and I might be suspended. Today, though, it is the police who are called and it can mean incarceration.

Take a certain 14-year-old student (hereinafter, “Defendant 1”) at Silver Lake Regional Middle School in Kingston, Massachusetts, for example. A pellet gun was found in his locker, according to the Patriot Ledger.

On Thursday morning, a school staffer found the gun in a plastic bag. Police were called to the school, and Defendant 1 was arrested. Police said that the juvenile showed the gun to other students, which is how it the staff became aware of it.

14-year- old Defendant 1 was charged with carrying a weapon on school grounds and disturbing a school.

Over-reaction?
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November 19, 2008

Massachusetts Juvenile And Adult Turn To Weapons And Assaults To Handle Emotional Issues

by Altman & Altman

Where do people learn such animosity?

Today’s daily blog involves two stories that have to do with dysfunctional family situations. We start with a story from Brockton, Massachusetts, where a 15-year old juvenile (hereinafter, “Juvenile Defendant”) now faces charges for an apparent “teddybearicide”.

Now a guest of the Commonwealth, at least until Thursday, Juvenile Defendant has thus far been charged with possessing an explosive device and disturbing the peace. Additional charges may be forthcoming.

It all began Monday evening when local police and the state police bomb squad responded to a 911 call reporting a potential explosive device that had been attached to a teddy bear and left on Florence Street that afternoon, a fire official said.

“It was a plastic bottle that had a solution inside the bottle that was mixed in a way that, after a period of time, it would explode,” Deputy Fire Chief George Phillips said. “A teddy bear was wrapped around the plastic bottle and it was left in the street.”

A representative from the state fire marshal’s office also responded, Phillips said.
It took authorities about 30 minutes to detonate the device with a robotic machine designed to disarm explosives, Phillips said.
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November 17, 2008

Assault On Police And Threats Of Violence Alleged At Massachusetts School

by Altman & Altman

Remember the old cliché “The apple does not fall far from the [alleged] tree”? Well, this North Attleboro tree is apparently growing in the local district court on the criminal justice side of the street.

Last Thursday, a 48 year-old single mother, (hereinafter, ” Mommy Defendant”), was arrested and ordered to stay away from the North Attleboro Middle and High school after she allegedly threatened the middle school principal. This alleged event took place after her son (hereinafter, “Sonny Defendant”), was arrested for an unrelated incident at the school.

Mommy Defendant is said to have driven to the middle school and made threats to kill Principal Victoria Ekk with a gun while in the school office in front of onlookers. Mommy Defendant, however, denies the charges and has pleaded “not guilty” to threats of uttering threats to kill, disturbing a school assembly and disorderly charges.

Her lawyer described Mommy Defendant as a hardworking woman trying to raise a family while working two jobs to make a living. “She has no gun. She doesn’t even know how to use a gun. She’s a single mother struggling to pay bills and raise three children,” the lawyer said.

In fact, school officials had determined before police arrived that Mommy Defendant had no weapon, according to a police report.

Mommy Defendant’s lawyer also described the scene a bit differently, indicating that she had gone to the office calmly and denies making threats or causing a disturbance.
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November 12, 2008

Massachusetts Police Officer Faces Charges Of Sexual Assault

by Altman & Altman

Sometimes people pick up bad habits at work.

Many chefs turn out to be overweight. Career military folks often need to have their home life overly organized and operational. Many attorneys, like myself, tend not to be able to have a debate with someone without it turning into “oral argument”.

And then there is a certain part-time Hinsdale police officer who served as an animal control officer allegedly turning into an “animal”.

W.Rodney M., 46 (hereinafter the “Defendant”) has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman who had called the police for assistance at her home in 2005. He was arraigned on Monday in Central Berkshire District Court on one charge of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14. He pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance and ordered not to have contact with the 50-year-old victim.

The charge, brought against the Defendant in early June 2008, stemmed from an event that took place in 2005, according to a report filed by Massachusetts state police investigators.

The complainant told investigators that she had made a call to the Hinsdale Police Department about a fisher cat that she had seen around her residence. The Defendant, who was acting as the town’s animal control officer, responded to the call in uniform, and after looking for the fisher cat, allegedly asked her if she was single and “lonely.” He then asked her “if she would like to be taken care of like she had never been taken care of before,” and he allegedly grabbed her hand and rubbed it on the outside of his pants, according to the statement.

The complainant said she was too ashamed to press charges three years ago, when the assault allegedly took place, adding that she felt no one would believe her, according to the report.

Somehow, after the years have passed, she was able to convince herself to come forward.
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November 11, 2008

Massachusetts Probation For Fraud Is Violated By Assault Charges

by Altman & Altman

Today is Veteran’s Day. It is a day for reflection and a day to honor the men and women who have served this country in the trenches of various lands throughout the years.

Today’s daily blog looks at a matter occurring inside more local trenches. Criminal Justice trenches. The courtroom. A courtroom on Salem, Massachusetts, to be exact. While it certainly does not involve the valor we celebrate today nationally, it does contain some violence and a couple of lessons for us.

Martin S., 53, of Lynn (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) recently lost his battle for his own personal liberty in the Salem courtroom. He was sentenced to serve two years at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute at Cedar Junction as he was found to have violated probation. Two witnesses testified at the hearing that he grabbed a woman by the throat and fought another man during a September 21, 2008 altercation at an apartment on Lynde Street in Salem.

The Defendant’s attorney said he had gone to the apartment to get his girlfriend out of there because she was drinking alcohol, a violation of her probation for a drunken-driving conviction.

Although the assault charge is still pending in court, the Superior Court Judge observed that the arrest itself is a probation violation. “He’s gotten away with quite a bit in the last couple of years,” the judge said yesterday before announcing the sentence at the conclusion of a probation hearing.
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November 6, 2008

Breaking And Entering And Maybe Drugs Lead To Murder Charges Plus One In Massachusetts

by Altman & Altman

This one isn’t so funny. It involves the type of tragedy that happens all the time, particularly in urban areas. Of course, this one has a couple of twists.

This wasn’t the big city…it was Winchester, Massachusetts. In a peaceful dead-end street lined with single and multifamily houses where residents have lived for generations. Chris and Bryan Barbaro were two brothers living on the same street where they were raised. The same street where their parents and sister still live.

Now, they are both dead.

In October, 2007, Wally S., 30 (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) allegedly kicked in the door and forced his way into the Barbaros’ three-family home and shot 48-year-old Bryan Barbaro in the chest, a wound he survived after being rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital. Brother Chris was shot in the forehead and died at that time.

Despite being wounded, Bryan Barbaro was able to call 911 and report that both he and his brother had been shot, officials said.

Although Assistant District Attorney Nathaniel Yeager told the court that 50-year-old Chris Barbaro was killed by the gunshot to the forehead, the Defendant was not immediately charged with the murder.
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November 3, 2008

Boston Narcotics Detective Drunk, Assaultive And Indicted Outside The Commonwealth.

by Altman & Altman

Well, it just goes to show you…nobody is immune to the criminal justice virus.

Ask most members of law enforcement, and they will tell you that there is a big difference between “us” and “them”, referring to themselves and the “perps” they go after on a daily basis. The difference? Well, that “we” are the good guys and “they” are the bad guys, of course.

Hm. Somebody apparently forgot to mention this to Boston police detective Sgt. Thomas J. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). He is alleged to have gotten a bit confused about this difference back in March during a trip out of town. In fact, it was in Savannah, Georgia, where he was celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. His actions during that vacation have now earned him an even longer respite from work now that he has been suspended without pay from the force. The suspension came when the eight-count indictment was handed down last week. Before that, the highly respected drug detective had simply been on paid leave from the department since March 15th.

Savannah police say that the Defendant followed a group of women back to their home and pounded on the door, saying he was a police officer and demanding they open up. He then attempted to force his way inside and struggled with one of the women at the door, police said.

He soon overpowered the women and pulled them outside, where he forced them to the sidewalk but made no further demands, police said. Instead, he fled. However, that course of action apparently works as well in Georgia as it does in Massachusetts. The Savannah police caught him.

According to the indictment, he then resisted arrest. Yes, same result as when it happens in the Commonwealth.
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