Criminal Law

June 9, 2016

“I HAVE AN OLD DEFAULT WARRANT IN MASSACHUSETTS. WHAT DO I DO IF I AM OUT OF STATE OR OUT OF THE COUNTRY?”

There are still folks out there who believe that if they ignore the fact that they never returned to court when they were supposed to, the Commonwealth will kindly do the same.

These people are wrong..

When you did not go to court, a default warrant, a warrant for your arrest, went into the system. Regardless of how aggressive law enforcement looked for you, there it remained.

There is no agency or department that, periodically, reviews old outstanding default warrants to determine whether they want to bother keeping the arrest warrant active.

It’s really no bother and they assume the will get you sooner or later.

And they probably will.

Attorney Sam’s Take On The Sting Of The Outstanding Default Warrant

These days, almost all state and federal agencies are connected through computers, the internet and the like. Thus, when a warrant hits the system, the information is available to all other agencies.

Further, especially with the recent concerns about terrorism, those records are watched very carefully whenever possible.

May 16, 2016

“WHAT SHOULD I DO IF POLICE OFFICERS ARE INVESTIGATING ME FOR A CRIME OR GIVING ME ORDERS?” (Part One)

by Samuel Goldberg

You may be suffering under the misnomer that you have the right to dance on public property.

Basically, you do.

Unless law enforcement tells you that you don’t.

Let me give you a for instance…one that can be viewed on video at, among other places, the Huffington Post.

The issue of dancing at the Jefferson Memorial dates back a few years. Folks went to the Memorial to commemorate the president’s 265th birthday by dancing silently, while listening to music on headphones.

Park Police ordered the revelers to disperse. When the dancers apparently mocked the officers and refused to stop dancing, they were arrested.

Rather Forcefully arrested.

May 11, 2016

FOUR ISSUES YOU SHOULD CONSIDER WHEN DECIDING WHETHER TO HAVE A JURY OR A JUDGE DECIDE YOUR CRIMINAL TRAIL

by Samuel Goldberg

Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero, hereinafter, the “Defendant”, has made a fairly unusual decision.

The Defendant is one of three officers who arrested 25-year-old Freddie Gray, a man of color, about a year ago. Mr. Gray apparently made eye contact with one of those officers and then allegedly began running in a high crime area. Upon arresting him…for something… the officers took Mr. Gray into custody and placed him in the back of a police van.

When the van arrived at the police station 45 minutes later, Mr. Gray was critically injured.

Mr. Gray died a week later, sparking protests and fueling the Black Lives Matter movement, becoming a rallying cry in the growing national conversation about the treatment of black men by police. On the day of his funeral, rioting and looting broke out and a city-wide curfew was imposed as the National Guard rolled in to help restore order.

April 1, 2016

MEET STINGRAY…THE PROSECUTION’S NEW TOOL TO CONVICT DRUG DEALERS, OTHER ALLEGED CRIMINALS AND YOU

by Samuel Goldberg

Today is April Fool’s Day.

It seems fitting then, to begin this story today. No, the story is not a joke. Not the funny kind, anyway.

It is a subject that makes fools of many of us.

In the days, weeks, months and years after September 11 2001, our law enforcement leaders, both prosecutors and politicians, explained that they needed more powers in order to fight the scourged of terrorism.

Folks like me, the stick-in-the-mud liberal “zealots” in favor of actually respecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution had a problem with giving all those powers carte blanche.
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January 22, 2016

ATTORNEY SAM DISCUSSES SEVEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING ON PROBATION

by Samuel Goldberg

You have met with your attorney on your drug case. It is your fifth time in court on this case. Your lawyer tells you that the next date is for trial. She explains that she may be able to talk the court and the prosecutor into giving you probation instead of jail.

“What?”, you say. “No jail? Count me in!”

You figure you are home free.

You are wrong.

Attorney Sam’s Take On The Risks Of Probation

Don’t get me wrong…being on probation is better than being in prison. However, there are some things you have to keep in mind because this may not be the gift from Heaven that you assume it is.
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January 15, 2016

“HOW CAN I KNOW IF I AM BEING CHARGED WITH A CRIME?”

by Samuel Goldberg

Many people assume that law enforcement has some kind of duty to notify a suspect before they seek criminal charges against them. This is not true. In fact, to the contrary, the police often try to catch a suspect by surprise when arresting him or her so that the suspect does not flee.

Sometimes they even do it for media-related purposes.

If you are actually being charged with a crime, one of the following will occur:

1. A police officer or detective will show up, put handcuffs on you and arrest you. He/she may give you a chance to make a statement first…as discussed in many of my blogs, you probably do not want to take that opportunity;

December 15, 2015

ATTORNEY SAM FINISHES THE FIVE SUGGESTIONS TO REMEMBER WHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT COMES TO YOUR DOOR

by Samuel Goldberg

…And so our list continues.

Law enforcement has appeared at your door, interested in coming in to either look around, have a chat or both.

Now what?

I had just finished the second of five points for you to keep in mind when we left off.

Suggestion 3. Thou Shalt Not Give False Information

Whether or not you choose to carry on conversations with the investigating officers is your choice. However, that does not mean that you are free to tell them anything you want.

The law does not give you the license to lie to the investigators.

In fact, in Massachusetts, to give false information to law enforcement is to commit a felony. That felony, ironically, is called “Intimidation Of A Witness” for some reason which continues to allude me.

Sometimes, as it does with logic, the law has its own way of defining words.

However, the meaning of the law is clear. You cannot lie to law enforcement.
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December 14, 2015

ATTORNEY SAM BEGINS TO PRESENT FIVE SUGGESTIONS FOR WHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT COMES TO YOUR DOOR

by Samuel Goldberg

In my last blog, we discussed the scene where law enforcement is banging on your door and asking to come in. Let’s assume that they have come for something other than simply a social visit or to congratulate you on being such a great citizen.

Let’s also assume that, all things being equal, you would prefer not to be part of their ongoing criminal investigation.

I am not one for giving orders, so you may wish to consider the following five items to be suggestions rather than commandments.

Rather strong suggestions:

Suggestion No.1: Thou Shall Try To Ascertain If There Is A Warrant And What It Is For

It is usually a good idea to find out if, indeed, the officers have a warrant. If they do not, then they may not have a right to bother you if you prefer they go away.
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November 11, 2015

LAW OFFICES OF SAMUEL GOLDBERG GETS ASSAULT AND BATTERY CASE DISMISSED USING DISCOVERY TOOLS TO FIND EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE – PART 2

by Ian C. Keefe

In my last blog, I laid out the facts for a case, which was recently dismissed because we were able to uncover exculpatory evidence from the Department of Children and Families. Our client was charged with Assault and Battery on a minor (his 7 year old step-son). The child made the initial disclosure of the abuse 2 years after the abuse was alleged to have occurred at a time when the Department of Children and Families were already involved. We motioned the court, pursuant to Massachusetts Criminal Procedure Rule 17; to issue a summons to DCF for their records regarding the child at the time abuse was alleged to have occurred.
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November 3, 2015

LAW OFFICES OF SAMUEL GOLDBERG GETS ASSAULT AND BATTERY CASE DISMISSED USING DISCOVERY TOOLS TO FIND EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE

by Ian C. Keefe

A basic rule of criminal procedure is that the Commonwealth must turnover any and all exculpatory evidence (evidence which can lead the fact finder to believe the defendant is innocent) within their possession to the defense. In most cases there is rarely much exculpatory evidence, because if there were, the defendant would probably not have been charged in the first place. A problem arises when there is exculpatory evidence but it is not in the Commonwealth’s possession (even if commonsense says it should be).
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