Felonies and Violent Crimes

May 24, 2009

North Of Boston Drug Bust Nets Over 500 Pounds Of Marihuana and $200,000 from Interstate Conspiracy

You’ve heard of Costco, haven’t you? It is a very popular chain of stores that specializes in cost-cutting by purchasing in volume. You know, why buy one box of napkins when you can by 80 and get a bargain in the process? It looks like some Boston-area entrepreneurs took the idea alittle too far this week. And, in case you are wondering, no, one cannot retain attorneys in bulk…although two North Shore gentlemen may wish one could.

It was in the Costco parking lot on Route 1. It was Wednesday at noon. And it was, according to law enforcement, more than 500 pounds of marijuana that was recovered.

How much is 500 pounds? Well, you know that new law that says it is no longer a crime to have a “small amount” of marihuana for your own use? Well, this would be over 8,000 x that amount.

Probably not a simple error in measurement.

The Massachusetts State Police believes that the operation was a large-scale narcotics delivery in Danvers.

The troopers set up surveillance in the parking lot in connection with an ongoing investigation. According to the officers, Brian T., 42 of Revere (“Defendant Greeter”) arrived in a rented truck as Phillip W., 37, of Saugus (“Defendant Lookout”) acted as the lookout. Then, occupants of a tractor-trailer with Indiana license plates met with Defendant Greeter.
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May 20, 2009

Massachusetts High School Senior Pleads Not Guilty to Saugus Pedestrian Accident that Killed a Senior Pedestrian and Seriously Injured Her Daughter

by Altman & Altman

In Lynn District Court, teenager Jonathan Caruso attended his arraignment on Monday, pleading not guilty to charges of negligent vehicle homicide, being a minor transporting liquor, and operating under the influence of alcohol in the deadly pedestrian accident that killed a 67-year-old woman and seriously injured her daughter early Saturday morning. Caruso, 18, is a Saugus High School senior who had stayed out all night with friends after attending his prom the night before.

The deadly Massachusetts pedestrian accident occurred at Grove and Essex streets. A police report indicates that Caruso told them that he had been drinking and may have fallen asleep while driving. He says he regained consciousness after hitting a street sign. A friend who was in the car told him that he had struck two pedestrians. Caruso, who took a breath analysis test after the Saugus car accident, registered a .02% BAC. The legal limit for Massachusetts drivers under 21 is .02%.

Carol Marean died from her pedestrian injuries. Her 41-year-old daughter, Charlotte, sustained critical injuries. The two of them had gone out that morning to walk their dog.

The judge ordered the teenager held on $7,500 cash bail. Caruso will also have to abide by a 7pm to 7am curfew and go back to court in July for a pretrial hearing.

A Massachusetts OUI/DWI/DUI offense is a serious offense in the state-especially if someone was injured or killed as a result of the alleged drunk driving incident. An experienced Boston DUI lawyer can protect your rights and comb through all of the evidence to make sure that the best avenues of defense are available to you.

The more serious the criminal charges against you, the greater the penalties and the longer the sentencing periods that could await you. You need a good Massachusetts criminal defense law firm working for you.

Student arraigned in death of pedestrian, Boston.com, May 19, 2009
Friends: Teen Accused In Fatal DUI No, WCVB, May 18, 2009
Read the Police Accident Report, Boston.com (PDF)”

Related Web Resources:
Police arrest 34 people, many teens, in get tough move on public drunkenness at Comcast Center concert in Mansfield, Enterprise News, May 19, 2009 Continue reading

May 19, 2009

Boston Area Gentleman Needs Defense Attorney After Guns, Drugs And Cash Are Found Throughout His Home

by Altman & Altman

Mr. John F., 32 of Quincy (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), needs a good lawyer.

According to law enforcement, his home housed some ill-advised contents. As a result, he is now being described as a mid-level drug dealer.

On Monday night, around 6:00pm, police raided the Defendant’s home. The Commonwealth claims that a search of the home resulted in the seizure of approximately 20 grams of crack, cocaine and weapons including two shotguns, one which had a sawed-off barrel, a 9 millimeter handgun with a defaced serial number and hollow-point bullets.

The Defendant himself was not found in the actual house. He was allegedly found in a detached garage where two shotguns and a Sig Sauer semi-automatic handgun were also discovered.

Police also indicate they found a box containing $1,100 in cash located above a suspended basement ceiling as well as another $1,700 in a bedroom, along with the 20 grams of crack found in the bedroom closet.
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May 18, 2009

Boston Defendant Wrongfully Convicted For Rape And Robbery Wins Jury Trial Against The Commonwealth

by Altman & Altman

David Frank, of Boston’s Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, has reported this week on a story that has become achingly familiar. It involves the issue of the wrongfully convicted.

Ulysses C. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is now 59 years old. On May 17, 2001, he was released from prison after serving 19 years of an 80 year sentence for unlawful confinement, rape and robbery. He was released from custody after DNA testing on the physical evidence used against him exonerated him of the crimes for which he was convicted.

But, then, what does “exonerated” really mean? Does it clear a man’s name? Can it give him back the nineteen years he unjustly lost at the hands of the Commonwealth?

In recent years, a number of criminal defendants have been convicted, only to be released after having served many years, after DNA evidence was discovered which showed that they were not, in fact, guilty.

Interestingly, District Attorneys still try to fight attempts by convicted defendants to have DNA tested for some reason, which is odd given their sworn oath to “do Justice”.
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May 14, 2009

You Have Been Arrested In Boston For Assault, Murder Or An Outstanding Warrant; Will You Be Released On Bail?

by Altman & Altman

You are arrested in Massachusetts. Being an avid reader of the daily Boston Criminal Law Blog, you know that what you do in the next few minutes could mean the difference between sleeping at home or at the local jail for the next few weeks. You remember that there were a variety of postings that had talked about things that could help and things that could hurt your chances at being released on low bail. But it was always about this story or that story…never a simple overview about bail and what determines an arrestee’s bail conditions.

Until now, that is.

In this, the latest edition of our weekly Thursday Attorney Sam’s Take, where we discuss certain issues facing people in the criminal justice system, we tackle the pre-trial release question.

Most people have heard about a “right to bail”. However, that “right” has been compromised over the years as the courts have been weighing it against the rest of the community’s rights.

The issue of bail is chiefly about the question of whether a criminal defendant is likely to return to court to answer the charges against him or her as it proceeds, over the next several months, to trial. The theory is that if the court is holding some of the defendant’s money, then the defendant will be less likely to flee. Therefore, at a bail hearing, one hears the prosecutor giving all the reasons the defendant to believe the defendant will not come back to court, while the defense attorney argues all the reasons to believe he will return to court.

While the strength of government’s case will likely be argued, it is not the real issue in a bail hearing. Therefore, simply arguing the facts as if the underlying case had now gone to trial, alone, is not that much help. However, it is relevant if one can persuade the court that the case against the defendant is weak and therefore he has every reason to want to return to challenge the non-existing evidence and clear his name.

This is the same reasoning in considering the seriousness of the case. For example, if the defendant has been charged with murder, considered the most serious of cases and punishable by either life imprisonment without parole or, in the federal system, the death penalty, the courts consider that these potential outcomes are usually enough reason to make a defendant not want to return for the outcome. These kinds of cases are among the few times a defendant can be held without bail for actual bail purposes.
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May 8, 2009

Drew Peterson Charged with Third Wife Kathleen Savio’s Murder

by Altman & Altman

More than five years after Kathleen Savio’s death, her husband, ex-police sergeant, Drew Peterson, has been charged with her murder. Savio was found in a dry bathtub with her head soaked in blood from a head wound. The cause of her death was originally determined to be accidental drowning, but that finding came into question after Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, went missing in 2007 and the former cop became the main suspect in her disappearance.

Savio’s family has long questioned whether her death was accidental and after Stacy’s disappearance, they had Savio’s body exhumed. Savio died right before her divorce settlement with Peterson was going to be finalized by a court, and her death left him as her primary beneficiary. Last month, they filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Peterson accusing him of beating and drowning her.

Now, authorities are saying that Savio was murdered and that the crime scene was arranged to look like she accidentally drowned. The indictment against Peterson accuses the 55-year-old of causing his then-wife to inhale fluid.

Police took Peterson into custody on Thursday afternoon. He is being held on $20 million bond. Peterson’s criminal defense attorney says that he will try to obtain a more “reasonable” bond for his client because he considers the amount excessive.

Prosecutors say they may use a new hearsay law that allows the words of murder victims to be used against the defendants that are accused of killing them. Family members say that Savio told her sister that if anything ever happened to her, Peterson would have been the one to kill her. If convicted for her murder, he could face up to sixty years in prison.

Meantime, Stacy Peterson has yet to be found. Police are saying she may have been murdered, but no charges have been filed in her death. Peterson has said that he believes that his wife, then 23, ran away with another man.

Drew Peterson Arrested, but will it stick?, MSNBC.com, May 8, 2009
Savio’s family files lawsuit claiming Drew Peterson beat, drowned third wife, Chicago Sun-Times, April 22, 2009
Related Web Resources:
New Illinois hearsay law to shape Peterson case, Cleveland.com
Drew Peterson timeline, Chicago Sun-Times, May 7, 2009 Continue reading

April 27, 2009

Outside Boston, many arrested in embezzlement scheme. Charges of conspiracy to commit larceny and larceny over $250 brought against defendants.

by Altman & Altman

As the rest of us in the Boston area were experiencing the upcoming summer heat, a few individuals were feeling heat of another kind, courtesy of Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.

District Attorney Leone announced last week that a Malden Treasury employee and nine others have been indicted for allegedly embezzling more than $518,000 in city property tax receipts.

Gia D., 27, of Georgetown (hereinafter the “Defendant”), was charged by a Middlesex grand jury on one count of larceny over $250 and a separate count of conspiracy to commit larceny.

The Defendant and a co-defendant, Alan V., 32 of Malden (hereinafter, “Co-Defendant One”), had been arrested last November. Since then, however, the investigation has continued and has now resulted in indictments for the Defendant, Co-Defendant 1 and 8 others in the same alleged conspiracy.

As they were indicted by a grand jury, these are felony charges.

According to District Attorney Leone, none of those indicted, other than the Defendant, are Malden city employees.

The alleged white collar conspiracy involved funds that kept in the Malden Treasury that had come from property owners who had overpaid their property taxes. In 2006, Malden began publishing the list of residents who had overpaid their taxes so that the overpayments could be reclaimed.

Of course, the whole idea was that the funds would be reclaimed by the people who had overpaid. According to the Commonwealth, however, the Defendant and company thought they had a better idea.
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April 24, 2009

Have an outstanding arrest warrant in MA? Here is how to deal with it.

by Altman & Altman

Attorney Sam’s Take: Welcome to the first posting of a new weekly feature on the daily Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog. Each Friday, I will post in this particular format, dealing specifically with an issue which people face every day in the criminal justice system.

THIS WEEK: WHAT EXACTLY IS AN “ARREST WARRANT”, HOW LONG IS IT VALID AND WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET RID OF IT?

An arrest warrant is similar to a search warrant that you hear so much about on television and in the movies. You know the scene…the detective shows up on a murder suspect’s door and asks to come in.

The suspect sneers, “Where’s your warrant?”

The Detective waives a piece of paper and the suspect frowns and opens the door to let the detective in.

The search warrant is simply an order from the court allowing the police to search a particular place. There are all kinds of technical issues with search warrants, but that is basically all that they are. An arrest warrant is simply an order from the court allowing law enforcement to take the person named in the warrant into custody.

Normally, there are certain restrictions for when an officer can take someone into custody…in other words, arrest him. With the arrest warrant, nothing else is needed. The officer finds the suspect listed on the warrant and can arrest him on the spot.

So, what do you have to do wrong in order to get an arrest warrant issued against you?
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April 23, 2009

Boston criminal defense lawyer seeks to move high- profile case out of Suffolk County

by Altman & Altman

By now, you have probably heard of the gentleman who has allegedly chosen the name “Clark Rockefeller”. The Commonwealth says his real name, or part of it, is Christian K.G. We, however, will simply call him the “Defendant”.

He is facing charges in Boston for parental kidnapping. However, his attorney is arguing that it is too prejudicial to have the trial in the city and that the matter should be moved to western Massachusetts.

The reason?

The defense argues that, because of the extensive media coverage, the potential jury pool has been tainted to the extent that it is impossible for the Defendant to receive a fair trial.

The argument is based on a survey done for the defense which found that more than three-quarters of respondents in Suffolk County – where potential jurors would be culled – said they were aware of the case. Of those, roughly half said they believed he was guilty.

“That’s a staggeringly high figure, even for a high-profile case,” said the Defendant’s attorney.

The prosecutor, however, not to be outdone in his mathematical abilities, countered that the same poll found 52 percent of county residents had not formed an opinion.
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April 16, 2009

Family Plan Assault Bring Attempted Murder Charges Outside Boston

by Altman & Altman

This past Monday’s posting of the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog was about a gentleman who elected the “self-help” approach to criminal justice.

It did not end too well for him.

Today’s posting demonstrates that taking said approach as a family does not work out any better than when acting solo. One could also argue that it is why this daily blog should be required reading…but that’s another issue.

This time, the place was Rockland. Michelle C., 41, of Rockland (hereinafter, “Mommy Defendant”) and her son, Jason R., 24, of Abington (hereinafter, “Sonny Defendant”) were arrested on Easter Sunday for allegedly assaulting an 18-year-old Scituate man, stabbing him twice, during a dispute.

The dispute was about clothing.

According to Rockland Lt. Barry Ashton, Sonny Defendant and the alleged victim were formally friends. They had planned to meet to exchange some clothing. You see, the complainant had a Miami Heat basketball jersey in his possession that belonged to Sonny Defendant and Sonny Defendant had a hat that belonged to the complainant.

The defendants parked a white van several houses away from the home of the complainant’s sister. The complainant and an acquaintance walked over to the van but, according to Ashton, an argument started between the complainant and Sonny
Defendant, who left the van.

Apparently, a fight ensued and, according to police reports, Mommy Defendant left the van to help her son in the fight the complainant.

The complainant was stabbed twice during the fight, Ashton said, once in the elbow and once in the back Continue reading