Felonies and Violent Crimes

October 8, 2008

Massachusetts Rape Cases Involving Young Victims Continue to Make Headlines

In Massachusetts on Tuesday, Medford resident Philip Duffy was sentenced to a life sentence plus 10 to 12 years for the rape of two deaf girls. At his criminal trial last August, Duffy, 48, was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child younger than 14, five counts of indecent assault and battery on a person older than 14, and posing a child in a nude state. He allegedly assaulted one of the girls multiple times over a four-year period from the time she was 12 years old. Duffy will be eligible for parole after 15 years.

In another recent rape case involving a young victim, psychiatric patient Vernon Lee Thompson is scheduled to be arraigned this week on charges that he raped a 14-year-old hospital volunteer at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain. Prosecutors say that Thompson raped the volunteer two times in a stairwell on July 10. A nurse reportedly saw Thompson with the girl but did not stop him. Another witness also saw them together and “separated them.”

According to the US Department of Justice, 2/3rds of all reported sexual assault crimes involve minors younger than 18. In Massachusetts, prosecutors will aggressively pursue anyone charged with the rape of a child or an adult, and the penalties if convicted are severe. This is why it is important that if you have been arrested for a sex crime, you retain the services of an experienced criminal defense law firm to protect your rights and provide you with the best defense.

Recently, new Massachusetts legislation created new child abuse crime categories, including assault and battery of a child under 14, aggravated statutory rape, and aggravated forcible rape of a child. Conviction of any of these crimes now comes with mandatory minimum prison sentences.

Philip Duffy gets life for raping 2 deaf children, BostonHerald.com, October 7, 2008
Psychiatric patient indicted on rape charges, Boston.com, October 6, 2008
Child Protection Act just a start, Wickedlocal.com, July 30, 2008

October 3, 2008

Massachusetts Police And Prosecutor Are Accused Of Abusing Trust For Sex And Money

by Altman & Altman

It is almost as if members of law enforcement have been reading this daily blog and decided to help me illustrate one of its chief lessons. The lesson?

Anybody can find themselves facing criminal charges…even someone you least expect. Maybe even you.

Today’s defendants come to our attention by crossing the aisle from the other side of the trenches.

October 2, 2008

Massachusetts Sex Offender With Weapon Said To Be Violent Or Selfless…Depending On The Circumstances

by Altman & Altman

“Uncle Marky”, as he is known to Cape Cod children is in trouble again. He got shot by a Harwich police officer Monday night.

Court and police records describe Marcus M, whose last name has again been changed to “Defendant” as a violent and troubled soul. At the ripe old age of 29, he seems to have already displayed an impressive gift for criminal consistency.

Defendant is a Dennis-Yarmouth High School dropout and the father of one child. He is a Level 2 sex offender after his conviction in 1998 for raping a child, 13, with force, in a dugout at the youth league baseball field on Wixon Middle School grounds in Dennis in December of 1996. At the time, prosecutors said he already had a history of violence and was serving a suspended sentence for assault in Dennis.

September 29, 2008

Western Massachusetts Runners Attempt To Escape Arrests For Shoplifting, Possession Of Stolen Automobile and Parole Violation This Weekend

by Altman & Altman

The “wild west” has long been associated with images of folks making their own rules and bravely trying to tame the frontier. It would appear that two Western Massachusetts gentlemen had similar attitudes…although, according to the police, their actions would be more aligned with untaming than taming the area.

Let’s start with this past Friday in Springfield. 30-year old Ricardo M., (hereinafter, “Defendant”) was observed by police officers while allegedly ducking down inside a car near 86 Maple Street. When simply nestling under the dashboard did not work, he decided to jump out of the car and lead the police on a foot chase. This, however, did not make his situation dire enough, so he took the extra alleged step of breaking into an elderly woman’s apartment to hide.

She screamed. Police came. He was arrested.

September 26, 2008

Massachusetts Assault Defendant Goes Criminal Justice AWOL

by Altman & Altman

Almost everyone necessary showed up in the Hampden Superior Court in Springfield the other day. The jury was ready for the reading of the verdict. Judge McDonald was there. Assistant District Attorney Morse was in the courtroom. Defense attorney Stamm was sitting, albeit lonely, at her seat. Only one thing was missing.

38 year old Gerry H, also known as the Defendant, was gone.

He had been present for the trial, final arguments and instructions to the jury. Perhaps not coincidently that means he was the there to hear that he was facing a 20-year minimum mandatory sentence. His faith in the outcome was apparently justified…the jury found him guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, home invasion and threat to commit a crime.

September 17, 2008

Arrest Warrant Inspires Massachusetts Driver To Make As Many Mistakes As Possible During Traffic Stop

by Altman & Altman

Some people have not been taking this blog to heart and so apparently did not believe that it was not good to take a bad situation with law enforcement and make it worse. Now, 19-year-old Falmouth resident, Tevis Yarmala, faces multiple charges after he allegedly struck and tried to stab a Falmouth police officer in the face with a stick during a traffic stop last week.

Mr. Yarmala is alleged to have run a red light. First strike. Observing this, Patrolman Christopher Bartolomei , according to police reports, pulled the vehicle over. Mr. Yarmala is said to have greeted the officer by name. Second strike. When the patrolman “detected” the odor of burnt marijuana and asked about it, Mr. Yarmala admitted to smoking marijuana at a friend’s house. Third strike.

In this particular game…not out yet.

September 16, 2008

14-Year-Old Massachusetts Teen is Convicted of Setting Nine Nine-Alarm Fire at Holyoke Paper Mill

by Altman & Altman

In Holyoke, a 14-year-old boy was convicted of starting the 9-alarm fire that burned down the Parsons Paper Mill building earlier this summer. The teenager will be placed in state care until he turns 18. This is the maximum sentence allowed for juveniles in Massachusetts.

According to Holyoke Fire Chief David LaFond, the boy went into the closed paper mill and used cardboard and paper he found there to ignite a fire. It took over 100 firefighters from 19 departments to put out the flames. The Parsons Paper Co. is a 313,000 square foot building that encompassed two city blocks.

Arson
According to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, arson is the malicious and intentional act of burning or trying to burn a home, motor vehicle, public building, airplane, or personal property belonging to someone else.

2004 US Juvenile Arson Statistics say that since 1994:

• Half of all of the suspects arrested for arson were juveniles • 6-8% of juveniles arrested for arson were under 10 years of age.
• According to the National Fire Protection Association’s “Children Playing with Fire,” there were 41,900 reported child experimentation fires.

Reasons experts give for why juveniles start fires include curiosity, entertainment, and to intimidate others.

Arson is considered a very serious crime, and Massachusetts prosecutors will aggressively pursue anyone that is charged with illegally setting a fire that destroys or damages property or vegetation.
Juvenile convicted of starting huge Holyoke fire, BostonHerald.com, August 29, 2008
Investigators say massive Holyoke fire was deliberately set, MassLive.com, June 29, 2008
Juvenile Fire Setting: The Preventable Arson, Iowa Dept of Public Safety

Related Web Resources:
Arson, FBI Continue reading

September 16, 2008

To The South Of Boston, A Trial For Rape May Be The Accused’s Least Concern Given DNA match To Prostitute’s Murder

by Altman & Altman

In Worcester Superior Court, testimony is scheduled to begin today in the trial of a Berlin man charged with raping and trying to suffocate a woman last year in a West Boylston motel. The defendant, Alex F. Scesny, 38, has also been identified by law enforcement as a “person of interest” in the unsolved slayings of several area prostitutes. Today he is facing trial on charges of rape, assault with intent to murder, assault and battery, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (to wit: a pillow) allegedly occurring on March 17, 2007.

In April, District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. labeled Mr. Scesny a “person of interest” in the 1996 strangulation death of 39-year-old Theresa K. Stone in Fitchburg. Cold case investigators turned their attention to Mr. Scesny after a DNA profile derived from biological evidence recovered in the West Boylston rape investigation was shown to match a genetic profile from a swab taken during Ms. Stone’s autopsy, according to a state police affidavit filed in court. He later described Mr. Scesny as a “person of interest” in the deaths of five other women who were known to have worked as prostitutes in the Main South section of the city.

While Scesny’s DNA has only linked him to Theresa Stone’s murder, the similarities between the cases has stirred fears of a possible serial killer.

September 12, 2008

Criminal Justice Odds Being Beat In New Bedford, MA

by Altman & Altman

In New Bedford, Massachusetts, what appears to be a man walking with a figurative “Please Lock Me Up Forever” sign on his back is beating incredible odds.

The man, Allen Thurston, 36, is a convicted level 3 sex offender. After he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend, he was arraigned yesterday in New Bedford District Court on an assault and battery charge.

The prosecutor pressed the court to revoke Thurston’s bail; the judge would not do so. Police, naturally, are said to be “concerned” as to why his bail was set so low. Their reasons seem logical enough:

September 9, 2008

Lynn Man Enters Fray And Faces Attempted Murder Charges

by Altman & Altman

According to today’s Lynn Item, Carmet Cruthird of Lynn was arraigned Friday on attempted murder charges after he allegedly stabbed a man outside a Liberty Street apartment building the day before. However, the circumstances appear a bit sketchy and are likely to not be resolved until the time of trial…which usually takes about a year.

Mr. Cruthird, a gentleman of 60 years, is said to have been involved in some kind of brawl which resulted in a stabbing. Gerald Nason, also of Lynn and 22 years of age, was the recipient of the knife’s blade. However, while law enforcement has labeled him the “victim” of this story, the facts leading up to the stabbing are apparently blurred. For example, one witness said that Cruthird was actually the one being assaulted by a small group of men when he pulled out a knife in self-defense. Other witnesses said that Nason was trying to break up a fight involving Cruthird and another person when he was stabbed.

Everybody seems to agree that the incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. outside of Cruthird’s apartment building.