Articles Posted in Felonies and Violent Crimes

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A jury has found polygamist and FLDS leader Warren Steen Jeffs guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to rape for his role in arranging a marriage between a then 14-year-old girl and her 19-year old first cousin. The verdict was announced in a Utah courtroom on Tuesday after 16 hours of deliberation by the jury. Jeffs’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for November. The polygamist leader could face anywhere from five years to life in prison.

During the two-week trial, prosecutors argued that Jeffs knew that the girl did not want to marry her cousin and that she would be forced to have sex with him after the wedding.

The victim, now 21, testified against Jeffs during the trial. She said that she begged the FLDS leader not to make her marry her cousin. She claims that Jeffs told her that giving herself to her spouse was her religious duty and that she should submit to her cousin’s will.

Jeffs’s criminal defense team argued that there is no way he could have known that the girl was going to be raped. They claimed that the victim did not clearly articulate the problems that she was having with her husband. Jeffs’s criminal defense lawyers plan to appeal the verdict.

Here is a timeline of key events from the Warren Jeffs case, from the time he was indicted in 2005 to the time of his arrest at a Las Vegas traffic light on August 28, 2006:

June 2005 – A Mohave County, Ariz., grand jury indicts Warren Jeffs on charges of sexual misconduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual misconduct with a minor. He is accused of arranging a polygamous marriage between a teenage girl and an older man. Federal prosecutors in Arizona charge Warren Jeffs with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

July 2005 – Utah and Arizona’s Attorneys General announce a $10,000 reward for information leading to Warren Jeffs’ arrest.

December 2005 – A woman known as “M.J.” files a lawsuit in Cedar City against Warren Jeffs, accusing him of forcing her into a polygamous marriage with an older man.

April 2006 – Warren Jeffs is charged in St. George with rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of forcing a teenage girl into a polygamous marriage to an older man. A $500,000 warrant was issued for Jeffs’ arrest.

May 2006 – The U.S. Attorney for Utah files a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution against Warren Jeffs. Warren Jeffs is named to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.

Aug. 28, 2006 – Warren Jeffs is captured in a traffic stop outside Las Vegas. He is in the company of a brother and one of his wives.

Polygamist ‘prophet’ found guilty of aiding rape, CNN.com, September 25, 2007
Warren Jeffs Timeline, Rickross.com, August 29, 2006

Related Web Resources:

Warren Jeffs and the FLDS, NPR

Related Web Resources:

Sexual Assault and Rape, Norfolk District Attorney’s Office
Sentencing Guidelines Grid, The Massachusetts Court System Continue reading

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There are now 11 formal criminal charges against former football hero O.J. Simpson in the alleged armed robbery crime at a hotel room in the Palace Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas last Thursday. 10 of the charges are for felony crimes and include kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon.

According to prosecutors, Simpson committed kidnapping-along with his co-defendants-because they meant to detain or hold the two alleged robbery victims. The ex-football player and three other people are accused of pointed guns at sports memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley and collector Bruce Fromong while they stole the sports memorabilia, Beardsley’s sunglasses and baseball cap, and Fromong’s cell phone from the room. Fromong, who suffered a massive heart attack after the alleged robbery is in critical condition at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Police say that Simpson allegedly masterminded the armed robbery-although he has denied that a robbery ever took place or that there were guns involved. Two guns, however, were recovered.

In an audiotape recording, Simpson can be overheard ordering the men around and accusing someone of stealing from him. He claims that the items he recovered belonged to him and were stolen from him.

Simpson was released from jail after paying $125,000 in bail. His arraignment is scheduled for October 22. He is expected to plead not guilty to the criminal charges.

Kidnapping In Massachusetts, kidnapping is considered a crime against a person that is punishable for up to 10 years in prison. Massachusetts General Laws, Crimes Against the Person – Chapter 265, Section 26, describes kidnapping as the confinement or imprisonment of a person secretly, forcibly, or without lawful authority and against the person’s will.

Kidnapping is considered a very serious felony crime. Kidnapping, accompanied by the extortion of money or other valuables, can be grounds for a lifetime prison sentence.

Simpson released from jail, CNN.com, September 19, 2007
Prosecutors charge O.J. Simpson and three others, CNN.com, September 18, 2007
Massachusetts General Laws – Crimes Against the Person – Chapter 265, Section 26,

Related Web Resources:

O.J. Simpson Biography
Continue reading

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Former football star O.J. Simpson was arrested on Sunday. He was charged with six felonies related to an armed robbery at the Palace Station Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas.

Simpson was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, one count of burglary with a firearm, and one count of conspiracy to commit burglary. He is being held without bail.

According to the former football star, he and a number of people he met at a cocktail party conducted a “sting operation” last Thursday to retrieve some stolen sports memorabilia that belonged to him. He has denied committing any crime.

Sports memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley says that Simpson and four men came into his room at the hotel and took memorabilia, including pictures and books signed by Simpson, Beardsley’s cell phone, and lithographs of former San Francisco 49er football player quarterback Joe Montana with them. Beardlsey says that two of the men were armed.

Simpson says that he and the men went into the hotel room and pretended that they wanted to buy the suit that he wore to court in 1995 on the day he was acquitted for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. They also took a picture of former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover with them, as well as Simpson’s Hall of Fame Certificate. Simpson says that the items that had belonged to him had been stolen from him a number of years ago.

Theft crimes are punishable criminal offenses. Petty theft crimes (involving less than $250), shoplifting, grand larceny (involving more than $250), forgery, stealing property, auto theft, accepting stolen property, burglary, pick pocketing, mail fraud, robbery, and burglary, and white collar theft are all theft crimes.

The value and nature of the stolen items and whether the person has any prior criminal conviction can affect the penalty of a person convicted of a theft crime. A theft where more than $250 in property was stolen is considered a felony crime.

Also arrested on Saturday in connection to the robbery is Walter Alexander, 46. He was arrested on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, burglary with a dead weapon, and conspiracy to commit robbery.

O.J. Simpson Arrested on Robbery Charges, New York Times, September 16, 2007
O.J. Simpson Arrested in Vegas Robbery, AP, September 16, 2007
Sports Memorabilia Dealer Implicates O.J. Simpson in Hotel Room Robbery, NY Times, September 15, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Palace Station Hotel and Casino
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Warren Steed Jeffs, the leader and prophet of the country’s biggest polygamist sect, is about to stand trial for accomplice to rape. Jeffs’s accuser, a woman under police protection, was 14 years old when Jeffs forced her to take part in a “spiritual marriage” with her 19-year-old first cousin-despite her wish that she not marry him. Jeffs married the couple in Las Vegas. The marriage, however, was not sanctioned by the state of Nevada.

Jeffs is charged with two felony counts of rape as an accomplice. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. The fourth day of jury selection ended today.

The girl told police that she was uncomfortable with her husband’s sexual demands, but that Jeffs advised her that to obey him was her spiritual duty. According to Jeffs, not obeying her spouse would cause her to lose her salvation. He also referred to her husband as her spiritual leader.

Jeffs is the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FDLS). There are more than 8,000 FDLS members. Many girls, as young as age 13, are forced to marry men chosen by FDLS leaders. Men need at least three wives to get to heaven and women must have one baby a year.

About 70 followers are listed as possible witnesses for his trial. Former FDLS followers say that child molestation, incest, and spousal abuse are common within the FDLS community.

For 115 days, Jeffs was included on the list of the FBI’s Most Wanted. He was apprehended in Las Vegas in August 2006. Following his trial in Utah, Jeffs will have to answer to arrest charges in Arizona.

Accomplice to Rape
Being charged as an accomplice to rape means that Jeffs isn’t’ charged with physically rape the girl. He is charged because he forced a minor to marry an older man.

Polygamist prophet is now a criminal defendant, CNN.com, September 12, 2007
Prophet or accomplice to rape?, Winnipeg Free Press, September 9, 2007
Polygamist in Utah court on Rape charge, USA Today, November 22, 2006
Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs Appears in Court, CNN, November 21, 2006

Related Web Resources:

Wanted by the FBI, FBI.gov Continue reading

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In Suffolk Superior Court, the second murder trial of John Gomes, 30, began with opening statements. Gomes is charged with the first-degree murder of Ildobrando Correia, a Dorchester youth soccer coach that was shot to death at the age of 45 in August 2002.

Correia was in his car, having just dropped off an elderly friend, when Gomes allegedly fired 18 shots into the motor vehicle and fled the scene. Prosecutors say that Gomes mistakenly thought Correia, a husband and a father, was a rival.

Gomes allegedly got rid of the 9mm semiautomatic handgun-tagged as the murder weapon-behind a house.

Following Gomes’s murder, Correia moved several times across the U.S. before being caught by police at a traffic stop in Florida. His first trial began in May 2006, but the attorney for the defense left the case after Gomes allegedly tried to choke him with his necktie. Gomes faces assault charges in that attack.

First-Degree Murder
The law in Massachusetts defines first-degree murder to include murders committed with deliberate and premeditated intent. “Deliberate premeditation” is the phrase used for the thought process that the alleged perpetrator went through in order to kill the victim. There must also be what is called “malice aforethought.” This means that the murderer intended to inflict serious physical harm or death upon another person without legal justification or acted in a way that serious injury or death was very likely inevitable. In the instance of the latter, however, malice aforethought can consist of the murderer knowing that his actions likely would have lead to serious injury or death.

First-degree murder can also be committed with extreme cruelty, which means that the murder victim experienced suffering more cruel that most others that die by murder. The way that the victim died, whether the murderer enjoyed or was indifferent to the victim’s pain, the extent of physical injuries, and how much the victim suffered are all factors.

In a felony first-degree murder, a murder is committed while committing a felony crime that purposely disregarded human life and resulted in the death.

A person convicted of first-degree murder in Massachusetts faces life in prison and no parole.

For 2d time, man’s murder trial begins, Boston.com, September 7, 2007
Jury selection begins in Dorchester dad slay case, Bostonherald.com, September 5, 2007
Chapter 265: Section 1. Murder defined, The General Laws of Massachusetts Continue reading

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A 39-year-old Massachusetts man is accused of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend and seriously injuring her two daughters at the home that the four of them shared in Norton. Robert McDermott’s body was found on Monday at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority railroad tracks in Walpole where he shot and killed himself.

Police and prosecutors say that Norton and his former girlfriend kept breaking up and getting back together again and that their relationship was very volatile. The relationship took a fatally violent turn when Norton shot his 44-year-old ex-girlfriend and her two teenage girls.

The girls’ father found his daughters alive in the hallway. They had been shot in the head. He discovered his ex-wife’s body in her bed.

McDermott reportedly did not have a license to carry and use a gun. The two girls, ages 15 and 12, are being treated at Children’s Hospital in Providence.

Endabuse.org offers a number of statistics on domestic homicides:

• In 2000, 1,247 women were killed by their intimate partners. 440 men were killed by their intimate partners.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention:

• In the U.S., approximately 1.5 million women and over 800,000 men were assaulted by an intimate partner every year (Tjaden and Thoennes 2000a).

• 1,300 people die and close to 2 million people are injured because of IPV (Intimate Partner Violence) every year (CDC 2003).

• 11% of all murder victims from 1976-2000 were murdered by their intimate partners.

• 24% of the murder victims in 2002 were men killed by an intimate partner. The remaining 76% IPV homicide victims were women.

• The number one weapon used in IPV the gun.

In Massachusetts, the penalties for murder and crimes related to domestic violence, including assault, battery, sexual assault, harassment, stalking, and restraining order violations, can be very severe. This is why it is so important that you hire an experienced criminal defense attorney that knows how properly and successfully defend you against violent crime charges and convictions
Man shoots ex-girlfriend, 2 daughters before killing self, Boston.com, August 27, 2007
Intimate Partner Violence: Overview, CDC.gov
Domestic Violence is a Serious, Widespread Social Problem in America: The Facts, Endabuse.org

Related Web Site:

Domestic Violence, National Center for Victims of Crime Continue reading

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Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick has struck a deal with federal prosecutors that had him pleading guilty to dogfighting charges.

On Monday, Vick pled guilty to felony charges of conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture and conspiring to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities.

He faces a minimum of one year in prison. The charges from his indictment come with a $250,000 fine and a maximum of five years in prison–although a plea agreement likely means that he will not receive the maximum sentence.

The NFL (National Football League) will also announce its own punishment for the football star. It has already barred Vick from attending the Falcons’ training camp. He will likely receive his sentencing at the end of November.

Three co-defendants have pled guilty also. They say that Vick “almost exclusively funded” the dogfighting/gambling venture. Quanis L. Phillips, one of the co-defendants, said that last April, he, Vick, and Purnell A. Peace (another co-defendant) killed eight dogs by drowning them or hanging them because they were not performing well during the fights.

Vick’s involvement in underground dogfighting has led to problems with some of his endorsement deals. Reebok stopped selling jerseys with his No. 7 on them, and Nike suspended an endorsement deal it had signed with Vick. At least two trading card companies are no longer making his card.

Last April, government officials raided a property in Surry County, Virginia that belonged to Vick. They found carpeting that was soaked in blood, modified treadmills that are used for canines, and 52 pit bulls. Vick, Tony Taylor, Quanis Phillips, and Purnell Peace were indicted on July 17.

Federal Crimes
Federal crimes are crimes that have been declared crimes by the U.S. Congress and not just by state bodies. Federal agencies are the ones involved in investigating a federal crime.

According to the Humane Society, dogfighting is against the law in every state and considered a felony crime in 48 of the states. Taking dogs across state lines so that they can participate in dogfighting is considered a federal crime.

Last month, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry introduced a bill to eliminate dogfighting in the United States. His bill would amend the Animal Welfare Act and upgrade existing federal dogfighting laws by:

• Removing the requirement that agents and prosecutors have to show that a dog crossed state lines to participate in a fight • Making it a federal crime to attend a dogfight as a spectator • Making it illegal to transport, sell, own, or train fighting dogs • Enhancing the penalty from three years to five years in prison
Falcons’ Vick Indicted In Dogfighting Case, Washington Post, August 18, 2007
Vick pleads guilty to dog-fighting charges, The Guardian Unlimited, August 21, 2007
Dogfighting Fact Sheet, The Humane Society
Kerry Bill Bans Dogfighting, John Kerry.com
Related Web Resources:
Read Senator Kerry’s Bill (PDF)

Vick in a Deal to Plead Guilty to Dogfighting, New York Times, August 21, 2007
Animal Welfare Act and Regulations
Continue reading

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The Barnstable County grand jury is refusing to indict Ann Gryboski, a 51-year-old Cape Cod doctor, in the shooting death of her husband Patrick Lancaster. The jury cited evidence of domestic violence (both psychological and physical) after hearing testimony from 27 witnesses. Prosecutors have decided to drop the case.

Gryboski had been released on bail after she pled not guilty in April to murdering her husband. She showed up in court then with bruises around her mouth and swollen eyes. Her attorney has maintained that she acted in self-defense and to protect her son against her husband.

Gryboski had confessed to police that she killed Lancaster, who was a charter boat owner and builder, at their home on Easter. She says she had tried to intervene during an argument between her husband and one of their sons, who had asked his father about the bruises on her face.

She says that the night before she shot Lancaster, he had punched her repeatedly while she drove a motor vehicle. Their two-year-old grandchild was riding in the back seat.

Gryboski says she fired two shots at him as he approached her on Sunday.

Doctors who examined her after the murder found she was suffering from facial trauma and head trauma, in addition to a mild corneal abrasion and a chipped tooth. They also found that she previously had a nasal injury.

Justifiable Homicide:

A defendant is not considered guilty of murder/attempted murder/manslaughter/attempted voluntary manslaughter if he or she had justifiable cause to kill or try to kill someone as an act of self-defense or to defend someone else. A murder can also be considered justifiable homicide if it was done to prevent another serious crime from being committed or as part of one’s duty as a soldier or police officer.

Just because you have been charged with a crime does not mean you will be found guilty. A good criminal defense lawyer can build a solid defense for you and ensure that you are not unfairly convicted for a crime.

Prisonactivtist.org offers a number of facts about women as victims of domestic violence, including:

* Each day in the U.S., between 5 and 11 women are killed by a male intimate partner, between 1800 and 4000 per year.

* In the U.S. women are more likely to be killed by their male intimate partners than all other homicide categories combined.

* 90% of women murdered are killed by men, men who are most often a family member, spouse or ex-partner.

*Studies show that the vast majority of women who kill their abusers do so as a last resort in defense of their own lives and/or the lives of their children, and that many have stayed with abusive partners because they have been beaten trying to escape or because they rightly feared an attempt at escape would cause their partner to retaliate with violence.

*Between 2.1 and 8 million women are abused by their partners annually in the U.S. At least every 15 seconds, a woman is beaten by her husband or boyfriend.

*The Surgeon General has reported for at least 10 years that battering is the single largest cause of injury to U.S. women.

Grand jury declines to indict Cape Cod doctor in husband’s death, Boston.com/AP, August 17, 2007
Justifiable Homicide: Self-Defense or Defense of Another, Justia.com
Self-Defense is Not a Crime, Prisonactivist.org
Related Web Resource:

Dr. Ann Gryboski Arrives at District Court, Hyannisnews.com, April 9, 2007 Continue reading

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A federal district judge has ordered the federal government to pay $101.8 million for the framing of four men for a 1965 gangland murder that they did not commit.

Two of the men who were wrongfully convicted, Louis Greco and Henry Tameleo, died while in prison. The other two men, Joseph Salvati and Peter Limone, were exonerated six years ago. Salvati had been on parole since 1997 while Limone was set free after serving 33 years in prison.

Judge Nancy Gertner said that FBI officials let employees “break laws, violated rules, and ruin lives” by wrongfully convicted them four men.

The men were exonerated after FBI memorandums were found that had not been submitted during trial. The memos indicated that the U.S. government’s main witness, mob hit man Joseph Barboza, had lied when he accused the four men of killing mobster Edward Deegan and that officials knew he was lying.

Barboza was allegedly protecting the actual murderer and FBI officials supposedly played along with him because, per the memo’s suggestion, Barboza had helped them solve other crimes and the real killer, Vincent Flemmi, was an informant.

Flemmi passed away in prison. He had been serving time for an unrelated case.

Limone was awarded $26 million. Mr. Salvati received $29 million. Mr. Tameleo’s estate received $13 million, and Mr. Greco’s estate received $28 million. The spouses and other family members of the four men also received money.

Limone accused the federal government of stealing 33 years of his life. He was 33 and the father of four young kids when he was arrested. He served several years on death row until Massachusetts got rid of the death penalty. Limone’s attorney said there was evidence proving that Barboza fingered his client because he refused to fire a waitress that Barboza had been romantically involved with.

Tameleo’s wife died while he was in prison. Greco’s wife became very depressed following his arrest and one of his sons killed himself after his father died.

Salvati’s attorney said that his client owed a $400 loan shark debt, which is why Barboza accused Salvati of committing murder.

In Massachusetts, the death penalty no longer exists. Life in prison without parole is the only penalty for first-degree murder.

Here is a list of other wrongful murder convictions that have taken place in Massachusetts.

U.S. Must Pay $101.8 Million for Role in False Convictions, NY Times, July 27, 2007
Resources for Keeping the Death Penalty out of Massachusetts

Related Web Resource:

Massachusetts Wrongfully Convicted, Northwestern.edu Continue reading

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A Roxbury man was acquitted on Monday in the 1991 murders of his girlfriend and her friend. Reggie Knight was acquitted by a Suffolk Superior Court jury for the stabbing deaths of Michelle Paul, 24, and Henry Cowart, 50. The murders took place outside a housing development in Mission Hill where he is said to have bumped into them as they were getting back from purchasing cigarettes.

Knight had been indicted in 2003 for the stabbing crimes. Evidence against Knight was brought forward by his uncle and brother, who say that the defendant entered his brother’s house holding a knife while he had blood on his hands and declared “I did it” after the murders.

Knight supposedly became very angry when Paul refused to engage in prostitution to fund a crack cocaine habit. Paul and Cowart were found dead by stab wounds on the evening of December 15, 1991.

Knight’s defense attorney had maintained that Robert’s statements were not consistent with the statements made by Knight’s uncle, Jessie.

According to the defense, both men were trying to get leniency for the crimes that they had committed.

So far, the district attorney’s office in Suffolk has had eight homicide cases result in acquittals. 25 cases resulted in convictions.

In Massachusetts, the punishments for committing murder are very serious. Massachusetts defines homicide as the “willful killing of one human being by another.”

Penalties in Massachusetts for murder:

• First Degree Murder: Life imprisonment and without parole • Second Degree Murder: Life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years served • Involuntary Manslaughter, Voluntary Manslaughter, and Vehicular Homicide: Fines and up to 20 years in prison
Roxbury man acquitted in 2 killings, Boston.com, July 24, 2007
1991 murder case goes to trial, Boston Now, July 17, 2007
Homicide, Mass.gov

Related Web Resource:

Massachusetts Crime Rates
Continue reading

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