Boston Criminal Lawyer BlogBurlington Police Chief Michael Kent announced today that two men have officially been charged with the murder of a woman whose body was found at a Burlington hotel this past Thursday July 2nd. The victim, 34 year old Sanisha Johnson of the Bronx, New York, was discovered in a first floor room at the Extended Stay America located near the Burlington Mall. The suspects, 24 year old Epshod Jeune (of Burlington) and 21 year old Derrell Fisher (of Roxbury) were arrested for the shooting death of Sanisha Johnson on Monday after hotel video surveillance captured them on film. Continue reading
Articles Posted in Murder
INSANITY DEFENSE FAILS FOR SOUTH BOSTON CONVICTED MURDERER
Jurors in Suffolk Superior Court found Edwin Alemany guilty of first-degree murder and 15 other counts, including premeditated murder, for the killing of Amy Lord. Alemany was also found guilty of attacking two other women before and after killing Lord.
In July of 2013, Alemany kidnapped Lord from outside her South Boston apartment and forced her to withdraw money from several ATM machines. Prosecutors said he then raped her and stabbed her more than 75 times. He then dumped her naked body in Hyde Park and set her car on fire.
BOSTON MAN IS CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER AFTER SHOOTING MURDER TRIAL
Well, the trial of 26-year-old Michael Stallings from Boston (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is over. While it ended in a conviction, the defense is likely counting it as a “win”.
The Defendant was acquitted of the top count, Murder in the First Degree, but convicted on the lesser charges of Involuntary Manslaughter and gun possession.
The facts arose out of a sadly frequent scene we have all heard about. Gang violence. Gang warfare.
The Defendant claims that someone from a rival gang began shooting at him on a street in January 2012. The Defendant fired back into a crowd of people. His spray of bullets did not hit anybody, but obviously caused some folks to flee.
One of said “folks” was Kelvin Rowell. He was 40 years old and at the proverbial “wrong place, wrong time”. No connection to the gang violence.
He did have asthma though.
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BOSTON POLICE SPEAK WITH PERSON OF INTERTEST IN TUFTS FRATERNITY STABBING
The term “person of interest” has no legal definition, but generally refers to someone who authorities believe has information related to a crime. Although deliberately ambiguous to any suspicion of guilt, you can be assured that if law enforcement labels you a “person of interest” they believe you were some how involved.
THE BOSTON FEDERAL JURY CHOOSES THE DEATH PENALTY FOR THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBER
As you know, I have been ensconced in the criminal justice system since the early 1980’s. One of the perks of being around so long, and being fairly successful, is that various media outlets often contact me to discuss some development in criminal justice. They know that I am a former prosecutor, have been a Boston criminal lawyer since 1990 and have handled several high profile cases. Last Friday, I was approached by various radio stations from Boston, Toronto and San Francisco.
They wanted to discuss the federal jury’s sentencing decision on the multi-murder case of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (hereinafter, the “Defendant”).
In case you missed it, the jurors unanimously suggested that the Defendant be put to death. Reports on the verdict, as well as more analysis than you could possibly want, abound throughout the media. One such article printed just after the verdict can be found in the Boston Globe, Jurors Did Not Believe Sympathetic Narrative About Tsarnaev.
Opinions abound as to why the jury found as it did, especially since they did so much quicker than most people expected.
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A BOSTON CRIMINAL LAWYER PREPARES FOR THE FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY VERDICT
Juries are often criticized in this country when folks don’t like the verdict they deliver. In my experience, though, jurors are not some ignorant bundle of jello-wobbling mindlessly from side to side during the trial, just waiting to pop out a verdict for the side with more money. In my experience, jurors try quite hard to deliver the verdict which rings true to them.
There is not much more we can expect from them.
The jurors in the federal multi-murder matter of convicted Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) are now struggling with grappling a verdict which may be the most difficult of all. It is literally a life or death decision.
DNA EVIDENCE: IN MURDER CASES, IT CAN BRING DEATH TO THE INNOCENT
Let’s not accept the exception to the rule as a substitute for the general criminal justice rule. Particularly in cases where the stakes are as high as they are in murder cases. Especially when the penalties are either death or life imprisonment without the chance of parole.
The Dzhokhar Tsarnaev case is the exception. Very rarely do you have defense attorneys get up in the beginning of a trial to proclaim their client guilty as charged. More often, there is some question as to guilt or innocence.
Take instead the Washington D.C. case of Santae Tribble. Mr. Tribble was a 17-year-old man in 1978. That was when he was accused of murdering a taxi driver. Thanks mostly to the expert testimony of an analyst with the Federal Bureau of Investigation about DNA found on hair strands, Mr. Tribble was found guilty and received a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
It turns out that the expert had been wrong. The hair did not belong to Mr. Tribble. In fact, it turned out that some of the hair was not even human hair. It had come from a dog.
MASACHUSETTS FEDERAL JURY FINALLY SEES EMOTION FROM BOSTON MARATHON BOMBER
As you may recall, we were talking about death and were about to move on to the convicted Boston Marathon Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (hereinafter, “Convicted”).
As you no doubt know, Convicted is now sitting through the penalty phase of his murder trial in Boston’s Federal District Court. As he has been convicted in federal court, he is eligible for the death penalty. The hearing going on now is to convince the jury to either sentence him to life in prison or to death.
While the court has, and will continue to, tell the jurors that they are not to make this decision based on sympathy or emotion, clearly that is what both sides are trying to do.
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SURVELIENCE VIDEOS ARE PRESENTED IN FALL RIVER MURDER TRIAL OF AARON HERNANDEZ
As you are probably aware, the first murder trial of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) continues in Fall River. In this case, he is charged with the June 17, 2013, killing of Odin Lloyd.
No doubt, many interesting facts and allegations have come to light during the testimony. There is one aspect of the testimony which I think is particularly noteworthy and something you should realize.
It can be summed up in one word. Surveillance.
In the Defendant’s case, surveillance videos have been played to the jurors allegedly showing the Defendant’s movements during various times around the alleged time of the murder. Continue reading
JUROR IN HERNANDEZ MURDER TRIAL IS QUESTIONED AND REMOVED FROM PANEL
A number of high profile matters are seeing action in the Commonwealth at the moment. One of them is a trial in Fall River. It is the murder trial of former new England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez. This trial concerns murder allegations that Hernandez killed Odin Lloyd.
This morning, the taking of evidence in the trial itself was paused because of another type of hearing was taking place. It involved the questioning and then removal of one of the jurors.
Bristol County Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh, the trial judge, questioned the juror outside the hearing of the public assembled in the courtroom.
