Sexual Crimes

September 18, 2010

Massachusetts Sex Offenders Can’t Be Subject to New Probations Restrictions Until After They Violate Rules, Says Supreme Judicial Court

In a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that unless released sex offenders violate their probation, they cannot be made subject to new probation limits. The decision was issued in the case of Level 3 sex offender Ralph W. Goodwin, who in 1990 was convicted of the Massachusetts rape and kidnapping a 7-year-old boy.

The 49-year-old Lowell man was released from custody last year after a jury determined that he was no longer sexually dangerous. Goodwin was ordered to undergo sex offender counseling and keep up his mental health care. However, his whereabouts were not restricted and no one ordered him to wear a GPS device so that he could be monitored.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. and the probation department disagreed with the lack of restrictions placed on Goodwin and sought that he be required to use a GPS bracelet. They also wanted him barred from libraries, schools, and playgrounds.

Noting the 2009 SJC ruling that the law requiring that all sex offenders on probation use GPS devices cannot be applied retroactively, a superior court ruled that imposing such restrictions on Goodwin was not legally permissible unless he violates his probation. Today, four out of seven SJC justices arrived at the same conclusion.

However, according to the Boston Herald, while the SJC was deciding Goodwin’s case he did in fact violate his probation by failing to fully participate in mental health counseling. He is now wearing a GPS ankle bracelet as a result of the violation.

Per probation data, because of the SJC’s 2009 ruling 162 people convicted of Massachusetts sexual crimes successfully petitioned the court to terminate their GPS monitoring. Another 160 sexual offenders who were convicted after 2006 were also allowed to get rid of their GPS bracelets.

Divided SJC bars new probation limits on some sex offenders, Boston.com, September 17, 2010
Sex offender in SJC case breaks probation, gets bracelet, Boston Herald, September 17, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Massachusetts Law About Probation, Sentencing and Parole
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September 11, 2010

Recent Massachusetts Child Rape Cases Lead to Guilty Pleas and Indictment

by Altman & Altman

In Salem Superior Court on Thursday, Louis Walters, a former resident of the state, pleaded guilty to Massachusetts child rape and incest charges. He has been sentenced to eight to nine years in state prison. He faces similar charges related to the same girl in New Hampshire and is expected to be sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison.

Walters, 38, began a three-year relationship with the girl in Massachusetts when she was 15. She later moved in with him in New Hampshire.

Under the plea agreement worked out with prosecutors in both states, Walters will serve his prison sentences concurrently.

Walters is not the only person to recently plead guilty to Massachusetts rape. On Tuesday, a Clinton man was sentenced to three to five years in prison and five years probation after he pleaded guilty to Massachusetts child rape charges and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute-the drug charge, which is unrelated to the sexual crime charge, was originally a Massachusetts cocaine trafficking charge but was reduced to a lesser crime under his plea agreement.

According to prosecutors, Nieves, 28, had sex with a 14-year-old girl in 2008 at a relative’s home. The teenager told police about the Massachusetts sexual assault after discovering that she was pregnant. Nieves’ Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer says the sexual intercourse was consensual and requested a more lenient sentence.

In an unrelated Massachusetts child rape case, an Essex grand jury has indicted Lawrence school safety guard on three counts of Massachusetts aggravated rape of a child and one count of driving under the influence of drugs. Farrar is accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl that started when she was 13.

Police apprehended the 30-year-old man in Salisbury on July 31 when they spotted him allegedly driving his van in an erratic manner. The girl was in the vehicle. She told the authorities that she lied to her mother about her whereabouts so that she could be with Farrar, who is also her basketball coach. Both the girl and Farrar have admitted to numerous sexual encounters together and she has admitted that she is in love with him.

Man pleads guilty to child rape, MyFoxBoston, September 10, 2010
Clinton man pleads guilty to child rape, Boston.com, September 8, 2010 Lawrence school guard indicted on child rape charges, Boston Herald, September 1, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts General Laws
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August 28, 2010

SJC Ruling Could Overturn Christopher McCowen’s Convictions for Massachusetts Rape and Murder in Slaying of Christa Worthington

by Altman & Altman

The state Supreme Judicial Court will likely issue a ruling in the next few weeks on Christopher McCowen’s appeal to have his Massachusetts murder and rape convictions in the slaying of fashion writer Christa Worthington overturned. McCowen’s criminal defense team is arguing that it was wrong to allow the a substitute pathologist to testify about findings in an autopsy that another doctor had performed and they are now citing a recent SJC ruling that overturned the murder conviction of Eric J. Durand for the fatal beating of Brendon Camara, his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son, on similar grounds.

McCowen was convicted in 2006 for Worthington’s Truro, Massachusetts rape and murder. The 46-year-old Vassar-educated writer and Truro resident was found stabbed to death in her home in January 2002. Her 2 ½ year old daughter was with her, unharmed but hugging her mom’s body and smeared in blood.

In 2005, Police charged McCowen, who was the trash collector for Worthington’s residence, with the slaying. Even though McCowen agreed to let police test his DNA soon after the murder, it would be two years before the authorities would collect his DNA and another year before it was matched to the crime.

A little over a year after McCowen’s 2006 conviction for Massachusetts murder and rape, Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary A. Nickerson held a public hearing during which time he interviewed jury members about allegations of racial bias. McCowen is black. The allegations formed the basis for McCowen’s criminal defense lawyer’s request for a new trial, but the judge would go on to turn down the motion. McCowen’s Massachusetts criminal defense attorneys have challenged this ruling.

Cape and Islands prosecutor Julia K. Holler, who represented the state in McCowen’s appeal, says that while it was wrong for a pathologist other than the one that conducted the autopsy to testify in McCowen’s criminal case, because McCowen’s criminal defense lawyer did not object to a criminal trial the state’s highest court has to limit its review to whether the testimony created a “substantial likelihood of a miscarriage of justice.” This is a higher legal standard than what was applied to Durand’s appeal and one which Holler claims that McCowen’s conviction case does not meet.

SJC ruling hovers over 2002 Cape slaying case, Boston.com, August 28, 2010
Conviction reversed in Mass. boy’s beating death, Boston Herald, August 20, 2010
SJC hears Christopher McCowen appeal, Cape Cod Online, May 7, 2010
Related Web Resources:
The General Laws of Massachusetts

Murder on the Cape: A tale of love and death, Boston.com, January 20, 2002 Continue reading

August 26, 2010

Recent MA Homicides, Robberies And Deadly Police Chases Make Renewed Pressure On Prostitution And Craigslist Timely

by Altman & Altman

As expected, criminal justice history repeats itself in Massachusetts and its neighboring states. As discussed in earlier blogs, we have a new “Craigslist Robber” and our original “Craigslist Killer” has made the news again by robbing the Commonwealth of another high profile trial. He killed himself. As also discussed, armed robbery suspects are evading investigating officers, police officers are running over pedestrians and failing at picking them back up and even the heroic efforts of law enforcement politicians and our legislature’s efforts to stem the unstemmable tide of bullying has been called into question.

And that’s only over the past week or so! This can be embarrassing for our law enforcement leaders.

Fortunately, we have a solution.

Let’s crack down on the real plague to society…prostitution…and put some extremely public pressure on that damned Craigslist!

What? You think I’m kidding? Look, I’m kind of a creative sort, but I don’t think even I could make this stuff up.
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August 9, 2010

Fall River MA City Councilor Is Arrested In Prostitution Sting – A Boston Criminal Attorney’s Viewpoint

by Altman & Altman

The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog is so proud to announce that, thanks to local law enforcement, the good people of Fall River can sleep soundly tonight, knowing that they have once again been kept safe by intrepid police work.

By this, of course, I refer to the brave and brilliant criminal investigation that has led to the arrest of 24 foul demons for the crime against nature known as prostitution.

Yes, I am referring to the most recent prostitution sting win which 23 unknowns and a Fall River City Councilor have been arrested and are being brought to justice. With these dangerous criminals off the streets, the authorities can now focus on the lesser crimes of homicide, rape and drug trafficking.

After all, as we have often heard, there are only so many resources to go around…!

The science behind such police operations has been discussed before in this blog. Generally, it involves having a female police officer dress and prance in a sexually provocative manner so as to entice men to inquire about the possibility of paying for sex with her. Thus located, these offenders are snatched up as if by a Venus Fly Trap and awarded the Commonwealth bracelets of shame.
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August 6, 2010

Franklin MA Ex-Prostitute Violates Probation By Striking Police Officer With Vehicle

by Altman & Altman

The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has discussed the seemingly newly “in vogue” crime of striking police officers with motor vehicles. Usually, these collisions turn out to be accidental. Sometimes, under the law, they are seen as either deliberate acts or the results of drunk driving.

For some reason, this summer has seen it almost become an epidemic.

The latest such alleged driver hails from Franklin and is 25-year-old Ari C. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). The incipient happened this past Tuesday in Franklin. Apparently, she had even been told by an on looking construction worker that she had struck the officer.

She is said to have apologized and driven off.

Of course, since Tuesday, more news about the Defendant has surfaced. According to the Boston Herald, she is an “accused hooker who violated her probation“.
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July 21, 2010

Another Clergy Sex Crimes Case Inspires Reflections On Years Of Boston Criminal Defense

by Altman & Altman

Sex cases are a funny thing. That is, “funny” as in “strange”. In a country wherein we say that we prize the presumption of innocence, we really don’t act like we like said presumption very much.

Currently, I am handling a high profile case about child pornography. Already, the press is interested. This, of course, is natural and is the job of the media. However, I am troubled not by the fact that it is newsworthy, but the reaction of people. Any passer-by who is questioned about the matter seems to have already formulated the verdict of “guilty”. People are shocked that “this has happened”, except that a man’s good deeds have been completely disregarded because of the new accusations. Other than that, nothing else has been proven to have “happened”.

What is even more troubling is the aftermath.

I can still locate articles from 2008 when another client of mine was arrested and charged with rape involving a child. People were interested then. Well, for the last two years, we fought against the “assumption of guilt” while trying to remind everybody else that a “presumption of innocence” was rumored to still exist. Finally, two years later, my client was completely exonerated…as in “Not Guilty”. Out of curiosity last night, I cruised the internet to find mention of the fact that my client, who attempts to resurrect his life now that he has been acquitted, has been found not guilty.

Big surprise – nary a whisper.
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July 14, 2010

Psychiatric Patient on Trial for Boston Rape Has Diminished Mental Capacity, Says His Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyer

by Altman & Altman

The criminal trial of Vernon Thompson on two counts of Massachusetts rape is now under way. Thompson, 40 is accused of sexually assaulting a Newton teenager while he was a psychiatric patient at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain in 2008.

He is accused of taking the girl, then 14, to an area of the hospital where there were no security cameras and sexually assaulting her. His Boston criminal defense lawyer is asking jurors to remember that the defendant was a mental health patient when the allegedMassachusetts sexual crime happened. She also noted that because of his diminished mental capacity, he was incapable of understanding his actions or conforming to the law.

Diminished Mental Capacity Defense
Due to mental illness, a psychological disorder, or other health issues, some people who’ve committed a crimes lack the capacity to understand that their actions constituted a criminal act. Evidence of diminished capacity can be presented to a jury as part of the defense as they consider whether to find a defendant guilty or not guilty of a crime.

Massachusetts is zealous when it comes to pursuing people charged with sexual crimes and it is important that you are represented by a Boston criminal defense lawyer that can secure the best outcome possible for your case. A conviction as a sex offender can land you in prison for years, place you on the Massachusetts sex offender registry for life, and likely have serious repercussions on your career and personal life.

Girl, 16, testifies at rape case, Boston.com, July 14, 2010
Hospital Rape Case To Begin, WCVB, July 6, 2010 Continue reading

June 21, 2010

Assaults, Threats And Bullying In Boston Schools – Will The Law Help? (Part One)

by Altman & Altman

Yesterday, the Boston Globe’s front page reflected the start of a new series of articles on students, families and schools. It described the plight of Lexi, a 14-year-old girl who began classes at a new school in an “affluent suburb” west of Boston.

According to the story, Lexi’s torment began within the first few days, when a “friend” texted her the message, “Go online.”

“Online” being shorthand for “facebook”, Lexi went to the page to find pictures a girlfriend had taken a few months before of Lexi making faces at the camera. After the posting were a string of brilliant comments like, “You look like a rat that has been put on crack . . . in other words ugly as balls,” and ” hahaha”.

This was a terrific blow. After all, Lexi had realized that how she looked mattered a great deal in how she was or was not accepted. Now, there was a picture of her looking like a kid, neither polished nor particularly attractive..

“I knew from the beginning,” Lexi says now. “I knew it was basically everyone against me.”

Sure enough, in the months that followed, she was taunted at school. Boys called her foul names and girls snickered. Finally, the problem worsened as groups of students picked on her, surrounding her on the stairs or pushing her in the cafeteria. She even received threatening calls on her cell phone.
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June 11, 2010

A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney’s View Of Knowledge And Guilt In The Criminal Justice System

by Altman & Altman

As a Boston criminal defense attorney, there is an oft-said and ill-fated sentence claimed by clients. It reads, “…but I didn’t know that was illegal!”

Unfortunately, such lack of knowledge does not usually matter. They really mean it when they say “ignorance of the law is no excuse”. Further, there are times when ignorance of the facts is basically irrelevent.

A prime example of the latter is the case of statutory rape. “But I didn’t know she was just shy of her thirteenth birthday…she told me she was twenty-five” is not going to be a viable defense.

Another example is something that a psychiatrist who teaches at Harvard Medical School (clearly not an ignorant man by any estimation, yet, hereinafter, the “Defendant”) said this week about the trouble in which he has now found himself.

He had been hosting a graduation party in New Hampshire. He has released a statement that he didn’t know that there were students drinking at the high school graduation party .

Apparently, however, there were.
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