Sexual Crimes

October 22, 2009

North of Boston Prostitute Faces Felony Charges And Years In Prison

In the north of Boston city of Salem, this is considered a very scary month. All kinds of horrors are building up toward the holiday of Halloween. There are goblins, vampires, ghosts and the like. It is not all fun and games, though. Police must be ever-watchful for the true monsters that plague many cities and prey on its residents. Fortunately, the police department in Salem are always up to the task. The threat to civilization about which I speak, of course, is the prostitute. And now, the good folks of Salem, famous for its past witchtrials, can sleep alittle more soundly now that one woman’s operation has been closed down and her liberty put into the hands of a criminal defense attorney.

Lisa A., 46, of Salem (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is that alleged scurge.

You see, the Defendant was arrested following a sting by Salem police. By brilliantly cruising the internet, they found the Defendant’s website which contained photos in various poses and offered customers “the complete girlfriend experience,” with packages that cost up to $3,000 for a weekend. She was also, according to police and the Web site, offering a “recession special,” knocking $100 off her regular $300-an-hour rate.

Ever mindful of their duty to keep the city streets safe, if not save money for the Commonwealth, they took action.
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October 16, 2009

Attorney Sam’s Take: Under Arrest In Boston – Are You Likely To Make Bail?

by Altman & Altman

As you might assume, I hear many complaints about the criminal justice system while fighting for clients’rights and freedom in the Boston area. Many feel they are being investigated or charged unfairly by prosecuting attorneys. Some feel like the system is too slow. Others feel the unfairness of what I have referred to as the “assumption of guilt” while they are presumed to be innocent.

I have ready answers for most of these complaints. I might not like them any more than my clients do, but I have the answers.

There is one criminal justice issue, however, to which there is no ready answer. It is the issue of unequal justice.

Let me give you an example. Backagain Barney has a long criminal record. He has been in and out of jail and probation for most of his adult life. Now, he is gracing the Boston Municipal Court with a new assault and battery charge. They say he got into a fight at the Boston Common with a stranger. He won the fight as well as overnight Commonwealth housing.

Just as Barney is facing the court at arraignment, Nick Nevershouldaproposed is facing arraignment in Lynn District Court. He, too, is charged with assault and battery. His case, however, involves his wife. He is accused of slapping her during an argument and threatening, in mid argument, “You make me so mad, I could kill you”. It is his second criminal matter. His first, about nine years ago, was for drunk driving.

Who do you think is the most likely to be released pending trial?
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September 29, 2009

Roman Polanski Says He Will Fight US Extradition for Sex with a Minor Charge

by Altman & Altman

Renowned film director Roman Polanski says he intends to fight efforts to extradite him to the United States on charges that he had sex with a minor in 1977. The 76-year-old filmmaker was apprehended in Switzerland last Saturday where he had arrived to accept a lifetime achievement award that the Zurich Film Festival was going to bestow upon him.

Polanski has been living in exile from the US since he left the country rather than be sentenced for pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor. Samantha Geimer, then 13, had accused the director of giving her champagne and a portion of a Quaalude pill before raping her. Although initially indicted on six felony counts, the other charges (which could have resulted in a lifetime prison sentence) were dropped after he entered his guilty plea.

Polanski served 42 days in prison and underwent an evaluation. Despite agreeing on a sentence, allegations have been made that the judge tried to go back on the plea agreement. Polanski then fled the country.

Geimer, now 45, has publicly forgiven Polanski. Earlier this year, Geimer submitted a a formal request to prosecutors that they drop the charges against the filmmaker. She and her family don’t want to keep reliving the assault every time the media reports on the incident.

While France does not extradite its citizens, Switzerland does not provide such protections from international warrants. This was not, however, Polanski’s first visit to Switzerland. He owns a ski residence in Gstaad. California authorities reportedly have been engineering the filmmaker’s arrest ever since discovering he was going to the festival.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is asking that Polanski be granted bail. Swiss authorities say that as long as Polanski agrees to stay in the country, he could be released on bail. France and Poland are in an uproar over Polanski’s arrest.

Roman Polanski’s victim Samantha Geimer, now 45, ‘got over it long ago,’ New York Daily News, September 28, 2009
Polanski’s Attorney Says He Will Fight Extradition to U.S., Washington Post, September 28, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Roman Polanski, IMDB
Polanski’s arrest could be his path to freedom, AP, September 27, 2009 Continue reading

September 21, 2009

Appeal Of An Infamous Rape Conviction In Boston’s Supreme Judicial Court

by Altman & Altman

Paul Shanley, 78, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is a defrocked priest who was sentenced in 2005 to 12 to 15 years for raping a 6-year-old boy in a Boston suburb parish in the 1980s. Now, his attorneys are challenging the conviction.

Most of the testimony by the complainant against the Defendant was said to be based on previously repressed memories. The Defendant is now challenging the notion of repressed-recovered memories, or dissociative amnesia.

During the Defendant’s trial, the then 27-year-old, victim testified that he did not remember the abuse until 2002 when news reports of other men accusing the Defendant of sexual assault. He claimed that it was these accusations that triggered his own memories. The memories included the Defendant pulling him out of Sunday school over a six-year period to rape and grope him in the bathroom, the confessional and the pews.

Now, the Defendant’s lawyers assert that jurors never should have heard the victim’s tearful account because the psychiatric community itself cannot agree on whether repressed memories truly exist.
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September 17, 2009

Hofstra Gang Rape Victim Admits Sexual Encounter was Consensual

by Altman & Altman

Police say that the 18-year-old Hofstra University student who says she was gang raped by five men in a campus dorm has admitted that the sex was consensual. The four men who were arrested and each charged with five counts of first-degree rape are to be released from police custody. Last night, the criminal charges against them were dropped.

The alleged victim had said that suspect Jesus Ortiz, 19, asked her to dance and took her cellular phone from her. He then allegedly used the phone to get her to accompany him to the Easterbrook dorm where Rondell Bedward, another Hofstra student, met them. Bedward allegedly had a rope with him.

The woman accused the men of making her go into a stall and forcing her to engage in sexual activity. She said that three other men raped her before she was set free.

Bedward is the only one of the four suspects who studies at Hofstra University. Police say that he was the one who invited the other suspects to the dormitory and, per dorm protocol, all of them were signed in.

The other two men who were arrested and arraigned for the college campus crime are Kevin Taveras, 20, and Stalin Felipe, 19. Police had been looking for the fifth alleged rapist.

Meantime, in another university-related crime, police continue to investigate the murder of Yale graduate student Annie Le. The 24-year-old pharmacology student’s body was discovered on Sunday, which was supposed to be her wedding day, in the basement wall of a medical research building located off-campus.

Video surveillance footage shows her going into a lab located some 10 blocks from campus. The medical examiner’s office announced today that Le was strangled.

Raymond Clark, a Yale employee, was released from custody after providing authorities with DNA samples. The 24-year-old employee was brought in after police got a search warrant for his residence and a body warrant for the samples.

Over 150 people have been interviewed. Some 150 pieces of evidence have been collected. Police don’t believe that Le’s murder was a random act.

Hofstra Student Admits She Lied About Gang Rape, Long Island Press, September 16, 2009
Four Men Arrested, Fifth Sought in Connection With Rape of Hofstra University Student, Fox News, September 15, 2009
Yale student strangled, medical examiner’s office says, CNN.com, September 16, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Yale University

Hofstra University

Colleges, Community Colleges, & Universities in Massachusetts, USA, UnivSource.com Continue reading

September 10, 2009

Attorney Sam’s Take: Can The Beatles Get You Arrested For Domestic Violence Or Other Crimes?

by Altman & Altman

First of all, allow me to establish that I am an ardent Beatles fan. Second, let me confess that I have been imbedded in the criminal justice system for about a quarter of a century. As such, there is a certain type of “ear” that I have developed over the years to pick up criminal-justice-related tidbits.

Yesterday, there was a lot of Beatles activity…pretty impressive given that the band disbanded almost 50 years ago. Topping the list of newly released items were a video game and a box set of all the original releases on remastered cds packaged together with video “mini-documentaries”. Naturally, I played the part of consumer. Then, as I contemplated the weekly “Attorney Sam” feature of this daily blog, some of the Beatles’ lyrics came back to me.

There are obvious crime-related Beatles songs. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is such an example. In it, a handful of murders are conducted by our young hero with the aid of his trusty silver weapon which he manages to smuggle in everywhere, including school, court and the local police station. Of course, on the other side of the law, there is “Lovely Rita”. Here, the singer is courting (no pun intended) a meter maid.

The Beatles’ rock ‘n roll view of romance is particular interest. “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road” comes to mind, for example. It could, I suppose be simply walking and whistling a happy tune that the fad four are suggesting, but most people think they are talking about something a bit more sexual in nature. Clearly not a good suggestion. Assuming that one survived the oncoming traffic, one would soon be arrested and prosecuted for a host of criminal acts which fall under the purview of the sexual offender registry. Of course, speaking of which, the song “Little Child”, wherein the singer, who is “sad and lonely” asks a young thing to “take a chance” on him would also interest many prosecutors. Of course, he is suggesting that they only dance…!

I can see the Commonwewlth’s sexual assault expert now testifying that “things like ‘dancing’ are simply a ruse used by the offender who gains the child’s trust…!”
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September 8, 2009

Child Pornography Arrest To End In Guilty Plea In Boston Federal Court

by Altman & Altman

Yesterday’s Boston Herald signaled the end to the saga of former sportscaster Bob Gamere’s (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) in federal court which was co-hosted by federal prosecuting attorneys.

Apparently, he is expected to plead guilty to child pornography charges.

The Defendant was charged last October with two counts of transporting child pornography videos and one count of possessing child pornography. Specifically, he is accused of using his home computer to send multiple people e-mails with child pornography videos attached.

The trial had been scheduled to begin tomorrow in U.S. District Court. However, a change-of-plea hearing has been scheduled for today.

The evidence against the Defendant had included the alleged prohibited materials as well as statements that the he is said to have made to law enforcement. The materials were seized from his apartment in 2007. Attempts to suppress their seizure have failed.
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September 5, 2009

Allston Man Pleads Not Guilty to Aggravated Rape and Assault & Battery of 66-Year Old Woman

by Altman & Altman

In Suffolk County, an Allston man has been arrested for beating and raping a 66-year-old woman. Jose Sariano Gonzales pleaded not guilty to the charges of rape, resisting arrest, and the assault and battery of a victim over 65. The 20-year-old is also accused of punching the woman in the neck and face and obtaining stolen property. A stolen credit card was found on his person when police apprehended him.

The alleged rape incident occurred on August 27. The victim says that she had gotten up early that day to look for cans that she could turn in for cash when she says that a man approached her, directed her to a place where she could obtain more cans, and then proceeded to beat and rape her.

Yesterday, the woman identified Gonzales to police when they spotted him close to the site where she was assaulted. Police say that he tried to get away when they ran to pursue him but they managed to apprehend him.

August 29, 2009

Jaycee Lee Dugard Kidnapping: Husband and Wife Plead Not Guilty to 29 Felony Counts, Including Forcible Rape, Kidnapping Someone Under Age 14, and Kidnapping for Sexual Purposes

by Altman & Altman

In court on Friday, registered sex offender Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy pleaded not guilty to 29 felony charges in the kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard. Dugard was just 11 when the couple abducted her in 1991 while she was walking to her school bus stop. Her stepfather saw the abduction but was unable to stop it.

The Garridos are each charged with:

• 1 count of kidnapping someone younger than age 14
• 1 count of kidnapping for sexual purposes • 4 counts of forcible rape with a special allegation of one strike • 2 counts of forcible rape • 7 counts of a forcible lewd act on a child, with special allegation of kidnapping a victim younger than age 14 for sex • 1 count of false imprisonment by violence with special allegations of use of force, violent sex offenses, a stranger victim, and substantial sexual conduct with someone younger than 14
Phillip Garrido is also charged with a special allegation of 2/3 strikes because he has two prior convictions for kidnapping and forcible rape.

The couple is accused of keeping Dugard in sheds in their backyard for 18 years. While in captivity, Dugard bore two children, now 11 and 15, that Garrido fathered. The kids have never seen a doctor or gone to school.

On Tuesday, Garrido and his two daughters were stopped at the University of California at Berkeley campus where he was trying to give out literature and speak. Police approached him because they felt that the dynamic between him and the two girls was “suspicious.” A background check revealed that Garrido had been convicted for kidnapping and rape in 1971 and had served time in prison.

Garrido was asked to appear at his parole office the following day. He showed up with his wife and a woman named Allissa. The parole officer had never seen Allissa or the two girls. Allissa was later identified as Dugard and Garrido has admitted to kidnapping her. Phillip says he is relieved that he was finally caught. Police had been searching for Dugard for almost two decades.

Couple faces 29 felony counts, life in jail in kidnapping, CNN.com, August 28, 2009
Jaycee Lee Dugard Found After 18 Years, Kidnap Suspect Allegedly Fathered Her Kids, ABC News, August 27, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Map: Antioch home of Garrido and Jaycee Lee Dugard, Mercury News, August 27, 2009
Jaycee Dugard is Missing, MySpace Page Continue reading

August 20, 2009

One Of Two Suspects Arrested In Brookline Rape Case

by Altman & Altman

Boston-area police have been searching for two suspects in connection with a reported rape in the Coolidge Corner area of Brookline. Today, an arrest was made.

Brookline Police say that they believe that the man they arrested this morning is one of the two alleged rapists who abducted and raped a 30-year old woman as she left a taxi on Harvard Street early Tuesday morning. The arrest came after the police spotted a red pickup truck that matched the truck used in the attack. Two Boston police officers working in Brighton saw the vehicle. They then passed on the information to investigators in Brookline.

Authorities continue to search for the second suspect. No additional information was released about the arrest, but a press release will be issued later today said the police spokesman.
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