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Anthony Simulynas, a 74-year-old man from Auburn, has been placed on 10 years of probation for charges arising from a seizure of 85 firearms and 800 pounds of ammunition from his home.

A former gun dealer, Simulynas pleaded guilty to 16 counts of possessing an infernal machine, two counts of possessing a firearm or ammunition without a firearm identification card, and one count of improperly storing a firearm. He was sentenced on Tuesday in Worcester Superior Court. His lawyer said that Simulynas never meant any harm. However, defenses like “I never meant any harm” do not stand up in a court of law.

Common defenses to gun charges are based on unconstitutional search and seizure or the inoperability of the gun. The criminal defense attorneys of Altman & Altman LLP have successfully defended countless gun charges in Massachusetts, and we aggressively employ these and other defenses for our clients.

The Boston Globe: Auburn man gets probation for having home arsenal
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Verna Sewell, a 65-year-old Dorchester woman, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Suffolk Superior Court yesterday, according to the Boston Globe. The case arose out of the May 2009 stabbing death of 74-year-old Julius Scott, who shared an apartment with Sewell. She will be sentenced tomorrow.

Police were informed of the stabbing when Scott called 911 and said that he had been stabbed “in the heart” by a woman who then left his apartment. By the time police arrived, Scott was dead, but a bloody knife was recovered at the scene. Police found Sewell, who fit the description of the woman living with Scott, at a bus stop with blood on her clothing. She told them that there was a struggle when he attacked her with the knife and that Scott was stabbed in the course that struggle.

The Boston Globe: Dorchester woman found guilty in roommate’s death
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Christopher Higgins, a 43-year-old Dorchester man, pleaded not guilty Thursday in West Roxbury municipal court to one count of unarmed robbery and was held on $5,000 cash bail.

It is alleged that Higgins robbed a West Roxbury bank and tricked his friend into driving the getaway car by saying he got into a fight at the bank and had to leave quickly. Police interviewed and released the friend.

Police told the Boston Globe that the robbery happened Wednesday when a white male in a ski mask and hooded sweatshirt robbed Hyde Park Savings Bank. Shortly afterwards, the police saw a car matching the description that bank employees gave them. The friend gave police the address where Higgins might be staying, and they spotted a man fitting the description moments after arriving. Higgins fled on foot but was arrested soon afterward.

The Boston Globe: Bank robber allegedly tricked friend into driving getaway car
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Marcos Colono, a 32-year-old Cambridge man, was indicted Thursday in Middlesex Superior Court on two counts of rape of a child by force, two counts of home invasion, armed assault with intent to murder, and other charges. Prosecutors claim that Colono raped an 11-year-old boy and stabbed his father during a home invasion. His Superior Court arraignment date has not been set.

Rape of a child by force is punishable by up to life in state prison, and there is a 10-year mandatory minimum if a defendant was armed with a firearm, rifle, shotgun, machine gun or assault weapon at the time of the offense. Rape will be “rape of a child by force” when the victim was under the age of 16. That age element is the only difference between the two crimes.

The punishment for a home invasion conviction can be between 20 years and life in state prison. Home invasion means going into another person’s home while knowing or having good reason to believe that the person is home and staying there with a dangerous weapon or using or threatening to use force upon the person.

Armed assault with intent to murder is punishable by a 5-year mandatory minimum in state prison and up to 20 years.
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Tuesday night there was yet another shooting in the Boston area. This time it was in Somerville. By the time it was over, a police detective was wounded and a young man was dead. So far, there is nobody to label “Defendant” in this one. The young man, Mathew Krister, 21, (hereinafter, the “Deceased), is said to be the assailant.

This would tend to take blame away from the detective, so one would expect that he will not be charged with anything. Self-defense, after all, is applicable during an assault and battery with a gun.

The two knew each other prior to Tuesday night, though. In fact, the officer is said to have “talked” with the Deceased about the subject of gun possession while a pending investigation was taking place. According to friends and family of the Deceased, he was wanted by law enforcement officials and a warrant was out for his arrest. According to family friends, he had been talking about turning himself in.

But the shooting occurred before that could happen.

According to law enforcement, federal and local police approached the Deceased and he fired at least three shots at Somerville police Officer Mario Oliveira. Police would not say how many shots were fired back or how many officers fired.
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Do you think that homicide is a game only the young can play? Well, Verna S., a 65 year-old woman from Dorchester woman (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) would beg to differ. Yesterday, she was convicted in the May 2009 stabbing death of a 74-year-old man, Julius S.,(hereinafter, the “Deceased”) in the apartment they shared in Dorchester, according to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Sewell had been free pending the trial, but Superior Court Judge Frank Gaziano ordered her held once the guilty verdict was delivered. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday. She was apparently found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, not the Second Degree Murder charge she originally had been charged.

Her sentence can run from probation to 20 years in prison.

The police were alerted to the armed assault after the Deceased called 911 to report that he had been stabbed by a woman who then left his apartment. He told a dispatcher he had removed the knife from his chest. He was dead by the time police responded to his home. His cell phone and a bloody steak knife were found next to the chair.
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The good people of Salt Lake City have been chomping at the bit for a currentt trial. It has been a long time in coming. It is the trial of the alleged abductor of Elizabeth Smart. 57-year-old Brian David Mitchell (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is the man accused. After approximately 8 years of delay, and a change of jurisdiction, he is finally going to get his “day” in court.

Jury selection in the criminal trial started yesterday.

The Defendant faces federal charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines – for allegedly taking Smart to San Diego in the 2002 abduction. If convicted, the Defendant, who was once an itinerant street preacher could spend the rest of his life in a federal prison.

As Ms. Smart’s father said of the trial last week, “It’s certainly been a long time coming”.

The matter began as a state prosecution back in 2003. Back then, the Defendant was charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault…in state court. That prosecution got stalled after the Defendant was diagnosed with a delusional disorder and deemed incompetent to stand trial.
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Last week, I began this mini-series about perspectives in the criminal justice system. I started with that of the police officers. As the week went on, the news was more and more full of examples illustrating my point. First, the only alleged police misconduct dominating the Boston news in took place in New York. Now, we have a video on YouTube and similar allegations here at home.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis now says that he is reviewing video footage that shows the several police officers using force to arrest a juvenile (hereinafter, the “Kid”) at Roxbury Community College.

The video has made the rounds on YouTube and shows an officer assaulting the Kid and kneeing him while several other officers are trying to place handcuffs on him. The arrest occurred in a lobby at the college. Of course, the Kid was not the only one injured…three of the officers were apparently taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries and were later released, Davis has pointed out.

According to Davis, the officers did use force, but it is a question whether that force was excessive. After all, the officers were trying to handcuff the Kid and the Kid resisted.
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The Massachusetts sexual crime case against Austin Renaud, one of the ex-South Hadley High School students charged with statutory rape in the Phoebe Prince suicide-bullying case, is scheduled go to trial next year. The 18-year-old has been charged as an adult. He has pleaded not guilty to the rape charge.

Renaud is accused of having sexual contact with Prince, the South Hadley High School freshman who killed herself in January. However, according to his criminal defense attorney, Renaud considered Prince a friend and had even cut ties with his ex-girlfriend and the others who are accused of bullying her.

According to prosecutors, the girls accused of bullying Prince resented Prince’s relationships with Renaud and Sean Mulveyhill, then 17, who has also been charged with statutory rape against Prince. Four other teens face Massachusetts criminal charges related to Prince’s suicide. The teens are accused of bullying Prince in person and online.

If Renaud is convicted of statutory rape, he could go to prison for life. He and the other five teens have been suspended indefinitely from their high school.

The crime of Massachusetts statutory rape is a serious offense that involves sexual intercourse or unnatural intercourse with a person under age 16. Even if a defendant didn’t know that the person was that young, he/she can still be convicted of Massachusetts statutory rape.

Trial date slated in bullying case, MassLive, October 27, 2010
Teen charged in Mass. bullying case heads to trial, Washington Post, October 26, 2010
Life a struggle for six teens accused in Phoebe Prince case, IrishCentral, October 14, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Phoebe Prince Timeline

Massachusetts Law About Sex
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Perhaps it is my fault. Maybe I have been concentrating on tales of police investigations into crimes like murder, robbery and assault, that I have neglected to remind you that the “self-help” approach is seldom applauded in criminal justice.

I know that this may be counter-intuitive for many of you, but if an unknown gentleman climbs through your window at night and, after noticing you, suddenly freezes and says, “Oh [expletive]!”, you do not have the right to simply pick up your trusty bazooka and simply wipe him off the face of the Earth.

Let’s take a specific example. Jose C., a Lawrence gentleman (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), was leaving a friend’s house on Monday when he was accosted.

He was approached by two men with weapons who demanded that he give them money.

The Defendant explained that he had no money to give them.

The men apparently took the news in stride; they stole his car instead.
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