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The Massachusetts criminal defense team for Gary Lee Sampson is scheduled to appear in court on Monday to argue that their client should get a new trial. Sampson, who a federal judge sentenced to death in 2003 for the murder of three people, contends that his constitutional rights were violated because his trial lawyers at the time were ineffective.

Sampson’s new defense team is accusing his old one of failing to fully depict to the jury the entire extent of Sampson’s traumatic brain injuries and mental illness. They believe that the evidence might have caused the jury to recommend a less harsh sentence for Sampson. If executed, Sampson would be the first person in 63 years to be put to death for a Massachusetts crime.

Sampson fatally stabbed 69-year-old Philip McCloskey 24 times on July 24, 2001 after the latter had picked up the hitchhiker in Weymouth. Sampson also carjacked the victim’s car. A few days later, Sampson fatally stabbed 19-year-old Jonathan Rizzo, a driver who picked him up in Plymouth. It would be just another three days before Sampson would strangle 58-year-old Robert Whitney.

Sampson later pleaded guilty to all three murders. A federal jury in Boston made the recommendation that he put to death and US Chief District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf ordered that Sampson be executed in New Hampshire, which has a state capital murder law. Massachusetts does not have a state death penalty.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Sampson’s death sentence. Later, the US Supreme Court decided not to hear his appeal. Now, prosecutors for the US Attorney’s office say that they intend to fight Sampson’s motion.

Prosecutors seek to dismiss Gary Lee Sampson’s appeal, Boston Herald, August 29, 2010
Lawyers for convicted killer in carjacking murder spree seek new trial, The Boston Globe, August 29, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Sampson Timeline, The Patriot Ledger, High Beam Research, July 24, 2002
Read the 1st Circuit Opinion for this Case, Justia Continue reading

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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

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The Boston Criminal Law Blog has had a fairly police-intensive week this week. We began with
A police chase in which an officer accidently struck and killed a pedestrian (which, if we had done it would probably be treated as a homicide) and then with of law enforcement investigations and actions in cases of murder, vandalism, armed robbery and, “worst of all”, the “scourge” of prostitution.

And yet, critical as I may be, I claim to have a great deal of respect for police officers. Well, most of them, anyway.

And I do. I am not “anti-cop”.

True, my work tends to place me at the other side of the aisle from them in a courtroom. And yet, often, they are not my client’s enemy. It is often someone else who has made a certain report to the police which led to my client’s arrest.

“But Sam, you are always telling us how they lie during police investigations to get the unwitting to make statements.”
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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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September is a-coming. It would appear that it will soon be time, once again in Massachusetts, for those school-time hijinks like bullying, assault and vandalism.

And police investigations.

Well, it looks like some people just can’t wait. No, not a high school or college campus crime this time. The event took place at Julia F. Callahan Elementary School in Lynn this past weekend. Vandals trashed the school, dumping paint, spraying fire extinguishers, shattering glass, overturning desks and copiers, and spewing classroom materials throughout the building, according to Deputy Superintendent Jaye Warry and Lieutenant William Sharp of the Lynn Police Department.

The police describe that the “school was entered and extensively vandalized,” Superintendent Warry, who has worked in the Lynn school system for 25 years, said this break in was “up there on the extent of damage.” She went on to say that the vandalism affected most of the two-story building and that the principal’s office was destroyed.
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Big happenings in the Boston area! A police investigation into a robbery with a gun! What could be more exciting than a big SWAT team operation? The Bad Guys are usually cornered and lives hang in the balance as the Good Guys take control and take whatever Bad Guys still exist after the stand-off into custody.

Such was the scene at Fenwood Road in Mission Hill yesterday.

Well, almost.

It was a tense four hours last night as the investigating Boston Police Department special operations team and dozens of police units surrounded the apartment at issue.

The targets?

Armed robbery suspects! Pretty serious stuff!
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Now, given my sardonic view on things, it would not surprise you to check out this once-again daily blog one day to find me describing a scene wherein somebody was speeding down the road and, having run down an innocent pedestrian, got out of his car and started pulling on the semi-flattened gentleman, begging him to get up.

Perhaps, I might even compare the driver in such a situation to a child who, after having committed some damage, asks for a “Do-over”.

Of course, you would expect that, by the time the blog was over, you would have heard about the driver being arrested for a myriad of charges, not to mention some kind of vehicular homicide.

Well, guess what?

Such an occurrence actually happened last week…with one twist.

The driver was a police officer.
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Ok, here is the scene. You are visiting your old pal Donny Dealer in Boston. You, being a good ol’ “party animal”, brought a bit of marihuana so you guys can party.

Donny was only too happy to party with you.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to you, there has been an investigation going on regarding Donny and a his other friends, Mickey Mule and Greg Grower. Apparently, the investigators have the crazy notion that Donny is involved in the drug trade.

And so it is that, midway through smoking your first joint, there is suddenly a lot of noise and commotion and you suddenly find yourself lying face down on the floor with police officers saying something about a search warrant.

The officers search the apartment.

Guess what?

They find a plethora of drugs, including cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. Apparently, Donny did not need you to bring your own hard-earned pot after all.
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A Canadian teenager accused of sexually assaulting a boarding room classmate during a 2007 class trip to Boston has pleaded guilty to one count of Massachusetts assault and battery. Armin Ruzbie, 19, was one of four 11th grade students accused of entering the hotel room of the male victim, then 16, at the Midtown Hotel on November 16, 2007.

According to prosecutors, Ruzbie pulled down the boy’s pants and touched him inappropriately while someone else, who is now a codefendant, held him down. Ruzbie then called the boy’s room afterward claiming the incident was a joke. Another student had recorded the incident on video. While the codefendant faces the same Boston assault charges, the other two students were not charged.

Ruzbie has expressed remorse over his actions and says that he has tried hard to become a better person. After entering his guilty plea, he was sentenced to four years probation. He must also undergo evaluation for possible bullying and sex offender treatment. He is not allowed to go near the victim and his family, who are suing him in a civil lawsuit in Canada.

Although Ruzbie did not enter a plea for the charge of Boston indecent assault and battery, he was sentenced to pretrial probation for the crime. This means that if he gets in trouble again, prosecutors could decide to try him for this crime, which comes with a maximum five years in state prison for a conviction.

If your son or daughter has been charged with a Massachusetts crime, it is important that you work with a Boston criminal defense law firm that will know how to fight to obtain the best outcome possible for the case. Conviction for a crime can impact the rest of your son or daughter’s life. You must have a team that can advocate on his/her behalf.

Teen enters guilty plea in assault on student, Boston.com, August 5, 2010
Bully laments role in ‘sick’ sexual assault, Boston Herald, August 5, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Crimes Against the Person, The General Laws of Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Court System
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The news to which we have referred a couple of times this week has remained in the news all week. Namely, Phillip Markoff, the alleged Craigslist Killer, apparently took his own life at the Nashua Street Jail in Boston. His attorney has expressed surprise and sadness and the local D.A. has proclaimed it to be consciousness of guilt.

Typical, right?

Well, there is an existing irony. When Markoff was arrested for his alleged crimes, our law enforcement leaders and politicians (both in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to name a few) seemed to proclaim the killing to be the fault of Craigslist and the professionals involved in the occupation of prostitution.

It was almost as if Mr. Markoff was secondary in the whole robbery and murder events.

Well, now that he has apparently committed suicide, people seem to, once again, be laying the blame for his actions on someone else.

This time, it is the fault of Nashua Street Jail.
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