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This week, the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has focused on what so many in Massachusetts and beyond have been talking about. The topic is “bullying”. It is a somewhat vague term that schools and summer camps have endured since we decided to group kids together in one place.

For some reason, though, we do not care about summer camps for now, so we continue to simply focus on schools because that was the setting of the recent suicide.

Some other states are actually looking at us in wonder. They are wondering why it has taken us so long to “catch up”. You see, some other states already have laws banning bullying. By the way, some other states still have laws on the books banning “copulation” too.

I kind of like to look at Massachusetts as a Commonwealth that does not need to mindlessly follow the lead of other jurisdictions though. After all, we were the first state to legalize gay marriage. We have recently realized that having a small amount of marijuana for personal use is not necessarily a threat to humanity (although for someone to have given it to someone for their personal use is…but that is a different topic).

The point is that we, as an independent state, can think for ourselves. What I am trying to urge with this is topic is that we do actually think. Not simply act by knee-jerk and not make decisions based on publicity or political goals.

Nine kids are already indicted. Unless there is a dismissal, they are most likely already done. Once they are arraigned, their record is marked and will be for many years. I’ve kicked that dead pony enough this week. Let’s just make one last point on it before we move on to the legislature’s attempts to curtail bullying.
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People are furious in and out of Massachusetts. The people of Ireland are angry at South Hadley, Massachusetts. The people of South Hadley are “enraged” at South Hadley High School. District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, daring da from Western Massachusetts, is angry at nine kids. Oh yeah, speaking of the 9 kids who get to have their lives ruined next Tuesday…I wonder who they are made at. Maybe their attorneys will tell us during the arraignment.

You see, something that I pointed out in the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog yesterday has begun to dawn the local populace. The daring da’s annulment of criminal culpability and earlier admissions aside, it turns out that staff members at the school did know that the late Phoebe Prince was the target of harassment long before her death.

And so, not missing a beat, residents and public officials have been begun to angrily accuse the school system of neglecting vulnerable students and have called on top administrators to resign. “Now we find out they knew all along, and did nothing,” said Joe Marois, who runs a local construction company. “People are just bewildered they didn’t step in, and are wondering why they weren’t included with the students in the prosecution.”

Is the next step a superseding criminal indictment by the daring da? Perhaps the legislature will begin work on a new ANTI-TURNING-YOUR BACK WHEN PEOPLE IN YOUR CHARGE ARE BEING HARASSED bill.!
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A judge has ruled that 12-year-old Jordan Brown will be tried as an adult for the first-degree murder of his dad’s pregnant fiancé. If convicted, he would be the youngest American to serve a lifetime in prison without parole.

Jordan is accused of using a .20-gauge shotgun to kill Kenzie Houk, who was 9-months pregnant in February 2009. She was sleeping when he shot her. Her unborn baby also did not survive the shooting.

Judge Dominick Motto called the incident an “execution-style killing.” He says his decision is based on the boy’s refusal to accept responsibility for what he did.

Jordan’s lawyers had requested that the murder case be moved to juvenile court. A psychologist for the defense had testified that the child was at “low-risk” for committing future violent acts.

Prosecutors say that Jordan killed his soon-to-be stepmother because he didn’t like the fact that he was asked to move out of his bedroom. His unborn half-brother was going to be named after his father.

Jordan’s murder trial could begin in May. The 12-year-old’s criminal defense lawyers are trying to decide whether to ask the judge to let them take the case to the state Supreme Court.

In Massachusetts, persons as young as 14 can be sentenced life in prison without parole if convicted for murder. In September 2009, up to 57 people that were also first-time offenders were serving these mandatory sentences in the state’s prisons.

If your child has been charged with a crime, an experienced Boston juvenile crimes lawyer can fight to take the case to juvenile court where the penalties are less harsh. Human Rights Watch says that sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole is cruel and unfair. According scientific research, there are difference between adult and adolescent brains that explain why many teens often don’t comprehend the consequences of their actions.

Juvenile life-without-parole sentence too harsh, reports says, Boston.com, September 30, 2009
12-year-old boy to be tried as adult, UPI, March 30, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Juvenile Court Department, The Massachusetts Court System
The General Laws of Massachusetts
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After writing yesterday’s Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog, I went back to my daily business of practicing law. Then, I took a look at some of the latest news and commentaries regarding the indictments about which we “spoke” yesterday as well as the pending legislation regarding bullying.

I started with Boston.com, were I found the positive spin that, “So, finally, an adult in authority in South Hadley stepped up for Phoebe Prince.” This was, of course, applauding District Attorney Betsy Scheibel who has indicted nine youths who apparently bullied the late Phoebe Prince, 15. Ms. Prince tragically took her own life, presumably because of said bullying.

Part of the prosecutor’s stated rationale was that the bullying went far beyond typical bullying that we have seen amongst school peers since the invention of schools. Of course, yesterday, when we looked at the examples she listed…they did not seem to be very new at all.

Unspoken, of course, was any political ambitions the da might have, given that her office is a political one.

I remind you that this had already become a hot issue and one that is being kicked around by the legislature in the way of anti-bullying legislation.
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The death of Phoebe Prince, 15, the South Hadley teenager who allegedly took her own life in response to a barrage of bullying (hereinafter, the “Deceased”) is looming over Massachusetts criminal justice. It has inspired new lawmaking in the legislature and, yesterday, hit the criminal justice system hard.

Indicted felonies for 9 teenagers hard!

The charges include statutory rape, violation of civil rights, criminal harassment, and disturbing a school assembly. Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel announced the charges today.

“Their conduct far exceeded the limits of normal teenage relationship-related quarrels,” Scheibel said of the nine teens, the oldest of whom is 18 years old.

Really? Let’s look into that.

You have probably heard about this story with a different allegation involved…bullying.
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In Massachusetts, nine teenagers have been charged in connection with the death of Phoebe Prince. The 15-year-old was found hanging in her bedroom last January.

The teenagers are accused of stalking, harassment, and bullying Prince at South Hadley High School and on Facebook. Among those charged:

• 17-year-old Sean Mulveyhill from South Hadley is charged with criminal harassment, statutory rape, violation of civil rights, and disturbance of a school assembly.

• 17-year-old South Hadley teen Kayla Narey is charged with criminal harassment, civil rights violations, and disturbance of a school assembly.

• 18-year-old Austin Renaud from Springfield is charged with statutory rape.

• 16-year-old South Hadley resident teen Flannery Mullins is charged with stalking as a youthful offender and civil rights violations as a youthful offender.

• 16-year-old Ashley Longe, of South Handley, is charged with violation of civil rights as a youthful offender.

• 16-year-old Sharon Chanon Velazquez, of South Hadley, is charged with stalking as a youthful offender and civil rights violations as a youthful offender.

Three female juveniles, all South Hadley residents, have been charged with juvenile crimes, which include criminal harassment, civil rights violations, disturbance of a school assembly, and assault by means of a dangerous weapon.

Prince had moved to South Hadley from Ireland. According to Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, one of the alleged bullying incidents occurred in front of a school staffer and other students, but no one reported what happened.

Bullying as a Crime
Many teenagers and younger children don’t realize when they’ve crossed the line that turns “merely picking on another kid” into a Massachusetts crime.

If your son or daughter has been charged with committing any crime, you should contact a Boston criminal defense lawyer to discuss your case.

9 charged in death of South Hadley teen, who took life after bullying, Boston.com, March 29, 2010
Phoebe Prince, South Hadley High School’s ‘new girl,’ driven to suicide by teenage cyber bullies, New York Daily News, March 29, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts Law About Bullying and Cyberbullying, Massachusetts Trial Court Libraries
Juvenile Crime in Massachusetts, Mass.gov Continue reading

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The Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog has often warned you that you want to have an experienced criminal defense attorney advise and, if necessary, defend you if you find yourself to be a target or a criminal defendant. I have given you many reasons for this. Today’s story reveals one more.

Sometimes, the law, as applied by the courts, is wrong. This is the stuff about which appeals are made. So, in short, you want to have an attorney who not only knows what the law is…but what it should be.

Our case in point is a recent group of rulings by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. In the rulings, at least eight Plymouth County cases were overturned pursuant to the United States. Supreme Court ruling last summer that it wasn’t enough to use lab analysis paperwork as evidence – the chemists and ballistics experts (in gun cases) who did the tests have to testify, too.

Two Friday rulings by the state Supreme Judicial Court may open the door for even more of those cases to be appealed, said Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz. The rulings held that even if the defense attorney didn’t formally object to the paperwork as evidence or questioned whether the items tested were drugs, the case can still be tossed out.
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Yesterday, a Plymouth County jury found Michael Riley, the 37-year-old dad of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley, guilty of her first-degree murder. He is sentenced to life in prison without parole. Per Massachusetts law, the verdict is going to be automatically appealed.

Michael and his wife Carolyn are accused of using psychotropic medication to control their three children. Carolyn, 35, was also charged with first-degree murder, but last month, a jury convicted her of second-degree murder.

Prosecutors accused the Rileys of making up their kids’ behavioral problems. They accused the couple of sedating their children so that they could receive benefits designated for families with disabled kids.

Rebecca and her 11-year-old and six-year-old siblings had all been diagnosed with hyperactivity and bipolar disorders. Tufts Medical Center doctor Kayoko Kifuji was the one who prescribed the strong psychiatric drugs to treat their conditions.

Rebecca had been on the drugs since she was 2. She died on December 13, 2006 from a medication overdose.

During Michael’s Plymouth County criminal trial, the South Shore dad was portrayed as a bully who was verbally and physically abusive. Prosecutors said that he would order his wife to sedate the children when he wanted them to be quiet.

However, at their respective criminal trials, the Rileys portrayed themselves as following Dr. Kifuji’s medical instructions. They blamed pneumonia, and not the medication, as the cause of Rebecca’s death. Also, Michael’s criminal defense lawyer said that his client is suffering from bipolar disorder and his only involvement with the drugs included driving the kids to doctor appointments and submitting Social Security disability benefits for his family.

Father guilty in girl’s fatal drugging, Boston.com, March 27, 2010
GUILTY: Michael Riley gets life without parole for killing 4-year-old daughter, Wicked Local, March 27, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Timeline: Rebecca Riley Murder Case, MyFox Boston
VIDEO: Riley guilty of second-degree murder in death of 4-year-old daughter, Patriot Ledger, February 9, 2010 Continue reading

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One moment. One very bad moment following a very bad decision. Boston criminal defense attorneys see it every day.

That’s all it takes to ruin, or even end, innocent lives….as well as guilty ones.

It is a lesson that we witness played out on the Commonwealth streets this past Monday. Now, here are two similar stories to show it is a lesson that is still being learned quite late.

Let’s take the case of Jonathan C. , 19, of Saugus (hereinafter, “Defendant1”) for example.

Defendant 1 spent a very painful day in Lynn District Court this past week. He is now spending time in Commonwealth housing.

Defendant 1 pleaded guilty in a vehicular homicide matter which had caused the death of one woman and severely injured another. In open court, he apologized to the family on the other side of the tragedy, explaining, “There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of it.”
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Some people just can’t keep out of trouble. Allegedly. There are studies, performed both in and out of Massachusetts, that say that there are indicators of some people’s future behavior. For example, some studies indicate that someone who starts out in life torturing and killing animals end up killing people. Allegedly. We lawyers call such people “repeat customers”.

Allegedly.

Anyway, let’s chat about Luigi E., 26, of East Boston (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). He’s in trouble again.

You see, back in 2008, he got into alittle trouble. He was accused of killing a cat named “Nunu”, setting its corpse on fire, and throwing it out a window. The convictions received for that little episode were for arson and malicious killing of a domestic animal.

“Hey, Sam! Allegedly, right?”

Well, I guess so. Of course, he apparently confessed to detectives that he had stomped Nunu to death, set it on fire, and tossed its remains through the window of a Princeton Street apartment building.
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