Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

January 26, 2009

Youtube Video And Victim’s Appearence Help Defendant And His Lawyer To Decide Against Boston-Area Trial

Last March, Pittsfield Police encountered a scene which one might expect in the city of Boston, but not way out in Pittsfield. But crime does not really respect such boundaries. In this case, law enforcement met unsuccessful shooter, Sammy S., 30, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). The resulting charges? Attempted Murder. Last Wednesday, standing beside his attorney, the Defendant pleaded guilty rather than face what would have been a fairly interesting trial.

The change in defense strategy could have been encouraged by the fact that the reluctant complainant actually did show up to testify and that his testimony was going to be supported by an amateur video taken shortly after the shooting.

You see, the Defendant’s target, (hereinafter, the “Victim”) is still alive because the Defendant, who shot him multiple times at close range, failed to properly chamber a round when he took aim at the Victim’ head, according to a veteran Pittsfield police detective. Thus, when the Defendant actually put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger…nothing happened.

“[The Defendant] didn’t jack the round,” police say, applying the common parlance used to describe the process of firing a handgun. The Defendant allegedly then corrected the problem, but “the moment” had been lost. He proceeded to fire four shots at the Victim, but hit him in the torso and elbow. The Victim survived. The Defendant ended up arrested.

For some reason, though, the Victim initially refused to testify against the Defendant, which greatly frustrated police. However, they eventually persuaded him to cooperate, although the police still describe him as “reluctant” .

The shooting became a brief Internet sensation when a video of it surfaced on www.Youtube.com – the popular online video site – showing the wounded and bleeding victim being driven to the hospital by friends.
Continue reading

January 23, 2009

Defense Lawyer Plans “Vigorous Defense” In Murder, Rape, Assault And Hatred Case Just Outside Of Boston

by Altman & Altman

Today’s daily blog is actually a follow-up to yesterday’s blog, entitled, “Homicides, Assaults, Rape And Carnage In Shooting Spree One Hour South Of Boston “. Yesterday, I told you about the events which were reported in the streets of Brockton earlier in the week, made a few brief predictions and expressed sympathy for the accused’s attorney in any attempt to argue for his client’s release.

Of course, in this case, it did not take a legal expert of 25 years to predict that the gentelman was not likely to be going home any time soon.

Briefly, 22-year-old Kieth L (hereinafter, the Defendant”), is alleged to have gone on a rampage which included raping and shooting one woman, killing her sister, killing a local homeless man, leading the police on a chase, shooting at the police and then ending the chase by crashing into some cars.

He was arraigned at Brockton District Court yesterday, during which additional facts came to light. One of these items is the statement of the Defendant as to his motivations. It sort of reads like an odd type of “self-defense” argument which is unlikely to be successful in court.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant had told the police that he had hatched “an evil plan of mass murder and rape targeting victims he identified as non-white.” During the police interview, the Defendant allegedly said that he was fighting for a dying race” and that he was “fighting extinction,” according to a police report filed in court. He is also said to have admitted having stockpiled 200 rounds of ammunition to kill blacks, Hispanics and Jews.

The 18-page report by Brockton and state police described the Defendant as an obese, white man who lived with his mother and frequently surfed through racial propaganda on the Internet. ” [The Defendant] told us that people on these sites spoke the truth about the demise of the white race,” investigators wrote.

According to the chilling police report, the Defendant intended to end his bloody rampage at 6:30 p.m. at a synagogue near his Pleasant Street home, where Jewish people would be gathering for a bingo night. Then, he allegedly told police, he planned to shoot himself in the head.
Continue reading

January 22, 2009

Homicides, Assaults, Rape And Carnage In Shooting Spree One Hour South Of Boston

by Altman & Altman

Kieth L, 22, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), described by the Boston Herald as a “mama’s boy” is in big trouble today. He is scheduled to stand before a judge in Brockton Court. At this very moment, his attorney is wondering what he can say to get his client out on bail.

He may as well not even try. His client is not going anywhere.

The Defendant is charged with the most serious of charges, stemming out of an extremely violent scene in Brockton yesterday. He is alleged to have been raping a handcuffed Cape Verdean woman when the woman’s sister walked in. He is said to have shot the “intruder” to death and shooting the rape victim several times as she ran for help.

An elderly homeless man who may have witnessed the carnage in the middle of Clinton Street was also gunned down,, while two hero Brockton cops who captured the rampaging gunman cheated death by inches
A neighbor who lives across the street from the sisters said the surviving sibling still had handcuffs dangling from one wrist when he ran outside to assist them after hearing gunshots.
“I looked outside and saw one of the girls running, blood all over her,” he said. “I grabbed her and sat her down and told her to hang on while I ran to her sister, who I could see a distance away. But I could see her sister was already dead.”
Continue reading

January 22, 2009

Appeals Court Delays Director Roman Polanski’s Hearing on Whether to Dismiss 1978 Child Rape Case Against Him

by Altman & Altman

An appeals court has issued a stay on proceedings to determine whether to dismiss Academy Award-winning film director Roman Polanski’s bid to have a 31-year-old sex with a minor case dismissed. The 75-year-old filmmaker’s criminal defense team claims there is new, uncontested evidence of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct that deprived the 75-year-old filmmaker of his statutory and constitutional rights.

The exiled movie directed pleaded guilty in 1978 to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old female at the house of Academy Award winning movie star Jack Nicholson. Polanski was sentenced to 3-months at a psychiatric center. After about a month and a half at the facility, he was released. When it appeared that he would receive additional sentencing, Polanski left the United States and hasn’t returned since.

The movie director is now seeking to have the case dismissed after a 2008 documentary, “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired,” brought some of these new allegations against the judge and prosecutors to light. Now, the director’s criminal defense team wants the child rape case moved out of Los Angeles.

Polanski’s then-teenaged victim, Samantha Geimer, is now 45. She has asked that the case against the director be dismissed. She says she doesn’t want to be further traumatized by having the details of the child rape case repeatedly rehashed. She also believes prosecutors are trying to take the focus away from their alleged wrongdoings in the case. Although prosecutors want Polanski to return to the US to be present for the proceedings, there is a warrant for his arrest if he does appear in court.

Polanski wins a stay on hearing in child-sex case, Los Angeles Times, January 21, 2009
Rape victim urges prosecutor drop charges against Polanski, AFP, January 13, 2009

Related Web Resources:

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, HBO.com
Roman Polanski Media Reports Archive, The Zero.com Continue reading

January 21, 2009

Unusual Drug Bust Outside Of Boston No Laughing Matter

by Altman & Altman

It was not downtown Boston, but downtown Northampton that hosted a concert featuring a jam band known as the Disco Biscuits, resulting in fourteen arrests. The somewhat unusual scene apparently led suspects laughing all the way to meeting their attorneys at Northhampton District Court where they were advised of their charges.

The nature of the charges? Drugs and juvenile in possession of alcohol.

But there was a twist in this one.

Perhaps inspired by the noteworthy performance of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker in 2008’s blockbuster film “The Dark Knight”, some of those arrested were in possession of tanks containing nitrous oxide.

You may have heard of it as “laughing gas”.

Police found that the suspects had set up metal cylinders of nitrous oxide in various locations, including one police discovered in alley off King Street right next to the theater. They were selling balloons filled with the gas for $5 apiece, Police Capt. Kenneth A. Patenaude said.

About a half-hour later, a crowd of 40 to 50 youths led police to discover another tank set up in the alley next to Florence Savings Bank on Pleasant Street. Yet another of the tanks was confiscated Saturday night from a room at the Quality Inn after a disturbance was reported there, according to Patenaude.
Continue reading

January 20, 2009

Boston Arrest For Sexual Assault On “T” Train

by Altman & Altman

When I returned to Boston as a defense attorney from New York, where I had been on the other side of the aisle, I discovered a few differences between daily in Beantown and the Apple. One of these was the subway experience. While in New York, the experience could be compared to an excursion through the land of “Wearehostileville”, The “T” was much more calm…much more safe.

Well, that may be changing a bit. For example, this past Friday, a Beverly man was arrested after he allegedly groped a plainclothes Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Transit Police detective on a train. As www.universalhub.com/mbta, a site dedicated to The MBTA, puts it, “a plainclothes transit detective put the pinch on a Beverly man after he allegedly put the moves on her on the Blue Line this morning, the MBTA says.”

Jeffrey N., 51, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”), was charged with indecent assault and battery for the rush-hour incident in East Boston around 8:45 a.m. by the transit police’s Anti-Groping Unit at State Street Station. He is scheduled to be arraigned today in Boston Municipal Court, according to MBTA officials

According to T spokesman Joe Pesaturo, the Transit Police Anti-Groping Unit had been monitoring the Blue Line after a passenger complained about groping. Following the highly-publicized April 2008 launch of an anti-sexual harassment campaign, reported incidents of people being indecently assaulted rose from 44 in 2007 to 69 last year, according to the MBTA.
Continue reading

January 16, 2009

Boston Shooting Defendants’ Attorneys Are Successful At Getting Lower Sentences And The Fury Of The Police Department

by Altman & Altman

It began in early January, 2008, when three Boston men were brought to court, introduced to defense lawyers and advised of charges against them. The charges included shooting at a Brockton police officer during a chase from Brockton into Quincy.

As is usually the case, the police had won the chase and Salomao T. (hereinafter, “Defendant 1”), Faustino R. (hereinafter, “Defendant 2”) and Antonio D. (hereinafter, “Defendant 3”) were arrested.

They faced charges including possession of a weapon, assault and the like for the high speed chase and shooting.

The law enforcement community was so happy, the following was posted on January 6, 2008, about the incident at www.masscops.com:

Re: Police Chase out of Brockton, Shots Fired
________________________________________ The short version is the BPD were chasing shooting suspects in a car that fled all the way to Quincy. The bad guys are believed to have shot a few times at the cops as they were being chased. A BPD officer returned fire through his windshield (passenger officer of 2 man cruiser). A couple of cruisers crashed and so did the bad guys. 3 suspects in custody with a gun recovered.

Great Job by all involved!!!!!!!

Well, now a year later, the police are not so thrilled. Neither is the prosecutor. Who are they upset with?

Why, the judge, of course.
Continue reading

January 16, 2009

In Two Separate Massachusetts Child Abuse Cases, Babysitters Sought for Allegedly Harming Two 4-Month-Old Infants

by Altman & Altman

Police in Norwood are searching for woman they say is a suspect in a Massachusetts child abuse case involving an infant. The 4-month-baby sustained a damaged rib, a fractured skull, and three broken vertebrae from the alleged incident. Now, law enforcement offices have put out a warrant of arrest for the baby’s babysitter, Sueli Soares. She is charged with assault and battery causing substantial injury to a child.

The 34-year-old woman was babysitting the baby on December 30 when she contacted 911. Soares told them that the baby started choking while she was feeding him and then fell unconscious. Doctors who examined the baby say they believe he was abused and that his injuries are signs that he may have been shaken violently.

Police say that after the alleged incident, Soares and her husband disappeared. They believe she might be an illegal immigrant. Soares had been working as the boy’s babysitter since November.

In an unrelated incident, Quincy police have issued their arrest warrant for babysitter Rabab Ghazal. The 39-year-old woman is accused of shaking another 4-month-old boy so violently on December 23 that he was hospitalized. The baby is still unconscious and in the ICU. Authorities interviewed Ghazal and the baby’s relatives. The latter were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Shaken Baby Syndrome
The act of violently shaking a baby can cause serious injury to the infant. Traumatic brain injury and head trauma are two of the injuries that can result. According to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, some 1,400 babies are injured or killed every year because their were shaken vigorously by a parent or another caregiver.

Child abuse is considered a very serious criminal offense in Massachusetts. Anyone arrested or charged with child abuse is entitled to legal representation by an experienced criminal defense lawyer.

Police seek caregivers accused of injuries, Boston.com, January 15, 2009
Norwood police seek babysitter in child abuse case, Boston Herald, January 14, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Massachusetts Law About Child Abuse and Neglect, Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries Continue reading

January 15, 2009

Boston Appeals Court Finds Defense Lawyer in Drive-By Shooting Case Ineffective

by Altman & Altman

On Tuesday, the state Appeals Court, located in Boston, granted Adam N. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”)’s appeal and Ordered that he receive a hearing in a drive-by shooting case in which he had been convicted in 2004. The basis of the ruling was that he had been deprived of a fair trial because his attorney was “ineffective”.

The Appeals Court sent the case back to Hampden Superior Court for the hearing. The Defendant’s appellate attorney said she is pleased with the Appeals Court ruling, although she would have preferred an order for a new trial without the hearing.

The case stems from December 20, 2002, when the Defendant is said to have participated in a drive-by shooting of two individuals, Akers and Cope, in downtown Springfield. According to the Court:

“The traffic light turned green. As Akers pulled away from the stop, he and the passenger in the other vehicle simultaneously rolled down their windows. At the same time, Akers reached to his right for the volume control on his car radio, in order to turn it down. He then heard gun shots. Akers saw the face of the front passenger and saw a flash coming from what he thought was a gun in the passenger’s hand; Cope saw flashes, but did not see the passenger’s face. The exchange lasted a few seconds. Both Akers and Cope were struck by bullets in their legs.”

The police were given the description of “three light-skinned black males, all very young looking.” The witnesses were also able to describe the vehicle as “a dark colored car, possibly a Nissan or Honda, with tinted windows”. Later, in the hospital, the shooting victims discussed their recollections and one stated that the shooter “looked like a [Defendant’s last name] that he went to school with that was younger.”
Continue reading

January 14, 2009

Murder Trial Finally Begins After North Of Boston Lawyer And Doctors Examine Client And Her Statements

by Altman & Altman

As a defense lawyer, one occasionally handles cases that seemingly will not end. Through my years in Boston and environs, I have had more than my share.

This case was probably regarded as one of those cases.

62- year-old Kathleen H. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is finally going to trial. She is charged with setting a fire that killed five people ten years ago. The trial started this week in Lawrence Superior Court.

Prosecutors say that she set a fire at a Lynn home where her son’s ex-girlfriend lived because she wouldn’t let him see his two kids. The ex-girlfriend and the Defendant’s grandchildren survived, but members of another family that lived in the same building died. The deaths included Heriberto Feliciano, 34, his wife, Sonia Hernandez, 32; their daughters, Sonia, 12, and Maria, 13; and their niece, Glorimar Santiago,11, who was sleeping over. All died from smoke inhalation.

The Defendant is charged with five counts of second-degree murder as well as a single count of arson.

She has been held in jail for a decade while her lawyer fought to keep the jury from hearing an alleged confession she made after the February. 24, 1999, blaze, as well as to determine her competency to stand trial.
Continue reading