by

44-year-old Stevie Walker is on Trial in Suffolk Superior Court for the November 4, 2005 stabbing murder of Galina Kotik, a 65-year-old Russian grandmother, inside her Fenway apartment building in Boston.

Walker had been smoking crack cocaine for up to 24 hours before he went to Kotik’s building to visit an acquaintance and figure out a plan to rob her so he could get more drugs.

A witness for the prosecution testified on Tuesday about how Kotik’s dying cries could be heard. Valentina Tsodikovich says she saw a man with blood on his clothes flee the murder scene.

Kotik was a nursing assistant. Prosecutors say that she pulled out one of the Walker’s dreadlocks and scratched his face during the attack. They say that Walker smashed in the elderly woman’s head with an ashtray and stabbed her nearly two dozen times.

Walker’s defense attorney admits that his client did kill Kotik. However, he is asking the jury to consider convicting Walker of a lesser charge than first-degree murder.

Walker has a personality disorder and does not remember killing Kotik. After the attack, he fled to a parking garage in the area and got trapped in a storage closet for approximately 40 hours. He escaped through a window and went to a police station where he fell asleep. He was arrested there.

Defense acknowledges violence of killer, Boston.com, December 11, 2007
Gruesome testimony in trial of man charged with murder of elderly woman, Boston Herald.com, December 11, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts General Laws

Legal Definition of First-Degree Murder, Lectlaw.com Continue reading

by

The FBI says that the number of hate crimes committed in the United States grew by almost 8%, with racism being the reason for more than 50% of the incidents.

In 2006, police in the US reported 7,722 crimes occurred because of prejudice against someone due to their sexual orientation, race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, or disability. There were 7,163 hate crimes reported the year prior.

12,600 out of over 17,000 federal, state, county, and local police agencies provided information to the FBI study.

Here is a breakdown of the different hate crimes included in the report:

• 5,549 of the hate crime incidents targeted individuals • 38 was aimed at society in general • 3,593 incidents involved the destruction of property • 2,911 incidents involved vandalism or property damage • 2,046 offenses involved intimidation • 1,447 simple assaults • 860 aggravated assaults
• 41 arsons • 3 murders • 6 rapes • More than half the 7,330 offenders were Caucasian • 20% of them were Black • 12.9% were of other origins • 31% of the hate crime incidents took place near homes • 18% took place on streets • 12% at schools • 6.1% in parking areas • 3.9% in churches, temples, or synagogues
Hate crimes in Massachusetts are considered serious crimes with fines and prison time if a person is convicted. A hate crime involving assault or battery upon a property or person can result in a fine of up to 5,000 and up to 2.5 years in a house of correction.

A person convicted of a hate crime that causes bodily injury to the victim in Massachusetts can end up paying a fine as high as $10,000 and spending up to 10 years in prison.

FBI: Hate crimes jump nearly 8 percent, CNN.com, November 19, 2007
Chapter 265. Crimes Against the Person, Mass.gov
Information on Charging Hate Crimes Under Massachusetts Law, Mass.doe.mass.edu

Related Web Resources:

Hatecrime.org

Hate Crime, FBI Continue reading

by

Mychal Bell, the 17-year-old accused of hitting a white classmate in the famous “Jena Six” case pled guilty yesterday to assaulting Justin Barker. Bell and five other black teenagers were charged with attempted murder for beating Barker last December.

Bell had initially been convicted as an adult by an all-white jury and sentenced to 21 years in prison. At the time the assault occurred, he was 16-years-old. In Louisiana, the legal adult age is 17.

Bell’s conviction caused some 20,000 people to protest in Jenna, Louisiana and was overturned by an appeals court. Although released in September, he violated his probation in October and was sent to a juvenile facility.

As part of the plea agreement, conspiracy charges were dropped against Bell. The charges were reduced from aggravated battery to second-degree battery.

Bell has already spent one year in jail. If his case had gone to trial on Thursday, he would have had to stay at a juvenile facility until he turned 21. Instead, Bell will be sent to a group home and could return to public school as early as next week. He also must pay for Barker’s medical bills and $935 in court expenses.

The Jenna 6 Case and conviction sparked a huge racial debate as to whether black suspects are treated more harshly under the law. Prior to the assault on Barker, three white teenagers hung nooses on a tree after black teenagers got permission to sit under the tree. No federal charges were pressed against the white teens, although the incident was not unlike a hate crime.

Three months later, six teenagers–Mychal Bell, Robert Bailey Jr., Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Theo Shaw and Jesse Ray Bear were arrested for allegedly beating Barker. They were charged with second-degree murder.

Recent studies show that prosecuting juveniles as adults tends to harm them more than help them and that these juveniles were more likely to commit crimes again. In the United States, about 200,000 defendants younger than 18 are dealt with through the adult criminal court system because of their offense or their age.

“Jena 6” Teen Admits Fault in Plea Deal, USA Today, December 3, 2007
Prosecuting kids as adults: Some states ponder changes, USA Today, December 1, 2007
Related Web Resources:

The Case of the Jena Six: Black High School Students Charged with Attempted Murder for Schoolyard Fight After Nooses Are Hung from Tree, Democracy Now!, July 10, 2007
Juvenile Court Dept., Mass.gov Continue reading

by

Lower Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fishman has cleared Ki Yong O, an Andover, Massachusetts resident, of motor vehicle homicide charges because taking the prescription drug may have caused him to engage in sleep-driving when he struck and killed a 43-year-old Methuen men last year.

In June 2006, O struck and killed Anthony Raucci, who was changing a tire on his car while his wife and son sat nearby on Interstate 93 in Tewskbury. Raucci’s wife and son witnessed the fatal crash. O had taken Ambien before getting behind the wheel of his car. He said he doesn’t remember striking Raucci.

Witnesses say they saw O driving erratically down Interstate 93 when his car struck Raucci, who died immediately. Although prosecutors argued that O knew he took Ambien and drove his car anyway, O’s defense team claimed that sleep-driving is a rare side effect of taking Ambien.

Judge Fishman says that he didn’t think O knew that sleep-driving was a potential side effect of taking Ambien and he therefore could not reach the conclusion that O committed voluntary motor vehicle homicide. O was also found not guilty of leaving the scene or committing property damage.

Not long after the fatal accident occurred, the Food and Drug Administration issued an order that the label on Ambien be changed to include its potential side effects. Ambien is used to treat insomnia.

Sleep-Driving
Somnambulism is the term given to complex activities that can occur while a person is sleeping. A person can be asleep and still drive, have sex, cook, and eat food. Upon waking up, a person who was sleep-driving will have no recollection of engaging in any of these activities.

Lawyer who took sleeping pill cleared of vehicle homicide, Eagle Tribune, December 1, 2007
Judge clears ‘sleep driving’ Andover man of motor vehicle homicide, Boston Herald, December 1, 2007
Related Web Resources:

Sleep-Driving

Ambien CR
Continue reading

by

Statistics show that domestic violence-related murders are increasing in Massachusetts. As of October this year, there were 37 reported killings involving domestic violence. Last year, the total figure was 31 domestic murders. There were 15 domestic slayings that were reported in 2005.

The number of domestic killings for this year is still rising. On Monday, a 60-year-old Milford woman died after being stabbed to death by her husband. Joseph H. Ventola Jr, 63, who admitted the murder to a 911 operator. Joseph and Esther were married for 18 years. At his arraignment on Monday, Ventola, who has a history of depression, pleaded not guilty.

In another recent case, 30-year-old Millbury resident Justin Hiser pleaded not guilty to the stabbing murder of his ex-girlfriend Ronda Healey outside the T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant in Millbury where she worked as a waitress.

Hiser made an unprompted confession to Westborough police after a he was apprehended following a police chase in Southborough. Hiser had spent time in prison previously for assault with a dangerous weapon.

Healey and Hiser had previously lived together in Worcester. She leaves behind three children.

Toni Troop, the public relations director of Jane Do Inc., a company that keeps track of domestic violence murders, says that the increase in domestic violence-related deaths is a result of funding cuts that were made to national, state, and local domestic violence victims’ programs.

Domestic violence is a crime in every U.S. state and can involve verbal abuse, physical abuse, battery, sexual assault, stalking, and any other kinds of abusive behavior toward a relative or former spouse, partner, girlfriend, or boyfriend. Domestic violence is also called intimate partner violence (IPV).

Domestic slayings on the rise, Milford Daily News, November 28, 2007
Millbury waitress fatally stabbed; ex-boyfriend held, Boston.com, November 28, 2007
Suspect in Millbury stabbing made spontaneous confession, court documents say, Boston.com, November 28, 2007
Milford man charged with wife’s stabbing death, Boston.com, November 27, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Law About Domestic Violence, Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries
Jane Doe Inc.
Continue reading

by

In Massachusetts, US District Judge Nancy Gertner dismissed drug charges against Earl Dessesaure on the grounds that federal prosecutors conducted a sloppy investigation and a Boston police officer made fabricated statements about the case in court. Gertner called the prosecution “deeply flawed” and said allowing the case to advance would undermine justice.

In 2003, Boston and Quincy police started watching Dessesaure’s apartment in Quincy. They discovered white powder in garbage bags that he would place in a dumpster close to his apartment. Police did not test the white powder that they thought could be heroin.

On February 24, police officers followed Dessesaure and witnessed an exchange that they thought was a drug deal. They arrested Dessesaure and found six plastic bags of heroin in his rectum.

They then seized his keys and entered his residence without a search warrant. At his apartment, they found a gun, more white powder, and paraphernalia to distribute drugs. It was only then that they applied for and got a search warrant. Because police conducted their first search without a warrant, the majority of the evidence became inadmissible in court.

Also, Boston police Officer John Broderick Jr. lied in court when he said that Dessesaure yelled to a crowd during an arrest that someone “call my peeps.” Broderick claimed that the shout out was a code phrase to let someone know that any remaining evidence at his home needed to be destroyed.

Officer Broderick, however, was not at the scene of the arrest. A police officer that was at the scene could not verify Broderick’s claim. Boston Police investigators continue to stand by Broderick and his actions.

In 2004, Gertner ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence for police to conduct a warrantless search of Dessesaure’s apartment. Federal prosecutors appealed the decision and won. Gertner then determined that the Speedy Trial Act was violated when there was no further action.

Her dismissal of the case with prejudice means that prosecutors cannot refile any charges related to the case. Dessesaure has been held without bail for over four years and will likely stay there while prosecutors appeal.

This is the second time that Dessesaure has been set free because the Boston police conducted improper investigations. A Suffolk Superior Court Judge threw out evidence against him in 1998 after determining that another Boston police offer made up a story about an informant. 19 bags of crack cocaine confiscated from his car were thrown out as evidence.

US Judge Dismisses Charges in Drug Case, Boston.com, November 25, 2007
System to Stem Police Perjury Not Implemented, Boston.com, October 24, 2005

Related Web Resources:

Search Warrants: What They Are and When They’re Necessary

Speedy Trial Act of 1974
Continue reading

by

An FBI forensic test considered so faulty that the FBI no longer uses it may have caused juries to wrongfully convict hundreds of innocent people who are now serving prison time for crimes they did not commit.

The forensic test uses a science called bullet-lead analysis, which links bullets used to commit a crime to bullets belonging to the suspect. The theory is based on the premise that a batch of lead will always have a one-of-a-kind chemical makeup.

In 2004, the National Academy of Sciences determined that there were inconsistencies in the bullet manufacturing process that proved the science “unreliable and potentially misleading.” Decades worth of FBI testimony to jurors could well have been “misleading under federal rules of evidence.” There is therefore a good chance that faulty test results administered as evidence could have led to wrongful convictions.

The FBI stopped using this particular forensic test in 2005. The government, however, has held back from releasing the list of some 2,500 cases in which the analysis was used. Many of these cases involve homicide convictions.

“60 Minutes” and the Washington Post have identified over 12 cases in which a court either reversed the conviction or must now investigate whether innocent people were sent to prison.

The FBI says it will start notifying prosecutors of the possibility that people were wrongfully convicted. The two-to-four timeframe for appealing the convictions, however, is nearing an end.

Wrongful Convictions
123 people in the United States have been released from death row since 1973 after their convictions were overturned.

The Innocence Project, which has helped overturn about 100 death sentences with post-conviction evidence, cites some reasons that innocent people are wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit.

In a study involving 70 cases where guilty verdicts were overturned, the Innocence Project found that:

• More than 30 of these convictions were because of prosecutorial misconduct.
• More than 30 of these wrongful convictions involved police misconduct.
• False witness testimony affected the outcome of 15 cases.

FBI’s Forensic Test Full of Holes, Washington Post.com, November 18, 2007
Innocence and the Death Penalty

The Latest Statistics from the Innocence Project, Caught.net

Related Web Resources:

Innocence Project

Wrongful Murder Convictions in Massachusetts

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Continue reading

by

Police in Boston want parents to allow detectives to enter their children’s bedrooms without a warrant to look for guns. The new program, targeting high-crime areas and set to begin in a couple of weeks, is already raising questions in Massachusetts about civil liberties.

Police officers assigned to Boston area schools will go to the homes of teenagers they believe might be in possession of a firearm and ask the parents or legal guardian for consent to search the premise. If the parent or guardian refuses to grant permission, the police will leave the property.

Boston police claim that if a gun is discovered in the home, the teenager will not be charged with unlawful gun possession unless the weapon connected to a homicide or shooting.

The success of the program depends on the willingness of parents to participate. Police are hoping that parents, worried that their kids will get swept up in gun violence, will allow them to conduct the searches.

Critics of the program cited concerns that some parents and guardians will be too intimidated by the presence of police officers to refuse to agree to a search. Other critics commented on how the program conflicts with the US Constitution’s 4th Amendment, which forbids searches and seizures without a warrant. Still other expressed concerns that parents could unintentionally implicate: children if drugs or other illegal items were found in their bedrooms.

The 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Unless police are in hot pursuit of a suspect, they must have probable cause and a search warrant to conduct a search leading to an arrest.

Police, however, say that they won’t go to the homes of juveniles they suspect of being involved in homicides or shootings. In these instances, they promise to obtain search warrants.

Boston police will rely on an anonymous hotline, tips from neighbors, and their own experience to decide which homes to approach.

The program targets juveniles under 18 years of age. Homes being targeted are located in Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods, including Egleston Square, Franklin Hill, Grove Hall, Geneva Avenue, Bowdoin Street, and Franklin Field. Police will use their own judgment on whether to make a drug arrest if drugs are founded.

Police to search for guns in homes, Boston.com, November 17, 2007
4th Amendment, Constitution of the United States of America

Related Web Resources:

Juveniles and Guns

Fighting Juvenile Gun Violence (PDF)
Continue reading

by

Corrine Stephen, a 25-year-old Massachusetts foster mother, was found guilty of causing the death of four-year-old Dontel Jeffers because she did not get him medical help immediately after he was severely beaten. Stephen had been charged with second-degree murder, but yesterday was convicted of involuntary manslaughter by the Suffolk County Superior Court jury.

During the trial, prosecutors showed no evidence that Stephen abused Dontel. They based their case on reasons why the foster mother should be held criminally responsible for Dontel’s death. Rather than getting him medical treatment, she gave him a large does of Tylenol with codeine. They also say that she did nothing while others attacked the boy.

Stephen’s sentencing is scheduled for December 5. Her criminal defense attorney says he will appeal the case because the judge made a mistake when informing jury members that failure to do something can be considered a malicious act.

Dontel was placed in Stephen’s care on February 24, 2005. 10 days later, she arrived at Caritas Carney hospital with the boy, who had a black eye, bruised throat, ruptured intestine, bruised arms, and ligature marks around his ankles and wrists. Doctors were unable to revive Dontel. A blow to his stomach gave him a fatal infection.

Forensic pathologists determined that Dontel died from Child Abuse Syndrome, which consists of repetitive abuse over a period of time.

Stephen’s lawyer says that police did not conduct the necessary forensic tests to identify other potential suspects who could have beaten Dontel nor did they look hard enough for the Dontel’s real killer.

Involuntary Manslaughter
Involuntary manslaughter is the accidental killing of a person caused by the defendant’s reckless or criminal actions. “Involuntary” refers to the fact that the defendant did not mean to kill the victim.

In Massachusetts, an involuntary manslaughter conviction carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in state prison.

Guilty verdict reached in Dontel Jeffers case, Boston Herald, November 16, 2007
Foster mother found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in death of boy, 4, Boston.com, November 16, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts General Laws

Violent Crimes Overview, Justia Continue reading

by

Three men in Massachusetts who have been convicted of federal drug charges in connection to cocaine sales that they made in and around the Bromley-Health Housing Development have been sentenced to long prison terms and will be banned from the Boston area once they are released.

Amos Carassquillo, 19, Nathan Garrasteguy, 26, and Louis Garcia Jr., 21, were cocaine dealers who sold drugs at the housing development in Jackson Square. 23 suspects have been charged in the Federal and police drug bust at the housing complex. Some of the drug activities involved the Health Street Gang, which has over 100 members and is based in Bromley-Health.

Carasquillo is serving 11 years in prison. He also has been charged in another case related to Bromley-Health where he pointed a weapon at Boston police. Garrasteguy is serving 10 years, while Garcia is serving 15 years.

Their ban encompasses the entire Suffolk County area, including Chelsea, Winthrop, Boston, and Revere, Massachusetts. Carasquillo’s exile will last eight years. The other two men are to be exiled for 12 years.

Drug Dealers, Imprisoned, Exiled, Jamaica Plain Gazette, November 16, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Drug Courts

Drugs & Crime Facts, US Department of Justice Continue reading

Contact Information
Cambridge, MA
Main Office
675 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617.206.1920Fax: 617.491.3299Toll Free: 800.481.6199
Boston, MA
1 State St
Suite 2
Boston, MA 02109
Phone: 617.547.1205Toll Free: 800.481.6199
Needham, MA
250 First Avenue 2nd Floo
Needham, MA 02494
Phone: 781.675.2329Toll Free: 800.481.6199

Some Select Cases are referred to other attorneys for principal responsibility

By publishing this information on this Website, the Boston, Massachusetts law firm of Altman & Altman LLP is not claiming to represent any clients or cases mentioned here. The content provided is designed to inform readers and is not intended as legal advice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2025, Altman & Altman LLP
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design