Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

September 12, 2012

Two arrested for stealing cattle

In a turn of events that harkens back to 19th century tales of dusty towns and quick draw artists, or perhaps the 21st century HBO series, Deadwood, my metrosexual sensibilities were shocked when I learned that cattle rustling is still alive and kicking. Two Mondays ago, on September 3, 2012, media outlets reported that most of the 49 cows that were stolen just two days earlier from a Dartmouth Farm were found, a few hundred miles away at an auction site in Pennsylvania. Dartmouth Police Sergeant Allen Shaw confirmed that 39 of the cattle were found in New Holland, Pennsylvania. The find came with the help of the cows’ owner, Ahmed Mahmoud, acting on a tip.

At the time of the discovery, police were still investigating but had only a few details about the theft and the location of the other cows. The animals were valued at approximately $50,000 and the thieves made away with them from the communal farm on Old Fall River Road late Saturday night, September 1, 2012.

After only three more days, reports began to surface that the remaining cows were successfully reclaimed. The final remnants of the stolen livestock had been stashed much closer to home, only about forty miles away in Medway, Massachusetts. At the time, suspects had been identified but no arrests or charges had been made.
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September 12, 2012

Party in Milton draws hundreds … and charges for illegal liquor sales

by Altman & Altman

A pool party that was tagged as a fundraiser turned into a spectacle that has been reported on internationally and described as ‘liquor-soaked’ by journalists. As many as fifteen hundred people gathered at a mansion on Mark Lane in Milton, Massachusetts to enjoy a pool party during Labor Day Weekend. Milton Police arrived shortly before 1am on Saturday morning, September 1, 2012. The homeowner, Steve Mathieu, 40, was present. And Deputy Police Chief Charles Paris described the size of the event as “just astounding.” He and five other present officers were able to shut the party down in an orderly fashion with no arrests being made. According to Paris, all of the partiers were 21 years or older and though there were a few noise complaints, most neighbors were simply perturbed with the impossible parking situation.

The event was promoted via twitter and fliers as the “Make it Nasty Pool Party.” Hosts sent out a bevy of brochures to market the gala. The brochures stated that the tickets were $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Guests were able to pre-order bottles of alcohol or use the cash bar at the mansion. The event was jointly presented and promoted by Broz 4 Life and Bed Rock Bros.

Milton’s building and health department are looking into the event as most of the one thousand to fifteen hundred guests were spending their time in the pool house located next to the mansion. That many people crowded together under one roof may have violated a building code and the health department traditionally establishes the occupancy restrictions for the pools.

Officer Paris had stated that Mathieu will likely be summoned to court and charged with serving alcohol without a license. After his initial investigation, that seemed to be the only illegal activity at the event. The license needed can only be provided by the local licensing authority.
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September 12, 2012

Boston Police suspect bank robber may have been pregnant

by Altman & Altman

This morning of September 12, 2012, Boston Police have announced that they are on the lookout for a woman who robbed a Citizens Bank and appeared to be pregnant in a surveillance video. Police acknowledged that pregnancy may have purely been feigned as a disguise but are still alerting the public in the hopes of generating information about her whereabouts.

On this past Monday afternoon, September 10, 2012, a woman walked into a Citizens Bank and gave the teller a note saying that she had a gun and that she wanted all of the money in the drawer. The suspect then escaped the scene on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash. The culprit was described as a white woman with black hair and standing approximately at five feet and four inches. At the time of the robbery, she was wearing sunglasses and a shirt that was cream in color with light blue pants.

Police are seeking out any help from the public in identifying the woman. Pictures are available at the links posted at the end of the blog entry. If you do have any information, you are urged to call the District A-1 detectives at 617.343.4470 or text the word TIP to Crime. You may also contact the Bank Robbery Task Force at 617-742-5533. Any information that leads to an arrest or indictment is eligible to be rewarded with $1,000.
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September 12, 2012

MASSACHUSETTS ASSAULT AND BATTERY WITH A DANGEROUS WEAPON CHARGES VARY DEPENDING ON CIRCUMSTANCES

by Samuel Goldberg

Massachusetts assault and battery charges, with or without a dangerous weapon can be prosecuted in fact scenarios which may surprise you.

Many people are still surprised by what can constitute a “dangerous weapon”. Today, Attorney Sam’s Take will break it down for you.

To prosecute for an assault, the Commonwealth need only show you threatened somebody with something in their presence, putting them reasonably in fear.

To prosecute for a battery, the Commonwealth’s burden is to prove a touching that the touchee found offensive. No matter how slight or for what reason.

A deadly weapon? Virtually anything..

Let’s turn to some events which apparently took place on Sunday early evening.

50-year-old Robert Tiernan was whacking some weeds with his weed-whacker near a fence. On the other side of that fence was a couple who were outside looking at their garden.

Or, at least, Trying to..
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September 11, 2012

CHILDREN ARE MURDERED BY SUSPECTS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF PCP

by Samuel Goldberg

Murder, rape and robbery. Perpetrators, heroes and victims. Sometimes there is a clear deliniation between them.

Sometimes there isn’t.

Today, September 11th, Attorney Sam’s Take will take you to a story similar to the horror of that day in 2001 in that the crimes are horrible and the words “victim” and “hero” are interchangeable. In fact, the term “perpetrator” is also blurred.

The case comes from New Jersey. There, a 6-year-old boy whose throat was slashed by an intruder high on PCP-laced marijuana was killed trying to save his sister. He was coming to her aid as she was being assaulted on the floor,according to law enforcement.

Thirty-one-year-old Osvaldo Rivera (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) has been charged with the who is charged in the middle-of-the-night attack. He was held on $5 million bail.

During an interrogation, the Defendant is said to have asked, “How bad did I hurt them?”

Both children had been sleeping downstairs when the attack begain according to law enforcement. The girl, 12 years of age, says that she had also been raped by the Defendant. When her brother intervened, she ran out of the house for help. her windpipe had been slashed. Nevertheless, she was able to help lead the police to the Defendant.

He was found hiding between a mattress and bedroom wall. Police say they also found blood-stained sneakers that matched bloody footprints in the home where the children were assaulted.

The Defendant has been charged with murder and attempted murder, but prosecutors said more charges will be filed. Authorities said he had a drug arrest in 2009 but no other convictions.

The Defendant is also said to have been under the influence of marijuana and PCP. The police suspect that there is somethng in this brand of PCP which creates users hallucinatory, incoherent and exhibiting violent outbursts. In fact, this matter is the second such incident reported. Less than two week prior, a Camden woman decapitated her 2-year-old son, called 911 to admit stabbing the child, then killed herself.
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September 10, 2012

MASSACHUSETTS POLICE TARGET ILLEGAL DRUGS ON HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS; IS YOUR CHILD SAFE?

by Samuel Goldberg

Today, Attorney Sam’s Take begins a discussion which touches upon a parent’s worst fears…two of them actually. The first is their child becoming addicted to illegal drugs. The other is that child getting a criminal record or even being incarcerated.

Often, these nightmares come wrapped together in a package deal from hell.

The last few blogs, both my daily Attorney Sam’s Takes and those posted by someone else have touched upon the nightmare package.

Things are apparently getting worse. Now, for example, drug-sniffing dogs are being brought into more than 100 high schools in Eastern Massachusetts to search for such illegal contraband. In Quincy, video cameras follow students in the hallways while plainclothes security guards stay alert for drug activity. At Westford Academy, where students admitting in a survey to marijuana use jumped from 16 percent to 25 percent in the past decade, the principal decided to add a full-time police officer to the staff. Newton North High School has stepped up its counseling as it is considered the best way to reach students.

Attorney Sam’s Take On The Criminal Justice Approach To Your Juveniles

There is no question that drugs and alcohol in schools is a huge concern for us both as parents and as a society. However, today, I want to focus on the cost to our kids by this usual law enforcement approach to the problem.
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September 8, 2012

16 year arrested for illegal weapon and ammunition possession

by Altman & Altman

On Wednesday night, at approximately 9:53pm, according to reports, Boston police officers assigned to the Youth Violence Strike Force were patrolling an area near Lyford and Oakhurst Streets, not far from the border between Dorchester and Mattapan, when several shots were heard. Police then saw several males chasing a single male, hopped out of their cruisers, and ordered the minors to stop. Only the one who looked like he was being chased obeyed. He then explained that the pack he was fleeing had shot at him.

Police soon found a male trying to hide by lying in the backyard of a nearby house. The suspect had several rounds of ammunition in his pocket and a gun consistent with that ammunition was found close by. Several spent rounds were also discovered. The young male was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling. While being taken away the sixteen year old allegedly asked how much time he was going to get.
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September 8, 2012

High School ‘prank’ leads to felony charge for five

by Altman & Altman

While carrying out her routine patrol duty in Swansea, Massachusetts at around 1:30am, Officer Sheila Valero noticed a curious site. Streams of toilet paper littered and coiled about the property, trees, and school buses of Joseph Case High School. According to further reports, plastic utensils on the ground spelled out “Somerset,” a neighboring town of Swansea. On the surface, perhaps this was a harmless prank borne from teenaged rebellion or boredom. But the bicycle chains that someone used to lock the doors triggered felony charges. Officer Valero was forced to call the fire department to come cut the chains in case of an emergency.

Not much time passed before the police found two of the suspects at a Target store. The pair eventually shared the information of their accomplices with the authorities. The police had no trouble finding the other suspects as their parents were willing to assist them with their search. One was found close to the same Target. And the final two were found a few hours later on Stevens Road, several miles away from the school they had allegedly vandalized. The quintet were identified as William Boulay, 20, Edward Cellemme, 19, Bruce Antone, 19, Evan Sorsa, 18, and a fifth member who was 17 years of age at the time of his arrest. Two of the five attend Joseph Case High which carried out classes without interruption despite the toilet paper violation.

All of the suspects have been charged with malicious destruction of property valued at over $250, defacement of real property, conspiracy, and trespassing. The results of their arraignment on Friday, September 7, 2012, at Fall River District Court have not yet been released through the media.
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September 7, 2012

DEDHAM HIGH SCHOOL STIDENTS CAN FACE SUSPENSIION FOR CRIMES COMMITTED OFF CAMPUS

by Samuel Goldberg

We have discussed many times that the criminal justice system is getting a bit close to our academic institutions. Usually I am talking about the criminalization of matters that should be handled by schools and parents.

Well, things are now changing in Dedham from the other direction.

Now, it is law enforcement turning to the schools for an extra kick in the pants for kids in trouble. Effective yesterday, Dedham public school students who get in trouble off campus may find themselves punished in school for the same offense.

This agreement between Dedham law enforcement and school officials, known as a “Memorandum of Understanding” , creates a long list of incidents that now must be reported to school principals, whether or not those incidents happen in Dedham. That list includes fights, or threats of fights, off school grounds.

Students, not surprisingly, do not like it. “I don’t think you should really get in trouble for something out of school,” says Dedham High School senior Annie Joy Abbott for example. “You’re not even on school property.”

Many patents are not fans of the “understanding” either.

Camilla Rush, for instance, is a mom with three sons, one of whom has already graduated from Dedham public schools; the other two are still students there.

“I do think that it’s good to have a backup,” Rush said. “But I think sometimes they need to let us parents be parents. Let us punish the kids. I do like if you need help, you can go to someone for backup, but let us be parents too.”

September 6, 2012

3 MEN CHARGED WITH DISORDERLY CONDUCT AND DISTURBING THE PEACE FOR STABBING HOAX

by Samuel Goldberg

Sometimes, pretending there is a crime is a crime.

Over the Labor Day weekend, a few fellows had the great idea to play a trick in Lawrence.
According to law enforcement, they decided it would be kind of neat to convince folks attending a religious festival that a stabbing was taking place.

They were successful, if you want to call it that. Convinced that the bloody crime was taking place, several people paced frantic calls to 911 to report the stabbing.

Police came and apparently did not see the humor of it all. They played a little trick of their own. They arrested the tricksters who may have videoed their little jest so that they could post it on YouTube.

And so it was that Josette Osorio of Haverhill, Vincent Bencivenga III of Lawrence, and Mark Hatch of Methuen appeared in Lawrence district court to answer charges including disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.

They have all pleaded “not guilty”.

Police Chief John Romero says that the suspects were 50 yards from the Feast of the Three Saints, which attracted about 15,000 people. He says the stunt made “no sense.”

Attorney Sam’s Take On Hoaxes And Disorderly Conduct

What is funny to one person may not be funny to another; it certainly may not be funny to the police.

And then, you are in trouble.

The definitions of crimes like disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace are pretty general. Basically, if you offend the police, it fits into disorderly conduct.

“But what if you are simply exercising your Constitutional Rights…like the one to free speech?”