Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

May 13, 2011

Nahant Alleged Fenway Thief Faces Charges In Massachusetts And New York

Most of you are no doubt familier with the song, “Take Me Out To The Ball Game“. Well, today’s blog is about someone who thought it would be better if they offered that the ball game would come to others…piece by piece.

Nahant resident Jamie Pritchard Holland, 32, (hereinafter, “Suffolk Defendant”), now faces charges in both Massachusetts and New York. He is charged literally stealing home plate…and just about anything else he could get his hands on at Fenway Park. This would allegedly include an autograph of Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky under false pretenses.

According to law enforcement in both states, Suffolk Defendant attempted to sell the items in New York.

Apparently, he posed as the father of a sick child and convinced an auction house to sell the items to help him pay medical bills.

As you might have guessed, baseball memorabilia he had…a sick child he did not.
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May 10, 2011

Lynn Man Is Needs Experienced MA Criminal Defense Attorney On Child Pornography Charges

by Samuel Goldberg

As a Boston criminal defense attorney, I have to tell you that there seem to be more and more of these cases. Folks in fairly responsible positions are finding themselves charged with the Massachusetts possession of child pornography.

This time, the gentleman hereinafter referred to as the “Defendant” is Jared Surette. The twenty-six year old former manager of a Lynn ice rink today pleaded not guilty to the charges in Lynn District Court.

The Defendant was arrested by members of the Massachusetts State Police Internet Crimes Against Children task force and charged with distributing material of a child in a sexual act and with possession of child pornography, according to Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s office.

The Defendant was released on $1,000 cash bail after pleading not guilty. He is due back in court on July 11. In addition to the cash bail, he is not allowed to have unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18 and cannot use a computer or the Internet.
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May 9, 2011

A Boston Rape Attorney Discusses The “Boston Slutwalk”

by Samuel Goldberg

This past weekend saw a bit of nice weather. What better time to protest Massachusetts sex crimes against women? What better time to march around scantily clad and chastise men who gawk?

In short….what better time for a “Boston Slutwalk”?

You think I am kidding, right? Ol’ Sam’s sarcastic humor has gotten the best of him and he is crossing the line, huh? Well, not at all.

This past weekend, there was a parade of men and women, the later primarily wearing only micro minis and bras. It was called by its participants the “Boston Slutwalk” and it wound its way from Government Center to the Common the marchers, chanting, “However we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes, and no means no,”

People stared, but no one dared to act in the animalistic way one might expect. As the Boston Herald put it, “you don’t mess with 200 “sluts” on a mission.”

Boston’s “Slutwalk” was one of an international series of such things that began earlier this year when a silver-tongued Toronto police officer allegedly told a group of York University law students that the best way to avoid getting raped was to not dress like a slut.

How delicately and tastefully put.
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May 6, 2011

South Hadley Bullying Cases Resolve In Misdemeanor Guilty Pleas and Continuances With Findings

by Samuel Goldberg

…And so the nationally known South Hadley bullying criminal case that began as a bombastic farce goes out with a face-saving and clearer headed whimper.

As you have probably heard, and as we discussed in previous blogs, all but one of the teens indicted last year by, to be undeservingly generous, overzealous ex-district attorney Scheibel, have had their cases resolved. While one remains awaiting trial for a typical Massachusetts statutory rape charge (hardly a bullying issue), the other kids have resolved their cases as misdemeanors.

The dispositions ranged from guilty pleas to misdemeanors to continuances without findings. The latter means that, so long as that particular defendant stays out of trouble after a probationary period, the matter will be dismissed. In the various cases, of course, the fact that they were initially charged as they were did the damage to each defendant’s criminal record. At best, it will be several years before these high school students can potentially seal their records and so moving on to college and/or employment will be even more of a challenge than it already is for the general public.

Although she spent much of her time in giving a victim-witness statement blaming her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, Phoebe Prince’s mother, Anne O’Brien, apparently agreed to these dispositions. In her statements, she included the following statement:

“Phoebe ended her pain brought about by harassment, harassment that could easily have been stopped if any of those involved had ever reached inside themselves to find their own compassion.”
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May 5, 2011

Middlesex County Perjury Case, Littleton Lies And The United States Constitution

by Samuel Goldberg

Yesterday, we began our discussion about the Littleton coach (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) who had apparently lied before a Grand Jury when summoned to testify in connection with an ongoing Middlesex County rape investigation.

As we discussed, and it certainly deserves repeating, lying to authorities about an ongoing investigation, either under oath or not, is a crime. The only thing that changes is which crime it is going to be.

In this case, the apparent lies were spoken under oath. In the Grand Jury, witnesses are sworn in and questioned by a prosecutor about whatever is being investigated. To lie while under oath is the crime of perjury.

The Defendant was questioned about, among other things, whether he had committed certain crimes such as providing alcohol to minors. He denied having done so.
The government decided that the Defendant had committed perjury because his testimony, albeit self-serving, was contradicted by other witnesses.

To me, this brings about a couple of troubling questions.
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May 4, 2011

Littleton Coach Is Sent To Jail For Middlesex County Perjury During Rape Investigation

by Samuel Goldberg

We have discussed it many times before, but the message still is not really out. Take it to heart –tell your friends-put up flyers- there is absolutely a different standard between you and police officers when it comes to telling the truth! They can lie all they want…that is regarded as
“good police work”

You can refuse to talk to them, or, better yet, buy time to talk to an experienced MA criminal defense attorney, but you cannot lie to them. That is called a Massachusetts feloney.

Enter former gym owner Stephen DiTullio (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). This Littleton gentleman was summonsed to a Middlesex County Grand Jury during an ongoing Middlesex County criminal investigation.

The investigation was into allegations of Massachusetts rapes of underage gymnasts by their coach, Steven Infante (hereinafter, the “Sex Offender”). The Sex Offender was found guilty in his own trial on the sex crimes last May.
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May 3, 2011

Lawrence Assault And Battery With A Dangerous Weapon Raises Questions About The Mayor’s Supporters

by Samuel Goldberg

Massachusetts politics can be a dangerous business. We have talked many times how it can run, and ruin, the criminal justice system. Sometimes, however, it can provide the system with new business.

Take the case of Antonio Arevalo (hereinafter, the “Battered”) for example. He has been a critic of Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua. A very vocal cri.

This angered some folks…one man in particular. David Figueroa (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) works as a bouncer for La Guira, a nightclub which is popular with the mayor. Apparently, he did not care for the Battered’s attitude.

According to the Battered, he was confronted and beaten by the 6-foot-9 Defendant who called him “a snitch” and the “man who took the mayor to court.” .

Well, it is actually not only according to the Battered. The event was actually caught on videotape which has now hit the internet.

Anyway, The result was apparently a broken arm (in two places) for the Battered and a the need for a Massachusetts Assault and Battery Attorney for the Defendant Continue reading

May 2, 2011

Boston Police Fight Inquiry Into Assault, Brutality And Other Misconduct

by Samuel Goldberg

Maine ‘s Krista Dittmeyer’s body has been found. The mother of the infant who was found in her car is dead. Meanwhile, a Lowell man needs a Massachusetts murder attorney as he is accused of killing his wife. Two Roxbury handguns were recovered by police after chasing and apprehending two individuals.

None of these stories are the subject matter of today’s blog. Instead, let’s deal with a real issue. Something that is really causing consternation to the Commonwealth’s law enforcement community. After all, they are our protection and the keepers of our liberty, aren’t they?

Well, some of those liberties perhaps.

They were a bit miffed last week. You see, Suffolk University Law School Students are asking some apparently embarrassing questions. One such student has taken on a project which Boston Police brass and union officials call in “cop-hate baiting at its worst.”

The police are so upset, in fact, that the university itself is seeking to distance itself from the project. The college ordered the fliers taken down, saying the collaboration between Suffolk Law students, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Boston Black Men’s Leadership Group should not have used the law school’s logo.

The hateful and offensive actions at issue is the posting of fliers for the “Police Misconduct Documentation Project” and the “Police Complaint Assistance Project”. These posters ask horrible questions like “Have you been abused, brutalized or mistreated by the Boston Police … ?”

Just imagine such a thing!

Apparently, according to the police and the university, such offensive questions should not be asked. One would imagine that such information therefore should not be compiled and should be silently swept under the rug.

After all, what is wrong with alittle police abuse? They have a hard job…aren’t the entitled to knock around a few folks?

Don’t call it a Boston assault…call it simply alittle attitude adjustment.
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April 27, 2011

South Hadley Students Are Reported To Be Pleading Guilty To MA Harassment

by Samuel Goldberg

Rumor has it that the South Hadley bullying case which began with the roar of a despearate political prosecutor is going out with a wimper from her replacement who was left to clean up her messes.

You may recasll that the late Phoebe Prince was the tragic figure about whom the public was in an outcry. Ms. Prince committed suicide and it was determined that the reason was that several of her classmates were bullying her both in person and through the internet. Like a not-quite- as- sympathetic Ponchus Pilot, the area’s most senior law enforcement official, the District Attorney, abandoned her oath to “do justice” and, instead, catered to political opportunity. She took the unusual step of indicting a bunch of kids who were allegedly Ms. Prince’s bullies. This was done, of course, before the full investigation into Ms. Prince was conducted. Said inveastgation revealed a very troubled young lady who had attempted suicide long before she even got to South Hadley.

Of course, to give the indictments the proper stench, she included in the group boys with whom Ms. Prince is alleged to have had sex. They were now charged with MA statutory rape and grouped in with the bullies.

Thankfully for the cause of Justice, the political strategy backfired and that District Attorney found herself out of her job.

Now, while the defendants will still have MA felony charges on their criminal records as they attempt to continue in school or find jobs, the Commonwealth is said to be offering plea bargains which will allow five out of six of the defendants to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges and having the more serious charges dropped. It is believed that the defendants will be allowed to plead guilty to Massachusetts criminal harasssment.

Previously the defendants faced a variety of charges, including including civil rights violations causing bodily injury, criminal harassment, stalking and disruption of a school assembly.

Even the stutory rape charge will apparently be dropped against one defendant.
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April 26, 2011

Brockton High School Student Is Arrested For Assault And Battery With A Dangerous Weapon After Knife Fight

by Samuel Goldberg

A Brockton assault and battery matter has just occurred under the type of circumstances that all parents fear. It resulted from a high school knife fight in which someone was injured.

The other was arrested for the Massachusetts dangerous weapon assault charge.

Of course the Brockton high school campus fight was not the first one between the participants in the story. It apparently took place after the same 18 year old students were escorted to the housemaster’s office because of an earlier physical altercation.

As of this writing, One of the students is resting in a local hospital and the other stands facing Massachusetts felony charges including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
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