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Well, Bullying has hit the news again and, once again, this Boston criminal lawyer was asked to comment. On Friday, I was interviewed for Newsweek Magazine on the subject of the indictments handed down against Dharun Ravi (hereinafter, the “Defendant”). If you like, you can read the resulting article here.

As you may recall, Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi (hereinafter, the “Deceased”) committed suicide approximately seven months ago. Said suicide followed the Defendant, with the help of some friends, allegedly streaming live video footage of the Deceased, his roommate, engaging in romance with his lover, another man. The Defendant was allegedly aided in the broadcast by his lady-friend, Molly Wei (hereinafter, the “Accomplice”). During the broadcast, the Defendant allegedly described what was being broadcast on Twitter.

Criminal investigators have also apparently found that the Defendant had tweeted on earlier occasions his frustration and/or maliciousness about the Deceased’s homosexuality. As a result, New Jersey prosecutors say that the Defendant knowingly targeted the Deceased because he was gay.

Apparently, this was not bad enough. During the government’s investigation, it is alleged that the Defendant tried to mislead law enforcement, deleted messages and attempted to convince some of his friends not to cooperate with authorities.

These efforts did not work. They seldom do. They usually only result in more charges…which they did here.

Now, the Garden State has indicted the Defendant on 15 counts, including witness and evidence tampering and bias intimidation. The matter has been elevated to a hate crime.
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This has been an upsetting week for Massachusetts law enforcement. Yesterday, we discussed how Boston’s prosecuting attorneys are upset with a particular judge. Now, law enforcement in general is upset with a ruling handed down by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

The ruling primarily effects the Massachusetts search and seizure laws.

As we have discussed in the past, marijuana has been decriminalized. In other words, it is no longer a crime to possess a small amount of it. As also discussed, this meant that, in order to make an arrest regarding pot, the Commonwealth had to allege intent to sell the drug in order to make a “collar”. Massachusetts drug attorneys have gotten used to that.

Now, however, the Court has gone further.

In the past, if they stopped a vehicle on a MA criminal investigation, and they smelled marijuana, police treated it as probable cause to believe that a crime was being committed. They would then pull people out of the vehicle and, sometimes, search the vehicle. While the resulting charge might not be possession of the marijuana, the police would sometimes find something else to prosecute.

They can no longer do that on the basis of the marijuana odor alone. This is because while the smell might indicate smoking or possessing the marijuana, smoking or possessing it is no longer a crime. Thus, no probable cause.
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Boston’s District Attorney, Daniel F. Conley , is unhappy. So, apparently are some of his underlings. Nasty Ol’ Judge Raymond G. Dougan Jr., first justice of Boston Municipal Court, is too liberal for the prosecutor. Now, once again politicalizing the judicial branch, the prosecutors are trying to get the judge removed from, if not the bench altogether, at least all criminal cases.

After all, Judge Dugan does not make rulings that prosecutors like…unlike the overwhelming majority of judges who regularly, and sometimes creatively, make findings that defense attorneys do not like.

Now, DA Conley has filed a 72-page report documenting what he called the judge’s “prodefendant bias”. He even commanded one of his assistants to do the dirty work in presenting a motion to Judge Dougan to request that he remove himself from one Boston drug case and all criminal cases.

The judge declined the invitation.
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Two Roxbury teenagers, their friends, supporters and detractors appeared in Roxbury District Court yesterday. The event at issue was the MBTA bus debacle from earlier in the week. I would say it was one in a few MBTA recent debacles, but I suppose that would be unkind.

Felix Garcia, 18, and Michael Baptista, 19, (collectively, the “Defendants”) were arraigned on charges of interfering with a bus driver and assault and battery on a public employee. Bottom line? A case for experienced Boston assault and battery attorneys.

You have probably already heard the allegations put forth by the Commonwealth. The bus driver claims that he merely asked the teens to put out their cigarettes and they refused, instead opting for another option, namely, attacking the driver, perhaps verbally. However, words ended up changing to fists before the event was over and, finally, it ended when the bus smashed into the wall of a building.

By the time the arraignment was completed, one of the Defendants was released on his own recognizance and the other was held because he had pending charges for which he had been out on bail. As we have discussed, getting charged with a new crime while out on bail, or on one’s own recognizance, is considered a Massachusetts bail violation and can result in being held without bail for up to 60 days..regardless of the bail set for the new case.
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Massachusetts campus crime. It’s been a problem for quite awhile. How often do we hear stories about a Boston University student raped? A trial is coming up in the Cambridge murder on the campus of Harvard University. And…of course…we have heard several stories about on campus Worcester bullying or Brockton drug possession at every school imaginable.

This one takes place in Salem, Massachusetts.

While not a violent crime, it is a matter for a Massachusetts white collar crime attorney. Under-age perpetrators can find themselves in Salem’s Juvenile Court for the offense.

In actuality, the crime is called “wire-tapping”. Technically, it is a Massachusetts white collar crime.

In street parlance, it is known as recording someone without their knowledge.

Apparently, the voices of various Salem teachers have been secretly recorded by students. School Superintendent William Cameron discussed the issue at a recent School Committee meeting recently. He explained that, in the last month, he is aware of two incidents. While he is aware of no connection between these two incidents, he is very troubled.
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Robert Oliva, 66, won five New York City championships as the coach at Christ the King Regional High School. Mr. Oliva (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) has now returned to Massachusetts. The Defendant has come back to answer charges of Boston sexual assault on children dating to the 1970s.

His answer was “guilty”.

In exchange for the Defendant’s plea, he was sentenced in Suffolk Superior Court to five years of MA probation for to two counts of child rape and one count of disseminating pornography to a minor, during a 1976 trip to Boston with a 14-year-old boy.

The statute of limitations in such matters is 10 years. However, given the state of the law, complainants may file criminal complaints up to the age of 43, sometimes even later.

As a society, we tend to try to make it as easy as possible for children to come forward to report sex crimes when they happen to them. This is a good thing.

Often, however, we stretch the rules to the extent that mere allegations are akin to criminal convictions, even years before there is ever a trial.

This is a very bad thing.
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Fritz Olmande, 50, hereinafter the “Defendant” ended his week as a convicted Massachusetts sex offender.

The Defendant was found guilty of the repeated Jamaica Plain, MA, rape of a girl over the period of 3 years when she was between 5 and 7 years old.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant had access to the girl because he often spent the night at the victim’s home because he was romantically involved with a family member of the victim.

According to the Commonwealth, the Defendant would abuse the girl when she was left in his care. According to the child, the Defendant told her to keep the abuse secret. Apparently, she did so until she saw the Defendant again in 2008. It was then that she told her mother of the abuse.

The Defendant was sentenced to 10 – 12 years.

Attorney Sam’s Take On False Accusations Of MA Child Rape

Accusations of raping or sexually abusing a child are among the most difficult cases to handle for a MA criminal defense attorney. While there are many courses and symposiums about defending such matters, I find that the best teacher is experience.
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It should come as no surprise that law enforcement and safety personnel undergo Boston drug, and other, tests. The results are actually pretty impressive. Since the Menino administration launched random drug testing of Boston firefighters last fall, 57 percent of the Fire Department’s union members have been tested – and only two have failed, according to the department.

“There have been two positive tests,” the department said in a statement. Local 718 represents an estimated 1,400 firefighters of all ranks.

City Hall officials said both firefighters who failed were given 30-day unpaid suspensions and directed into the Employee Assistance Program.

Some folks know that sometimes “less” is “more”. For example, Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser declined to be interviewed on the meaning of the results. “The numbers speak for themselves,” was the statement he released. Others, however, need to crow. Rich Paris, for example, is the president of Local 718. He took advantage of said results to indicate that the results prove two things – the union never opposed drug testing during the contract talks, and Boston firefighters do not regularly abuse drugs or alcohol.
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A Boston police officer collided in Mattaphan with a Boston fire truck yesterday afternoon

While Boston Fire Department Ladder 29 was on its way to a reported car accident, and had its lights and siren activated at about 3:40 p.m., it crashed into the police officer who was driving home from work. The officer was driving his silver sport utility vehicle. The accident happened at the intersection of Harvard and Morton streets.

After the impact, both men went their separate ways to separate hospitals, both reportedly suffering non-life-threatening injuries. Apparently, the accident was such that it caused the ladder truck to swing around and crash into a traffic light, knocking it over.

Unsurprisingly, neither identity has been revealed.

While there has been no immediate word on what caused the crash or who crashed into whom. A Boston investigation is being conducted by the police.
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…And speaking about warning kids, there is the story about the party that has led a bunch of them to the mass arrest of 52 people Friday night.

Impressingly, the kids were dressed up for the occasion. The party was themed “Business Hoes and Ceos”, and the kids were all wearing suits, ties, miniskirts, etc.

Not so impressing were the choices of refreshments at the party.

According to Plainview police, the juveniles’ lawyers will need to contend with charges of Massachusetts’ marihuana and alcohol. Yes, particularly given the ages of those present, these treats were not legal.

And so the juveniles were joined by those who were of age at the party. The adults were arrested for providing said treats.
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