Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

This past year, there was a lot of attention paid to Massachusetts drunk drivers and those who drive negligently. For example, a new law was passed to prevent people from texting while driving.

We also had more than our fair share of vehicular homicide cases, including the killing of a police officer due to Massachusetts motor vehicle crimes.

There was one vehicular homicide matter, however, that may not have gotten enough attention. I say this only because it happened again.

Two cars were involved in an accident this weekend which left two cars overturned on interstate 495. Fortunately, nobody was killed.

The cause according to the Commonwealth?

One driver, Jenifer M. Scott, 43, of Milford (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) fell asleep and so lost control of her vehicle. A second driver, at 51-year-old man from Harvard, took measures to avoid the Defendant’s Toyota Corolla and, as a result, went over the guardrail and rolled down an embankment. His 56-year-old female passenger was taken to Marlborough Hospital with minor injuries.

Continue reading "Milford Sleepy Driver Charged With Driving To Endanger - Attorney Sam’s Take " »

It would appear that Fall River’s Shawn Drumgold, 45, (hereinafter the “Defendant”) has clutched defeat out of the jaws of victory. He was once wrongfully convicted of a 1988 Boston murder. He ended up being exonerated and released. He then even won a lawsuit, and a $14 million judgment for said conviction.

That's where the good news ends.

Yesterday, he was back before the bar of justice...now arrested on drug charges, including possession of a Class A substance with intent to distribute. After pleading “not guilty”, he was released on $500 cash bail.

According to a Boston police report, an informant told police earlier this month that drugs were being sold out of a particular Roxbury. Police raided the apartment on Wednesday, the report states, and recovered several bags of heroin and crack cocaine, as well as $304 cash from the Defendant’s person. He was arrested along with several other suspects, authorities said.

The Defendant had been released in November, 2003 after prosecutors said they believed he was wrongfully convicted because he did not receive a fair trial. In April 2008, a federal jury in Boston ruled that a city police detective violated the Defendant’s civil rights during the investigation by concealing that he gave money to a key prosecution witness before that witness testified in the murder trial. The jury awarded the Defendant $14 million, plus interest, in October 2009.

Continue reading "Fall River Man Released In Boston Murder But Held On Drug Charges- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

Marblehead Massachusetts is not normally thought of as the assault capital of the Commonwealth. Neither is Swampscott for that matter. However, one week ago today, there was an explosion of violence between kids from these towns...complete with dangerous weapons.

Now, we are not talking Boston here, so the weapons are not uzis or other types of firearms. They included primarily baseball bats, pipes and chains.

I am told by one high school juvenile that the fight had actually been scheduled to take place outside the Marblehead High School. However, authorities learned about it before it had a chance to commence and made the kids leave.

The ignited spark of anger was not extinguished by the change in venue, however. It simply moved to a regularly quiet residential street. And then...boom!

The cause of the fight? I am told that a young gentleman of one town made some passes at a young lady of the other town. Unfortunately, said lass had a boyfriend from her own town.

The press coverage of this has not been great. If not for the fact that I live in the area, I might not never have found out about the brawl.

Continue reading "Swampscott And Marblehead Explode Into High School Student Violence- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

Chuck Turner (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) faced the federal judge yesterday. Finally, after listening to lord knows how many hours from the Defendant, the judge got to have his say. It was sentencing day for the Defendant. The final act of the recent federal trial during which a jury found him guilty of white collar crmes

The defense argued for leniency for the 70-year-old civil rights crusader. They pointed to his four decades of service as a community activist and elected official...aside from whatever other corruption one might assume took place during those years. They appealed to the court to give the Defendant probation, allowing him to avoid obligatory government housing altogether.

The prosecutors suggested a prison term of 33 to 41 months. They argued that the Defendant lied on the witness stand (aka perjury) and that he made a mockery of public office and the criminal justice system.

The Defendant was convicted in October of attempted extortion and three counts of providing false statements to FBI agents. He protested his innocence then and does so now. He blames his conviction on a government conspiracy to discredit elected officials of African-American descent.

Continue reading "Chuck Turner Is Sentenced In Boston’s Federal Court For White Collar Crimes- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

…And as we prance away from acknowledging the realities of the criminal justice system, we dance along with Governor Deval Patrick. His new proposed dance-step bows politely to law enforcement. It’s a nice dance, really. The only people likely to be hurt are the poor and disenfranchised. But then, if you follow the tune, you will realize that when they are accused of crimes, they are probably guilty anyway. So, perhaps still stinging from criticism that made him cave in the Parole Board fiasco, he is in no mood to consider them.

That's right. It’s gonna be another one of those blogs.

We discussed this issue awhile ago. Massachusetts’ prosecutors are whining that those big bad criminal defense attorneys who are hired to represent indigent criminal defendantsr, after a proper nickel and diming and receiving only a fraction of what their work is worth, are making too much money. Never mind the vastly uneven playing field in which prosecutors who do not have anywhere near the professional expenses and yet have all of the resources available to their disposal. Forget about the fact that those poor crusaders of justice are able to support families and build a nest egg while their indigent-representing-opponents can barely meet the expenses that law enforcement agencies meet for the "good guys".

Do you realize that those scourges of justice, the defense lawyers, have the temerity to believe that they ought to be able to meet expenses? Some such misanthropes even think they should earn a living!

Well, the governor has decided to solve the problem in true Shakespearean style. While he is not going so far as to "kill all the lawyers", he is taking a dramatic stand with they who seem to have the power…law enforcement. Of course, there is not enough money to give better salaries to prosecutors yet, so why not crush the other side of the aisle a bit more? Who’s going to complain? The poor who depend on those attorneys for a chance at a fair trial? Oh, come on, now. Those professional vermin the defense attorneyes? Grow up!

Continue reading "Boston Governor Proposes The Elimination Of Sufficient Legal Representation For Indigent Defendants- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

The Boston Police Department (hereinafter, the “Department”) has taken a large, and very laudable, step forward . They are realizing that if they want to be a trusted, and effective, member of the community, they have to communicate with said community.

As you know, there have been various complaints regarding the use of undue force in various cases. In fact, a You Tube video emerged last fall that showed several officers forcefully subduing a 16-year-old boy,

The video, recorded on a student’s cellphone, showed at least six officers at Roxbury Community College surrounding and then “taking down” the teenager who they said was resisting arrest. The Department claims that the juvenile, who had been wanted on a warrant, had swung at the officers, police have said.

Many were outraged and made claims of excessive force. The Department, however, said that the procedure was consistent with what officers’ training in cases where a suspect refuses to be handcuffed.

The Suffolk district attorney’s office has been investigating the incident. In the meantime, the Department is reaching out to officials, media and the public to demonstrate that police officers receive proper training which includes strict guidelines regarding the use of force.

Continue reading "Boston Police Demonstrate Arrest Procedures In Wake Of Roxbury Juvenile Beating- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

Well, Gerald M. Hill, 48, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) got good news and bad news yesterday at Boston’s Suffolk Superior Court. The good news? The robbery charges against him have been dropped. The bad news? He’s going back to jail, perhaps for life, anyway.

You see, the Defendant was on parole when he was accused of robbing a taxi company at gunpoint in 2009. His prior case, on which he was out on parole, involved the participation in two 1977 killings. I don’t know much about that case, but can tell you that he had not been found guilty of Murder in the First Degree because, if he had been, he would not have been eligible for parole.

The new charges were dismissed yesterday because the evidence against him were suppressed by the court because the court found that critical evidence against him had to be suppressed because of the police’ failure to follow “the rules” of search and seizure. Because the evidence was suppressed, prosecutors said, they no longer had enough of a case to prosecute the Defendant.

Continue reading "Boston Robbery Suspect Gets Robbery Charges Dropped Yet Held On Parole Violation- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

It may take awhile for felony prosecutions to come, but, usually, when the police painstakingly take their time in their investigation, suspects emerge. This is being played out in Boston’s Suffolk Superior Court. Kimani Washington, 35 (hereinafter the “Defendant”), has been arrested in connection with the quadruple homicide in Mattapan in September. He was charged with various charges, including armed robbery, armed carjacking, trafficking cocaine, and being an armed career criminal.

He has pleaded “Not Guilty” and was ordered held on $500,000 cash bail after arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court.

Interestingly, the Defendant was not charged in the actual murders, although the prosecutors allege that he was a mastermind behind the armed home invasion that precipitated the deadly shootings.

Apparently, during the investigation into the murders, police found over 28 grams of crack cocaine allegedly taken during the robbery, as well as two guns. They say that these were found in a location where the Defendant often stayed. The Commonwealth also claims that one of these firearms were fired during the multiple homicide.

The Defendant is not the only one charged in the case. Another man has been actually charged with the murders and are expected in Suffolk Superior Court shortly. Further, another gentleman was arraigned previously arraigned on murder charges and held without bail.

Continue reading "Mattapan Suspect Arraigned In Boston Superior Court For Home Invasion And Drugs But Not Murder- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

We haven’t talked about drug cases for awhile. As you know, possession of a small amount of marijuana has been decriminalized. However, that does not mean that having it is now problem free.

Confused?

Well, it depends on the circumstances in which you possessed it. For example, if there is even the hint that you might be sharing or otherwise distributing pot you are going to be charged with possession with intent to distribute.

And then there was the case of Ms. Sue Thayer, 65 (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) She was charged with felony drug charges when it was discovered that she was growing marijuana. Apparently, she was growing it for her son.

In 2007, the Defendant was charged with possessing more than 25 pot plants. She said she grew the plants out of necessity because the marijuana improved the appetite and general condition of her son, who suffered from chronic wasting.

She tried a defense of "necessity". It did not fly.

Continue reading "Felony Drug Charges May Be Dropped Against Mom Who Grew Marijuana For Son’s Use- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

We take today’s blog from the “You’ve Gotta Be Kidding Me” section of the news. It involves a man who clearly picked the wrong time to attempt to get back his Massachusetts driver’s license.

One would imagine that even without the pending Parole debacle claiming the front page every day , that Algary Horton, 53, of Mattapan (hereinafter, the “Nondriver”) would still be refused.

You see, the Nondriver does not have the greatest driving record. He has been convicted six times for drunk driving for example. Oh yes, and there was that time, in 1993, when he killed a woman on one of those allegedly drunken drivers and then fled the scene.

The Nondriver does get points for consistency, however. He was convicted of OUI in 1979, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1998 and 2004, authorities said.

Continue reading "Mattapan Man Seeks Driving License After Six OUI and One Vehicular Homicide Convictions- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

Today is the first holiday in quite a while that former Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury (hereinafter, the “Ex-Defendant”) can breathe freely. The cloud of criminal allegations which has surroundied him since 2008 has finally lifted. He was finally acquitted of homicide charges in the tragic death of the late young Christopher Bizilj.

The Ex-Defendant’s firearms training company co-sponsored an annual Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, about 10 miles west of Springfield. Young Christopher’s dad brought the 8-year-old to the event. In doing so, he also signed a waiver acknowledging the risks and absolving anyone else of liability should something bad occur.

Something very bad did.

The boy was shooting a 9 mm micro Uzi at some pumpkins, when the gun kicked back and shot him in the head. The Ex-Defendant was not present in the area in which this took place, although the father and other personnel were.

Continue reading "Former Massachusetts Police Chief Not Guilty in Gun Homicide Of Child-Attorney Sam’s Take" »

If you heard a cacophony of crashing noises yesterday from the direction of Boston’s Beacon Hill, it was the sound of Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick , along with a certain Parole Board, caving in to public ridicule and political pressure.

As you have heard time and time again, the now-infamous Massachusetts Parole Board released a repeat violent offender in 2008. Of course, it was not the first time that this has happened. However, this time, said offender , in 2010, was involved in a robbery to which the late police officer John Maguire responded. There was a gunfight and the officer, as well as the offender, were killed. Since that time, amongst various reports of unexplained police shootings of suspects and non-suspects, a state-wide hand-wringing has been occurring.

Naturally, in 2011, tragedy must be someone’s fault. Someone living’s fault. Thus, it was the Parole Board’s fault.

At first, Governor Patrick had the gall to be a leader and indicate before rushing to judgment and demanding the Parole Board’s heads on a stick, that perhaps we should concentrate on the victims, then gather all the evidence and then decide fault.

Well, so much for that kind of nonsense.

Continue reading "A Boston Criminal Defense Lawyer Discuses Changes In MA Parole System Due To Homicide Of Woburn Police Officer- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

It would appear that this Massachusetts driver thought ahead. Realizing that the coming storm would make it difficult to go out and drink, Ms. Tara Tobin (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) got in one last trip just before the snow. The result was not too pretty.

The Yarmouth police say that the Defendant admitted that she had drunk six or seven beers in Dennis before driving.

What happened? The crash took place Tuesday night around 9 p.m..

The unusual part? According to the police, the Defendant, whatever condition she was in, did not cause the accident.

Apparently, a 47-year-old emotionally disturbed man jumped into the path of a Dodge Dakota pickup truck. The truck's driver swerved to avoid the man and was then rear-ended by the Defendant’s car..

The man suffered serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries and was taken to Cape Cod Hospital, police said.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Drunk Driver Admits Guilt But Is Not Responsible For Vehicular Accident- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

Here’s one for the sex trade! In the past, we have discussed many times the various, and in my opinion, faulty rationales for keeping prostitution illegal. One of those rationales has been that prostitutes are, per se, victims. They are exploited and forced to perform sex acts for money. The thought seems to have been that being a prostitute is definitional of losing one’s will and performing the evil deeds by force.

Well, the Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled against this equation. It has thrown out the convictions of a pimp and a madam (hereinafter, the “Defendants”), ruling that the couple did not lure a homeless and drug-addicted teenager into prostitution because the 16-year-old runaway had sold her body for money in the past.

The court did, however, let stand the Defendants’ convictions for deriving support from prostitution and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The allegations in the case were that the Defendants drove the teen to the hotel where she met an undercover detective and agreed to engage in sex for $280, according to court records. Using a ruse, the officer convinced the teen to leave the hotel before any sexual acts occurred. The teen then apparently handed the cash the Defendants, who were waiting in the hotel parking lot

The court found, “We think that the language of the statute is plain and unambiguous and that it clearly expresses the Legislature's intent to penalize a person for inducing a minor, who is not then so engaged, to engage in the commercial enterprise of prostitution by offering for hire his or her body for indiscriminate sexual activity’’.

As a Boston sex crimes criminal defense attorney for over twenty years, not to mention previous years as a prosecutor, I have been involved in a number of cases involving prostitution.

Continue reading "Boston’s Appeals Court Overturns Sex Crime Conviction In Prostitution Case Involving A Juvenile- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

Gerard Sasso, 52, of Medford, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) has made Massachusetts history. In fact, he is not only a “first” in the Commonwealth, but is a “second” in the country! Unfortunately, he will be “celebrating” in a federal prison.

Yesterday, the Defendant became the first person in the state -- and the second in the nation -- to be convicted for lasering an aircraft. He was convicted of charges of willfully interfering with an aircraft operator with reckless disregard for human life, and of making false statements, the US attorney's office said in a statement.

The Defendant received the award of three years in prison for shining a laser at a State Police helicopter that was escorting a tanker through Boston Harbor, federal prosecutors said.

Apparently, the Defendant shined a powerful green laser on the helicopter on December 8, 2007. Prosecutors said the pilots were able to determine the light was likely coming from his apartment. When the police went to his apartment to investigate, he initially denied having the lasers but later confessed, prosecutors said. The green laser was recovered, along with 10 other lasers, from the apartment.

"This sentence should send a strong message that interfering with an aircraft in any way will result in aggressive prosecution and stiff sentences. Such actions endanger lives and disrupt air travel, and will not be tolerated," quota the government.

Continue reading "Medford Man Is Sentenced In Federal Court For, Among Other Things, Lying To Police-Attorney Sam’s Take" »

Just last week, we discussed the case of kids threatening to commit mass murder online. I mentioned that this was not the climate for it. This was illustrated horribly this past weekend in Tucson, Arizona. The end result of the event is that Federal prosecutors have brought charges against the alleged gunman accused of attempting to assassinate Representative. Gabrielle Giffords and, in the process, killing six people, ages ranging from a 9-year-old-child to an elderly woman.

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) is the man accused of the shootings. He is said to have also fired at Giffords' district director and others s standing in line to talk to the congresswoman,

"He was not more than three or four feet from the congresswoman and the district director," said Mark Kimble, a communications staffer for Giffords. He went on to describe the scene as "just complete chaos, people screaming, crying."

It is believed that the Defendant acted alone. Investigators said they carried out a search warrant at the Defendant’s home and seized an envelope from a safe with messages such as "I planned ahead," "My assassination" and the name "Giffords" next to what appears to be the Defendant's signature.

Continue reading "Boston Watches As Shootings In Arizona Leave Six Dead, Representative Gabrielle Giffords clinging to life And Questions About Violent Speech-Attorney Sam’s Take" »

While Massachusetts schools have been struggling with ways in which to comply with the over-arching and extremely broad anti-bullying law, a couple of students at Brookline High School have apparently been doing their own planning. According to officials, that planning would include a mass homicide.

The students allegedly posted on Facebook plans to meet after school and commit the deed according to the prosecution. They indicated online that they could use gallons of gasoline and use thousands of syringes full of bear tranquilizers. When one of the lads suggested shooting some guns at proposed victims, the other genius responded that he was “way ahead of you,’’.

Brookline police searched the homes of both students and seized their computers, but have not found any weapons, according to police..

The pair were arrested on Wednesday after one of their fathers became aware of the cyber-conversation and, apparently, felt that it would be better that his son end up in trouble…than dead or culpable for mass murder.

Continue reading "Brookline High School Students Are Accused Of Threatening To Commit Mass Murder-Attorney Sam’s Take" »

Former Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson has been sentenced to serve 3 ½ years in state prison for accepting $23,500 in bribes. Wilkerson had pleaded guilty to criminal charges of eight counts of attempted extortion last year.

In 2008, she was caught inserting $100 bills in her bra as part of a kickback scam. Wilkerson was accused of taking eight cash payments between 2007 and 2008 from undercover agents and a witness who was secretly working with the FBI. The former state senator was captured on approximately 150 video and audio recordings saying she was going to use some of the money at a casino, as well as to embark upon a sticker campaign in the wake of losing the 2008 Democratic primary.

While prosecutors had pushed for Wilkerson be sentenced to four years in prison, her legal team had argued for less time. The sentence that Wilkerson received is in line with federal sentencing guidelines.

The former state senator, who has been ordered to turn herself in on March 11 so she can start serving her federal prison term, said today that the believes that she was pursued by corrupt federal prosecutors who didn’t like the fact that she was among the politicians that challenged the status quo. Originally, Wilkerson had faced 32 charges of allegedly taking bribes, but the government agreed to drop 24 of the criminal charges. Mail fraud and wire fraud and conspiring to extort cash were among the charges.

Wilkerson sentenced to 3 1/2 years in corruption case, Boston.com, January 6, 2011

Wilkerson guilty of attempted extortion; prosecutors recommend up to 4 years, Boston.com, June 3, 2010

Related Web Resources:
White-Collar Crime, Federal Bureau of Investigation

White-Collar Crime: an overview, Cornell University Law School

Continue reading "Ex-Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson Sentenced to 3 1/2 Years in Prison For Accepting Bribes" »

Yesterday, we discussed that tragedies sometimes result from mistakes made by human beings. Yesterday, it was the Parole Board. Today, authorities are investigating a police-involved shooting in Framingham yesterday morning that has left a 68-year-old man dead, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office has announced. The word “homicide” has not been used…yet..

It all began when Framingham police detectives and members of the Framingham Police SWAT Team gathered together at 26 Fountain Street. at about 12:30 a.m. in order to execute a search warrant that had been issued for narcotic offenses, according to the DA.

What happened next is a little hazy, as it often is when police shoot someone.

Apparently, the search warrant was being executed, as planned, but something somewhere went wrong. Initial reports (aka all we are being told thus far) indicate that a bullet was “discharged” from the Framingham Police Department-issued weapon of a SWAT Team member.

In civilian parlance, one of the officers fired his gun.

Continue reading "Framingham Police Execute Search Warrant In Drug Case And Shoot 68-Year-Old Resident- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

We live in a “when the going gets tough, the tough get blaming” society today. We continue to fall into the same behavior in the face of tragedy. Then we wonder why we have the same problems. A police officer has been murdered during a robbery t. The shooter, Dominic Cinelli, who was freed on parole in 2009 and who killed Officer John B. Maguire on December 26, 2010, had an extremely bad criminal history, yet he convinced a parole board that he was a good candidate for release.

Yesterday, as the parole board returned to work, I was interviewed on WBZ, part of which interview can be found here.

The political debate has gotten so trident that Governor Deval Patrick, simply making the statement that this is a time in which we should focus on the victims of what happened, aka the officer’s family, has raised people's ire. He also had the temerity to suggest he should gather all the information before he passes judgment.

Such outlandish suggestions brought widespread anger from police chiefs and victims’ advocates. When we get a heaping helping of angry voices, we naturally get a side order of political posturing to go along with it. For example, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo not only expressed outrage at the board’s decision but vowed to make it a “major focus’’ of legislative action in the new session.

Legislation has been suggested which would remove the possibility of parole for certain repeat offenders, and require judges to impose the maximum possible punishment for anyone convicted of their third felony in Superior Court.

And, of course, why not make it a “Republican vs. Democrat” issue why we are at it? A group of GOP lawmakers claim that the bill has been stuck in the Democrat-controlled Judiciary Committee since March, and that versions of it have been circulating without action for nearly a decade on Beacon Hill.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Murder Of Police Officer Continues To Provoke Attacks On Parole System- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

Well, if this past New Years Eve in Lowell and Lynn are any indication, we are in for another angry and violent year. Both Massachusetts towns were scenes of armed assaults, one of them fatal.

Yesterday, Jameson Phoun, 20 , and Sothy Voeun, 19, both of Lowell, (hereinafter, the "Defendants”) were arraigned n Lowell District Court on charges of, among other things, first-degree murder. They were held without bail, as istypical in such cases.

The Defendants are charged with having burst into a party where they had been asked to leave and shooting up a room filled with 25 party-goers. Thus far, one homicide has resulted.

According to the prosecution, said shooting was meant to “scare” the celebrants.

“I don’t characterize this as a gang issue so much as a violence issue amongst young people who are willing to carry weapons and utilize them to resolve conflict,’’ Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said, standing outside the courtroom moments after the arraignment. “I would certainly refer to it as brazen. I would certainly refer to it as lawless. I would refer to it as tragic and troubling, as well.’’

One 20-year-old woman died in the Lowell assault. Seven others were wounded, including two who were shot in the head. The condition other shooting victims is said to be “day to day”. “Everyone is in various stages of stable condition, and we’re hopeful that they’ll continue to get better as the days go on.’’

It was a bloody New Year’s Eve in Lynn as well. There, a 55-year-old woman was hit in the chest by a stray bullet fired from a gun outside her home.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Armed Assaults With Guns And Knives Leave One Dead And Others Wounded In Lynn And Lowell- Attorney Sam’s Take " »

The more serious the crime, the more desperate the prosecution becomes to predict the defense’s strategy. It is the one area in which the defense has a bit of an advantage. In a very public homicide case, outside of Massachusetts, case, prosecutors seem to be floating “trial balloons” to force the defense to reveal its thoughts.

Dr. Conrad Murray (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) has been charged with the homicide of Michael Jackson. As you will recall, Mr. Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, 2009, of an overdose of prescription drugs, primarily the powerful anesthetic propofol which can be used in surgery. Other drugs in Jackson's system included lorazepam, known under the brand names Ativan and Temesta, and diazepam, the generic version of Valium. It is alleged that the fatal dose was prescribed by the Defendant. The Defendant has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Last week, In a court session to discuss evidence in the case against the Defendant, Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney David Walgren announced that he believes it is clear that defense attorneys are planning to claim that Mr. Jackson actually committed suicide.

When questioned about the prosecutor’s proclamation, defense counsel, J. Michael Flanagan, merely stated, "I'm not going to respond to that characterization. But apparently it is a consideration of Mr. Walgren,"

The Defendant hired as Jackson's physician while the singer prepared for a series of concerts that would have begun in July 2009, has admitted giving Jackson propofol to help him sleep. But the Defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charge of involuntary manslaughter.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin tomorrow. At the hearing, the court is to decide if there is enough evidence against Murray to proceed to a full trial.

There will be.

Representatives for the prosecution and defense have predicted that they expect the preliminary hearing to begin as planned and take roughly two weeks to complete.

From The Trenches

As a former homicide prosecutor and experienced criminal defense attorney I have witnessed many cases in which the chosen defense is to blame the victim.

It seldom works.

Continue reading "Prosecutor Of Michael Jackson Homicide Case Tries To Get Experienced Criminal Defense Counsel To Reveal Strategy - Attorney Sam’s Take " »