Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog

Most Massachusetts schools are now closed for the summer. For some students, however, the ability to attend class ended long before the end of the school year. It is a problem that is not merely local, but national as well.

Take 15-year-old Nick S, for example. Nick was by all accounts a good kid. He was a Boy Scout and played on the football team at high school. Nick even did well in school and helped out at home by caring for his mother, Sandy, as she battled Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Then, one day Nick purchased one capsule of JWH-018, a then-legal compound that mimics the effects of marijuana at school. The school, having a strict policy against drugs, guns and campus crimes, found out about the purchase. Nick was questioned by authorities, admitted his wrongdoing and apologized.

You might think it would end there…or at least shortly thereafter. You would be wrong.

The school held a disciplinary hearing. Nick’s parents and his mother’s nurse accompanied Nick to it. Just them. That’s right, no attorney.

You see, a school administrator discouraged them from bringing an attorney. You know, much the same way police officers often do as they sit down to take your statement or invite you to a Massachusetts Clerk Magistrate’s Hearing. The administrator explained that bringing a lawyer would be unnecessarily adversarial.

Imagine their surprise when the hearing became an hour and a half of badgering and harassment. According to Nick’s dad, it was “adversarial to an extreme.”

“They were badgering him and impugning his integrity. It brought him to tears, had me in tears, my nurse in tears.” To say nothing of the effect on Nick’s seriously ill mother.

As a result of the hearing, Nick had to be transferred to another school.
He committed suicide six days after starting there.

Now, surrounded by pictures of his late young son, Nick’s dad is trying to make some sense of it all and why his son had to die. “I thought with Nick’s record, with this being a first-time infraction and with the fact he possessed something that they didn’t even know what it was, surely they couldn’t throw the book at him,” he says “I was warned that a lawyer would make the proceeding unnecessarily adversarial, so I didn’t pursue any legal advice at that time.”

Attorney Sam’s Take On Counsel And School Disciplinary Hearings

“Aw come on, Sam. I’m sorry about this tragedy and all, but that is a pretty extreme situation, isn’t it? I mean, how often does something like that happen?”

You would be surprised.

Continue reading "A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Discusses Whether You Need A Lawyer At A School Disciplinary Hearing" »

An East Boston High student may be wondering whether honesty is truly the best policy.

The Roxbury resident is a 17-year-old young man whom we will refer to hereinafter as the “Defendant”. He came into contact with law enforcement last Thursday when he entered his school at about 12:30 p.m. through an “unauthorized” door. As he did so, the officers say they “detected the odor of marijuana".

The officers patted him down. According to the Commonwealth, however, they needn’t have bothered. The lad is said to have confided in the officers that, “I just have a little gun”.

Well, it was cute when then First Lady Nancy Reagan said it so long ago...!

The officers say that the cooperative Defendant also told them where to find the little gun (in his bag) and to be careful because “there’s one in the pipe”. The palm-sized Saturday Night Special was found and indeed had six bullets in the magazine and one in the chamber. They also found more marijuana on the Defendant.

Continue reading "Boston Student Needs Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney After Bringing Marijuana And Gun To School" »

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.

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

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.

Continue reading "A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney Asks If Rutgers College Student's Bullying Case Was A Hate Crime" »

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.

Continue reading "Salem Juvenile Students Are Investigated For The Felony Of Wire-Tapping" »

Massachusetts bullying is not simply old news these days. As predicted, many people have made the mistake of assuming that the rushed so-called “anti-bullying” statute would solve the problem. They figured that the schools, following the clear guidance our elected officials presented would take care of it.

It didn’t. Maybe because the “guidance” presented was anything but clear.

To date, more than a third of Massachusetts school districts have failed to present complete antibullying plans by the end of 2010. This deadline was one of the few clear and presumed urgent things presented by the law, but why quibble? These figures, by the way, were by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

On the other hand, some school districts have complied….sort of. In 13 percent of those plans, at least a quarter of the elements required by the law were not clearly addressed.

If I may add a little note here...since the legislative “cure all”, I have actually seen a growth of calls regarding severe bullying problems about which the schools seem to have turned a blind eye...no matter what evidence was placed before said eye. An example of how bad the problem is can be illustrated by the simplest of requirements of the new law, namely, contacting parents of the kids involved. Even this seemingly simple exercise seems to be too much for the schools to handle.

Continue reading "Massachusetts School Districts Break Bullying Law-Attorney Sam’s Take " »

A Dorchester college student is currently being held without bail after being arraigned at Dedham District Court. According to law enforcement, the lad, Darryl Max Dookhran, 18, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was carrying a semi-automatic firearm in his backpack at Massachusetts Bay Community College in

According to the Wellesley police, detectives acted on a tip that the Defendant had the gun. They say that they then approached the Defendant as he was standing in line at the registrar's office. They then walked him into a nearby room. The Commonwealth says that the Defendant, upon this confrontation, backed against a wall and then kicked at detectives when they attempted to pat him down.

What followed, according to the Commonwealth is described as a “furious struggle with police”

Detectives say they found a Tec-9 gun in his backpack, with a loaded 18-round magazine.

He apparently says that it is not his gun and he has no idea how it got into his backpack.

Continue reading "Dorchester College Student Is Arrested For Bringing Gun To School" »

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 " »

The Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that the marijuana, cocaine, and psilocybin mushrooms allegedly discovered in the dorm room of two Boston College students in 2007 cannot be used as evidence in the Massachusetts drug case against them. John Sherman and Daniel Carr face charges of cocaine trafficking, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and possession with intent to distribute psilocybin mushroom.

The ruling by the state’s highest court is in agreement with a Superior Court judge’s ruling that prosecutors failed to meet their burden of proof that the two students had given their consent to campus police that their room could be searched. The SJC’s decision overturns the ruling by the Massachusetts Appeals Court, which found that police were within their rights when they conducted the search.

According to Superior Court Judge Linda E. Giles, although prosecutors claim that Carr and Sherman gave their verbal consent to the search, officers have since then given conflicting testimony about what was said that night. The SJC has noted that while the two students signed the part of the consent form that acknowledged the waiving of their Miranda Rights, they did not sign the portion of the form that gave their consent to the search. The court said that even if Carr and Sherman had given their consent, there would still be questions regarding whether or not the granting of this permission was voluntary.

Massachusetts Drug Crimes
Massachusetts drug possession with intent to distribute is a very serious criminal charge. The type of drug involved and whether or not you have any prior drug offenses or convictions can determine the seriousness of your sentence if convicted this time.

An experienced Boston drug crimes law firm can defend you against any charges. There may be reasons why the evidence against you should be suppressed or thrown out. For example, you may not have been read your Miranda Rights prior to making any statements or police may not have probable cause to search you.

SJC ruling tosses out evidence in BC students’ drug case, Boston.com, November 18, 2010

Court: BC police didn’t get OK for dorm search, Boston Herald, November 17, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Fact Sheet on Massachusetts Sentencing Laws, FAMM (PDF)

Boston College

Continue reading "Supreme Judicial Court Says Drug Evidence Cannot Be Used in Boston College Students’ Criminal Case " »

After a week nursing an eye issue, I am back to my Boston Criminal Law Blog…although it may take another week or two to go daily. I plan to blog Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week. Hopefully, the other “mini-blogs” are keeping you informed, if not entertained, in the meantime. However, in my absence, I see (to the extent that my temporary eye patch will allow) that not very much has changed. College campuses are still the scenes of crime, shootings continue and police officers continue to assault and be assaulted.

Let’s take Cambridge’s Harvard University for example.

Kai Robert Kruger, 21 (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) ran into a bit of trouble on Harvard’s campus this weekend. According to authorities, he was arrested after firing a gun at a police officer and attempting to rob three Harvard University freshmen at gunpoint.

Apparently, the Defendant had stolen the students' wallets, credit cards and cell phones before the officer’s arrival.

But then, his luck began to turn.

Continue reading "Attorney Sam’s Take: Harvard University Campus Is The Scene Of Robbery, Assault And Shooting" »

Last week, I began this mini-series about perspectives in the criminal justice system. I started with that of the police officers. As the week went on, the news was more and more full of examples illustrating my point. First, the only alleged police misconduct dominating the Boston news in took place in New York. Now, we have a video on YouTube and similar allegations here at home.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis now says that he is reviewing video footage that shows the several police officers using force to arrest a juvenile (hereinafter, the “Kid”) at Roxbury Community College.

The video has made the rounds on YouTube and shows an officer assaulting the Kid and kneeing him while several other officers are trying to place handcuffs on him. The arrest occurred in a lobby at the college. Of course, the Kid was not the only one injured…three of the officers were apparently taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries and were later released, Davis has pointed out.

According to Davis, the officers did use force, but it is a question whether that force was excessive. After all, the officers were trying to handcuff the Kid and the Kid resisted.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Police Student Assaults, Murders And Gun Crimes (CJS Perspective, Pt.III)" »

Rutgers University freshman Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei say that they did not bully Tyler Clementi. Ravi and Wei have been charged with third- and fourth- degree invasion of privacy in the death of Clementi, who committed suicide by jumping into the Hudson River.

Clementi and Ravi were roommates. Ravi and Wei are accused of filming Clementi while he was having a “sexual encounter” with another male in his dorm room and streaming the video live online. Ravi allegedly tweeted that he was using a webcam to film the incidents.

On September 22, 2010, a day after Ravi allegedly invited people on Twitter to video chat him while he was recording Clementi, the latter posted a message on his Facebook page noting that he was going to jump off the George Washington bridge.

If convicted of the invasion of privacy charges in the internet voyeurism case, Ravi and Wei could spend up to five years in prison. Prosecutors are continuing to investigate the college campus crime to determine whether to file a bias charge or charge them with committing a hate crime. Meantime, Wei’s criminal defense team has said that she is innocent of the cyber crime and that her reputation has been “unjustly tarnished” and “maligned by unfounded attacks on her character.”

On October 4, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said that there may not be sufficient evidence to upgrade the charges against Wei and Ravi to a hate crime. If the charges are upgraded to a second-degree bias crime and they are convicted, they could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

Evidence may not be enough to upgrade charges against Rutgers students Dharun Ravi, Molly Wei, NJ Real-Times News, October 4, 2010

Rutgers Students Investigated After Death of Classmate Break Their Silence, ABC News, October 6, 2010

Private Moment Made Public, Then a Fatal Jump, NY Times, September 29, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Cyber Crime, Justice.gov

Hate Crimes, FBI

Rutgers

Continue reading "Rutgers University Students Charged with Invasion of Privacy in Tyler Clementi's Suicide Say They Didn’t Bully Him" »

…And so students and their families alike are awakening to the passing of the season. Summer is exiting Massachusetts, and school is beginning. This time, though, things are a bit more serious. First of all, as discussed yesterday, the Boston area seems to be in the middle of a dramatic increase in murder cases. Violent alleged criminals aside, however, what once was not unusual juvenile school behavior will now be viewed under the type of criminal justice microscope that inevitably brings new arrests.

As you will recall, the Massachusetts legislature brought into being a new anti-bullying statute last year. It is now in effect and, because of its vagueness, has school districts scrambling to figure out how to adhere to it.

At the same time, there are attorneys who have adjusted their practices so that they may open the new specialty to capitalize on the new statute and attention on bullying behavior.

Meanwhile, I am a criminal defense attorney with many years of experience. I also am focusing on the new statute and the mess it is about to bring the system. Said mess began when a bunch of kids were indicted last year for bullying activities on which another student’s suicide was originally blamed.

The truth is that, for the most part, what was illegal to do remains illegal to do.

Let’s take some examples:

Continue reading "Attorney Sam’s Take: The MA Landscape Of Bullying, Assault and Harassment For Students And Parents" »

September is a-coming. It would appear that it will soon be time, once again in Massachusetts, for those school-time hijinks like bullying, assault and vandalism.

And police investigations.

Well, it looks like some people just can’t wait. No, not a high school or college campus crime this time. The event took place at Julia F. Callahan Elementary School in Lynn this past weekend. Vandals trashed the school, dumping paint, spraying fire extinguishers, shattering glass, overturning desks and copiers, and spewing classroom materials throughout the building, according to Deputy Superintendent Jaye Warry and Lieutenant William Sharp of the Lynn Police Department.

The police describe that the “school was entered and extensively vandalized,’’ Superintendent Warry, who has worked in the Lynn school system for 25 years, said this break in was “up there on the extent of damage.’’ She went on to say that the vandalism affected most of the two-story building and that the principal’s office was destroyed.

Continue reading "Attorney Sam Warns Students About Criminal Investigations After Lynn MA School Is Vandalized" »

Here is another one in a series of people being prosecuted for having parties wherein juveniles are allegedly given alcohol. As mentioned last week, ‘tis the season apparently.

Specifically, Elizabeth M., 50, and her son Taylor, 18, of Cohasset ( hereinafter, collectively, the “Defendants”) now face charges in Quincy District Court. They have pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that they hosted an underage drinking party that drew dozens of teenagers to their home on Saturday night. Her charges include furnishing alcohol to minors under the ‘‘social host law,’’ keeping a disorderly house, and disturbing the peace. He faces charges of furnishing alcohol to minors and being a minor in possession of alcohol.

Both were ordered to abstain from drugs and alcohol and undergo in-home sobriety testing, while they wait for trial.

Continue reading "Cohasset MA Mother And Son Charged Giving Alcohol To Juveniles – A Boston Criminal Attorney’s View" »

Here is something a Boston Criminal Lawyer does not see every day. The father of a tragically deceased daughter, who’s death the Commonwealth is looking use as a tool of political expediency, is showing the compassion.

You remember the word “compassion”, don’t you? It is the word I used when discussing the tragedy and the problem of bullying in the first place.

Yes, I am referring to the father of the late Phoebe Prince, who committed suicide earlier this year. The local prosecutor decided to blame the death on local bullies and take the extra step of indicting the kids. Now, with Ms. Prince dead, other potential reasons for the suicide coming to light, her father, unlike the “cool heads” of law enforcement, is said to be seeking “justice, not vengeance”.

Jeremy Prince, the father, in an interview with the online publication slate.com, said he would be willing to ask a judge for leniency if his daughter's alleged tormentors expressed their remorse in open court.

Continue reading "MA Bullying Victim’s Dad Suggests Leniency In Sentencing Of Students" »

Well, we began this week on the Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog discussing crimes that occur in the summer. Yesterday, I was reminded of a companion crime to drunk driving and too much partying.

Two Palmer residents now face criminal charges that they supplied alcohol to a 17-year-old boy who later died in a dirt bike accident.

For those of you who are not sure, the drinking age is currently 21.

Police say 45-year-old Robin K. and 28-year-old Kenneth D. (hereinafter collectively, the “Defendants”) will be summoned to appear in court on charges of procuring alcohol for a minor.

Detective Sgt. Scott Haley told the Republican newspaper of Springfield that
the teenager, Erik N. (hereinafter, the “Deceased”), drank alcohol during a bonfire in April at the apartment complex where the Defendants live.

Continue reading "MA Couple Are Charged With Giving Alcohol To Juvenile After Deadly Traffic Accident" »

Yesterday, the Boston Globe’s front page reflected the start of a new series of articles on students, families and schools. It described the plight of Lexi, a 14-year-old girl who began classes at a new school in an “affluent suburb” west of Boston.

According to the story, Lexi’s torment began within the first few days, when a “friend” texted her the message, “Go online.’’

“Online” being shorthand for “facebook”, Lexi went to the page to find pictures a girlfriend had taken a few months before of Lexi making faces at the camera. After the posting were a string of brilliant comments like, “You look like a rat that has been put on crack . . . in other words ugly as balls,’’ and “ hahaha”.

This was a terrific blow. After all, Lexi had realized that how she looked mattered a great deal in how she was or was not accepted. Now, there was a picture of her looking like a kid, neither polished nor particularly attractive..

“I knew from the beginning,’’ Lexi says now. “I knew it was basically everyone against me.’’

Sure enough, in the months that followed, she was taunted at school. Boys called her foul names and girls snickered. Finally, the problem worsened as groups of students picked on her, surrounding her on the stairs or pushing her in the cafeteria. She even received threatening calls on her cell phone.

Continue reading "Assaults, Threats And Bullying In Boston Schools – Will The Law Help? (Part One)" »

As a Boston criminal defense attorney, there is an oft-said and ill-fated sentence claimed by clients. It reads, “…but I didn’t know that was illegal!”

Unfortunately, such lack of knowledge does not usually matter. They really mean it when they say “ignorance of the law is no excuse”. Further, there are times when ignorance of the facts is basically irrelevent.

A prime example of the latter is the case of statutory rape. “But I didn’t know she was just shy of her thirteenth birthday…she told me she was twenty-five” is not going to be a viable defense.

Another example is something that a psychiatrist who teaches at Harvard Medical School (clearly not an ignorant man by any estimation, yet, hereinafter, the “Defendant”) said this week about the trouble in which he has now found himself.

He had been hosting a graduation party in New Hampshire. He has released a statement that he didn't know that there were students drinking at the high school graduation party .

Apparently, however, there were.

Continue reading "A Boston Criminal Defense Attorney’s View Of Knowledge And Guilt In The Criminal Justice System" »

The Boston Globe posted a “snapshot” on May 13th reviewing how busy the various Massachusetts are in terms of criminal cases. You can view it here.

As one can see, the number of criminal defendants handled by the different district courts varies widely. Springfield and Worcester, for example, saw more than 11,000 defendants each in 2009. Six courts saw fewer than 1,000. These were Gloucester, Winchendon, Newton, Brookline, Ipswich and Nantucket.

Generally, the busiest courts are the ones nearest metropolitan areas. Thus, Dorchester and Roxbury are liable to be busier than Newburyport or Sandwich.

Depending on the areas, some criminal cases are more prevalent than others. For example, you can expect more homicide cases to be passing through on their way to indictment in the busier courtrooms than someplace like Ipswich.

Another variable that can effect how busy is a certain court is the presence of schools, particularly high school and college. As we have discussed, this is likely to grow given the new bullying law.

Continue reading "A BOSTON CRIMINAL LAW ATTORNEY REVIEWS CRIMES AND CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS IN DISTRICT COURTS IN 2009" »